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Loading... The Language of Flowersby Vanessa Diffenbaugh
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Thanks to my sister for recommending and sending this to me. We both share a deep love for flowers and old-fashioned ways, while still living in the tough modern world. I could totally relate to the main character, and the suspense was pretty intense at times. The hardship she suffered through was very believable, having lived on the streets at one time myself. But I loved the characters, and that the darkness that shadowed the plot became a highlight for the real beauty and hope. A very satisfying read.
At first blush it sounds like something Dickens might have come up with, had Dickens been deeply interested in flower arranging. In this absorbing and delicately wrought debut novel, Diffenbaugh heeds the creative-writing maxim: Write what you know. She has been a foster mother and has taught art and writing in low-income communities.This experience is discernible in The Language of Flowers. The idea that an angry young girl such as Victoria would actually be interested in flowers and their meanings seems implausible on one level, and yet Diffenbaugh uses to good effect the belief that evergreen hope lies nascent within most damaged kids. In the end, she offers a cautionary tale about what happens to kids who've grown without families, one that strives to be honest but still hopeful. Children like Victoria may be able to survive on their own, but in order to do better than that - to thrive - they need support. But it's never too late to learn how to love.
"The story of a woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own past"-- No library descriptions found. |
LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumVanessa Diffenbaugh's book The Language of Flowers was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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After a few chapters I found myself needing to read near the internet so that I could google images of the flowers.
Difficult subject matter and characters with a soft storyline about the flowers to smooth out the jarring parts of Victoria's path through life.
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