The Language of Flowers - Hardcover

Diffenbaugh, Vanessa

4.09

221,455 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0230752586 ISBN 13: 9780230752580

Publisher: Macmillan, 2011

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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.

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Review:

`This heart-rending debut novel (the subject of a nine-publisher bidding war) follows Victoria Jones, who is emancipated from the foster care system on her 19th birthday. Angry and untrusting, she finds the only way she can communicate her feelings is through the forgotten language of flowers, where, for example, honeysuckle signifies devotion or red roses mean true love. She lands a job at a florist's where she meets a vendor who could hold the key to overcoming the secrets of her past. The Language of Flowers delivers on suspense and emotion.'
--She magazine

`A unique and fascinating debut novel.' --Good Housekeeping

`(A) delightful and utterly absorbing novel. The plot unfolds like a whodunit and you wait with bated breath to discover Victoria's devastating secret.'
--Candis

`From foster mother to publishing phenomenon, Vanessa Diffenbaugh is set to touch millions with her debut novel' --S Magazine, Sunday Express

`A well-crafted novel which I read almost at a sitting. The many themes of disassociation and communication, the nature of motherhood and of family, regret and redemption are interwoven in a rich tapestry... An arresting new talent.' --Daily Express

`An absorbing epic filled with romance, secrets and redemption' --Easy Living

`Diffenbaugh's debut is tough and tender, entwining loss and regret with second chances and happy outcomes' --Marie Claire

`Diffenbaugh's first novel is strong, and she has created a tenacious and likeable heroine.' --Psychologies

`Captivating'
--Woman & Home

'Her narration and her story are absolutely compelling. The flowers and their connotations add a fresh twist to a classic tale of girl done good... Beautiful and absorbing' --Heat magazine

Book Description:

The most talked-about debut acquisition of 2010 will be the publishing event of 2011

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