About the Book
This is the international bestseller: now in paperback. The Victorian language of flowers was used to express emotions: honeysuckle for devotion, azaleas for passion, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it has been more useful in communicating feelings like grief, mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings. Now eighteen, Victoria has nowhere to go, and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. When her talent is discovered by a local florist, she discovers her gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But it takes meeting a mysterious vendor at the flower market for her to realise what's been missing in her own life, and as she starts to fall for him, she's forced to confront a painful secret from her past, and decide whether it's worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness. "The Language of Flowers" is a heartbreaking and redemptive novel about the meaning of flowers, the meaning of family, and the meaning of love.
About the Author :
Vanessa Diffenbaugh was born in San Francisco and raised in Chico, California. After studying creative writing and education at Stanford, she went on to teach art and writing to youth in low-income communities. She and her husband PK have three children: Tre’von, 20, Chela, 6, and Miles, 5. Tre’von, a former foster child, is attending New York University on a Gates Millenium Scholarship. Vanessa and her family currently live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her husband is studying urban school reform at Harvard.
Review :
Advance praise for "The Language of Flowers"
"Enchanting, ennobling, and powerfully engaging, Diffenbaugh's artfully accomplished debut novel lends poignant testimony to the multitude of mysteries held in the human heart."
-- Booklist (starred review)
"This heartbreaking debut novel about mothers and daughters, love, and the secret significance of flowers had me weeping with emotion and wonder. Victoria Jones is an unforgettable heroine and you will never look at flowers the same way again."
-- Tatiana de Rosnay, author of Sarah's Key
"Devastating, hopeful, and beautifully written, "The Language of Flowers "is a testament to the tender mercies and miraculous healing power of love."--Beth Hoffman, author of "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt"
"A deftly powerful story of finding your way home, even after you've burned every bridge behind you, "The Language of Flowers" took my heart apart, chapter by chapter, then reassembled the broken pieces in better working co
"Devastating, hopeful, and beautifully written--"The Language of Flowers" is a testament to the tender mercies and miraculous healing power of love."
-- Beth Hoffman, author of "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
"
"A deftly powerful story of finding your way home, even after you've burned every bridge behind you. "The Language of Flowers" took my heart apart, chapter by chapter, then reassembled the broken pieces in better working condition--I loved this book."
-- Jamie Ford, author of "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
""This hope-soaked, glorious book speaks to every once-broken, cracked, or poorly mended heart about the risks we take to heal, to be fully human, to truly connect. An astonishingly assured debut."
-- Joshilyn Jackson, author of Gods in Alabama
"The Language of Flowers gives us new definitions of human compassion in all its forms. Bouquets of laurel and trumpet vine await this beautifully arranged story!"
-- Helen Simonson, author of Maj
"Devastating, hopeful, and beautifully written--"The Language of Flowers" is a testament to the tender mercies and miraculous healing power of love."
-- Beth Hoffman, author of "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
"
"A deftly powerful story of finding your way home, even after you've burned every bridge behind you. "The Language of Flowers" took my heart apart, chapter by chapter, then reassembled the broken pieces in better working condition--I loved this book."
-- Jamie Ford, author of "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
"
