Book Review: The Language of Flowers - Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Title: The Language of Flowers
Authur: Vanessa Diffenbaugh
ISBN: 978-0-345-52554-3
Pages: 322
Rating: 8/10

Summary: Victoria Jones is a product of the foster-care system. Shuttled from home to home as a child, she trusts no one and won't let anyone get close to her. Her primary means of communication is through flowers, whose meanings she's become obsessed with.

Once she turns 18, she is emancipated and, with nowhere to go, creates a makeshift home for herself in a local park. Her gift for flowers eventually helps her land a job at a flower shop, where her services are soon in great demand by people who need help in their personal lives.

The only way Victoria knows how to communicate with people is through flowers, but the recipients of her messages don't always understand what she's saying. When she discovers that some flower dictionaries give flowers contradictory meanings, she becomes momentarily disoriented until she decides to create her own dictionary.

As Victoria's new life unfurls, we learn more about her experiences in foster care that have shaped her adulthood. When she meets a man who is a link to her past, she must decide whether she can forgive herself for a childhood misdeed that hurt the only person she's ever loved and give herself a chance at happiness.

Dahlia: Dignity

Review: The Language of Flowers is a beautifully written coming-of-age novel that will have readers rooting for its protagonist from page one. Victoria is a well-developed, complicated character who's had a past in which not many children would thrive, but she has the strength to do what she has to not only to survive, but to give herself a happy, fulfilling life--if she can stop sabotaging herself at every turn.

Lily: Majesty

I don't know a whole lot about the foster care system so I don't know if it's normal for foster kids to have the experiences Victoria does. Not only does she find it difficult to fit into any of the prospective families she's sent to, but even her social worker seems more interested in checking a box next to Victoria's name than in understanding or helping her.

Zinnia: I mourn your absence

As a flower-obsessed gardener, I enjoyed the flower meanings woven through the plot. While I was disappointed that two of my favorite flowers, hydrangea and peony, mean "dispassion" and "anger," respectively, I was happy to learn the meanings of other favorites: ranunculus means "You are radiant with charms," pink rose means "grace," and tulip means "declaration of love." I'm certainly not going to rip out my peony and hydrangea shrubs, but I might ensure that they're well-surrounded with ranunculus, pink roses, and tulips to balance them out!

Phlox: Our souls are united