Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Late to the Party Reviews: The Language of Flowers

The Language of Flowers
By Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Ballantine Books April 2012
352 pages
From my shelves

The Language of Flowers 

Victoria is about to age out of foster care. She is furious at the system that let her down, at the foster parents that didn't keep her, and at a world that doesn't seem to care in the least. Victoria is living on the street until she realizes that her knowledge of flowers can go to good use. She begins working at a flower shop and finds she has a gift for putting together exactly the arrangements her customers need. As she begins to enjoy the comfort of routine and security, she has to decide if she can start letting people into her life. Can someone who has always pushed people away finally let herself be loved?

The Language of Flowers alternates between the present and Victoria's difficult past. We see her abused by foster parents who leave her out in the cold or refuse to feed her. But we also witness her tentative happiness with an older woman named Elizabeth. The mystery of this story is when readers see her progress with Elizabeth, but also know that she spent her last few teen years in a problematic group home. Victoria is often a difficult character to follow because she refuses help at almost every turn. For someone who has been abandoned and betrayed at every turn, she believes that her only recourse is to hurt people before they have the chance to hurt her.

Diffenbaugh has a real gift for writing. There were several moments when I had actual fear about what would happen to Victoria and other characters. It is a rare author who gives you no security about the fate of the people who live on her pages. I became really invested in these characters, from Vanessa herself to even the minor characters who hover around the periphery of the story. I also love that this author wasn't content to let readers know about the difficulty of aging out of foster care. She went and set up a foundation to help real-life kids through the process. Anyone who says fiction can't change lives isn't paying attention to Ms. Diffenbaugh's writing and tireless work through The Camellia Network.

The Language of Flowers is, dare I say, an important novel about a group of people who are all too easy to ignore. Few of us worry about the difficulties of children in the foster care system or their complicated transition into adulthood. This story is heartfelt and difficult, as any good tale about love and creating our families must be. I am really interested to see what Ms. Diffenbuagh does in her upcoming second book, We Never Asked For Wings, which will be out in August. 



Late to the Party Reviews are my thoughts on the books everyone else read years ago. I'm finally getting to them, so make sure to chime in and tell me about your experience with these stories!

6 comments:

  1. If you're late to the party, I'm even later...I still haven't read this book. In fact, I'd completely forgotten about it. So this review is good timing for me. I've got it back at the top of my list. :) Thanks!

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    1. There are just too many books, right? A well-timed reminder is a great thing. :)

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  2. I loved this one. There are so many subjects in this book it is even lined up for a reread soon as I feel I missed out on a few things.

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    1. I think this would be a great reread! I would love to know if you pick up anything new the second time around.

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  3. I love books with two story lines, but this character and the challenges she face sound like they might be too frustrating for me! I hate hearing about bad things happening to kids and I also hate when characters do things that create the challenges they have to overcome.

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    1. It's definitely tough to read. I think it really opens our eyes to the struggles that foster kids go through - it's not all a cheery advertisement that ends with a smiling family.

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