The Language of Flowers

Dear Becca,

The first time I heard about THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS, I was reading Sarah Dessen’s blog. In case I haven’t mentioned how amazing Sarah Dessen is, she’s basically my YA hero. Her endorsement (“It’s just so different from anything else I’ve read lately and I can’t put it down”) was enough to convince me that it was worth putting on my to-read list. And let me just say what a great decision that was. It wasn’t until I started reading the book that I found out how widely known and read it is. Turns out, one of my co-workers was also reading it and one of my writing teachers had recently read it as well.  I suppose it’s not too surprising that I’m late to get on the bandwagon when it comes to adult fiction….

More to the point, this book is about a young woman named Victoria who has recently been emancipated. She spent her youth in various foster and youth homes and now that she is on her own, she has to figure out what to do and how to support herself. The novel weaves back and forth between Victoria’s time with her favorite foster mother, Elizabeth, and the present day. Elizabeth teaches Victoria about flowers and flowers become the one thing that Victoria really identifies with and cares for. In the storyline that follows the present day, Victoria finds work as a florist. And there is, of course, a romance.

As the title suggests, the theme in the story is the language of flowers. Different flowers mean different things and this is how Victoria knows how to express herself. There is one point in the story (and I will not note the page because we’re not in college anymore!) where a client asks Victoria to make her a bouquet with flowers that will stimulate sexual desire. Victoria finds it a challenging assignment and wonders if she should lie about the flowers that she uses. After all, the client won’t really know the difference. But she decides that she can’t. For me, this was one of the most powerful moments in the book. Deciding whether or not to stick by what you believe. It would be easier not to, but Victoria does it anyway. And since Victoria usually runs away from challenges, this was a particularly beautiful moment.

It’s hard for me to pinpoint my favorite part of this novel. It takes place in San Francisco and I wish I could say that I was able to relate to it better because of that. But truthfully, I’m actually not all that familiar with the different little parks and places she frequents. I really want to visit the flower market after this!  Ultimately, it’s the cast of characters that kept me reading. They’re all a little damaged and arguably, dislikable, but it’s the way they all complement each other and lift each other up the best that they can. A lot goes unspoken (which you would think would make it hard to write about) but Diffenbaugh does a great job of showing the emotion between characters without telling. I could really take a lesson from her on subtly.

I loved this book! And yet…I can’t wait to get back to reading YA.

Til we read again!

Megan