Great Debut Novel: The Language of Flowers

Did you know that flowers have a lot more to share with us other than their ever intoxicating fragrances and beautiful colors?  Flowers have a language all their own and each flower represents specific meanings.   Bet you didn’t know how much flowers can truly say.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s, debut novel, The Language of Flowers gracefully weaves together an exceptional, poignant fairytale-esque story about an unforgettable character, her gift for understanding flowers and her struggle to overcome her past.

Victoria Jones is an 18-year-old girl whose history and future are quickly colliding.  Old enough to be emancipated from the foster-care system and officially left alone, Victoria has nowhere to go.  She sleeps in a public park, where she plants and nurtures a small flower garden.  Before long a local florist notices her and the small garden she has planted.  After a childhood of being shuffled in and out of foster homes, she is incapable of making any close relationships with anybody, and her sole link to the world around her is through flowers and their meanings.  Cultivating her flowers, listening to them, has become more essential than confronting her own anguish, doubt and loneliness.  As Victoria begins to slowly grow and open up, like so many of the young buds she cares for; a mysterious vendor at the market causes her to question what is missing in her life.  When it seems all is beginning to fall into place Victoria is forced to cope with a painful secret from her past.   She must quickly choose if it’s worth jeopardizing everything that she has for another chance at happiness.

With a dreamy almost magical realism feel, The Language of Flowers is written beautifully without being too flowery (apologies for the play on words).  Diffenbaugh’s elegantly worded novel used the Victorian language of flowers and their descriptions to richly express gestures and feelings of romance; like honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love…  The Language of Flowers furthermore evokes a need for social justice through its vivid portrayal of the foster-care system.  You love the characters, even when you hate them and by way of a tightly-crafter novel, you are inspired to follow Victoria through her painfully true journey.