The Language of Flowers Gift Book

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This child, this self-admitted odd-bod, Victoria has been in the foster system since birth. Ask her who her parents are and she will say the Foster System. At age ten, she has been in thirty-nine different foster homes. She is used to, at a moment's notice, being removed or rejected by her foster parents. She travels light, everything she owns is in a small canvas bag which includes her Dictionary of Flowers. The story is told in two sequences of time; when she is ten, going to a new foster home, and when she is eighteen, upon her emancipation from the state foster system. She uses meaning of flowers to convey what she thinks and feels. Over the course of the novel, Victoria creates her own dictionary of flowers using paste cards, definitions, dried flowers and illustrations. My abridged version of Victoria's dictionary as follows:

Several Anglican churches in England have paintings, sculpture, or stained glass windows of the lily crucifix, depicting Christ crucified on or holding a lily. One example is a window at The Clopton Chantry Chapel Church in Long Melford, Suffolk, England, UK. I also loved the message and the moral of the story that is the importance of encouraging others with nice and positive words in other to help others to grow and bloom beautifully, even to those that may look strange and different to you, which also teaches the concept of kindness. Moss doesn't have any roots, but it grows anyway, without any roots. That's what this book is about the roots that we have in our lives, or don't have. Who was your mother, what were her traits, where do you fit in, where did you come from, who are you connected to, your roots. I enjoyed this type of classification - especially as I wasn't looking for specific plants, but rather general symbolism of all plants available. If you are looking for specific plants it would still be easy to navigate, scientific names can be found through a simple google search, or you could use the common names index at the end of the book. I especially enjoyed the folklore section, and the index of common flower meanings (also at the end). This book is the darling of book clubs all over the country but I found it to be insipid and flawed. It showed great promise for about the first third. Diffenbaugh seemed to show an accurate and heartbreaking portrait of a young girl who is let down by the foster care system. She is angry and damaged. This was believable and felt very real.

The Language of Flowers is the debut novel of American author Vanessa Diffenbaugh. It was published in 2011 by Ballantine Books. [1] The novel follows the fraught life of a Victoria Jones, who by the age of 18, had lived in 32 foster homes, and becomes a flower arranger. [2] So can you enjoy a book when you don’t really like the protagonist? I find it can be difficult, but in the hands of a crafted writer, you can still enjoy the story. I didn’t find that to be true here. My favorite part about paging through was perhaps a bit shallow, but feasting my eyes on the artwork. I may or may not have doodled a few of my favorites! The illustrations are vibrant and charming, which perfectly matches the whimsical vibe. It feels like a book you would find in a sunlit, fairy tale cottage.

Everyone has their own way of coping with tragedy. Everyone has their interests and passions that can take them away from darkness and into the light. For some it’s music, for some it’s art, for others it’s reading and for Victoria, in The language of flowers, it’s flower arranging. Why would Elizabeth, the foster mom who loves Victoria so much, risk losing her completely simply because, decades of estrangement from her sister, she decides she can't adopt Victoria without her sister's agreement? How could Grant fall in love with Victoria immediately after seeing her for the first time since she was 10 years old? How could Renata tell that Victoria would be a wonderful assistant after meeting this homeless looking creature just once. And how did Victoria learn to make such beautiful floral arrangements? There was no mention of this activity when she lived with Elizabeth. They just worked on the meanings. I don't think they even grew many flowers. The floral nursery and gardens belonged to Grant and his mother. How could Victoria get enough money to start her own business? And wasn't it a betrayal of Renata to go into competition with her? Furthermore, wasn't it too contrived that Victoria found the perfect assistance in her former group home? Plus, wasn't it too much of a coincidence that Renata's mother was a midwife? And what about the coincidence that Renata had a sister with a space to rent cheaply? A captivating novel in which a single sprig of rosemary speaks louder than words . . . The Language of Flowers deftly weaves the sweetness of newfound love with the heartache of past mistakes. . . . [It] will certainly change how you choose your next bouquet.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune Nonetheless, the memories of those floral customs, so deeply woven into Victorian culture, still resonated; floriography still permeated literature, ensuring the tradition was always in the periphery. Most notably, floriography plays a key role in Edith Wharton's 1920 novel The Age of Innocence, set in the Gilded Age of New York.Floriography ( language of flowers) is a means of cryptological communication through the use or arrangement of flowers. Meaning has been attributed to flowers for thousands of years, and some form of floriography has been practiced in traditional cultures throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Plants and flowers are used as symbols in the Hebrew Bible, particularly of love and lovers in the Song of Songs, [1] as an emblem for the Israelite people, [2] and for the coming Messiah. [3] The flower you’re looking for is clearly the common thistle, which symbolizes misanthropy. Misanthropy means hatred or mistrust of humankind.” Though the flowers within the novel largely function as symbols for Victoria, expressing emotional meaning, [4] the novel also includes a large amount of information about the biology of flowers. New York Times Reviewer Janet Maslin described this information as sometimes becoming overly pedantic, saying "the pointed use of flower definitions in conversation begins to pale as a gambit." [2] Conversely, NPR called this motif "organic," growing from the first scene in a flower marketplace. [4] Style [ edit ] What this book is not: This is not a gardening book (no growing zones, information about annual or perennial, size, etc. is given) or an herbal book (no information on how to use elder or echinacea, for instance). It also doesn't give uses for flowers in terms of edibility, teas, etc. I would like to hand Vanessa Diffenbaugh a bouquet of bouvardia ( enthusiasm), gladiolus ( you pierce my heart) and lisianthus ( appreciation). In this original and brilliant first novel, Diffenbaugh has united her fascination with the language of flowers—a long-forgotten and mysterious way of communication—with her firsthand knowledge of the travails of the foster-care system. . . . This novel is both enchanting and cruel, full of beauty and anger. Diffenbaugh is a talented writer and a mesmerizing storyteller. She includes a flower dictionary in case we want to use the language ourselves. And there is one more sprig I should add to her bouquet: a single pink carnation ( I will never forget you).” — WashingtonPost

This guide focuses on the fantastical elements of flowers. Taking into account the sheer number of plants included, I can see why the information was limited to just that. As a biology student, I would have loved to see some more scientific information, perhaps about each flower's growing process/location, scent, if it can be brewed into a nice tea, stuff like that. Maybe not for every species, because again with over one thousand flowers that would be a decade long and A+ nightmare. But for some of the more common or interesting breeds it would’ve been cool to read! I'm a Ravenclaw, I like lots of detail :> An] original and brilliant first novel . . . a mesmerizing storyteller . . . I would like to hand Vanessa Diffenbaugh a bouquet of bouvardia (enthusiasm), gladiolus (you pierce my heart) and lisianthus (appreciation). . . . And there is one more sprig I should add to her bouquet: a single pink carnation (I will never forget you).”—Brigitte Weeks, The Washington Post Beatrice is a little bee gifted to the flowers of the meadow. They keep her safe and warm and in return she learns their language and delivers their messages. She does such a good job that the flowers of the meadow flourish and she needs some help. So begins her harrowing journey to find more bees.

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Without spoiling it too much, I really loved the ending. Victoria is a flawed character and she is not always likeable. AT ALL. But I really appreciated the ending that she was given. I think I could have gone either way, but Ms Diffenbaugh chose the right one. I have been quite fascinated by the secret language of flowers since I first encountered it in historical romances. In a society so defined by its rules of etiquette, the idea of fragrant nosegays created to deliver a private message was intriguing. I have also had a long standing interest in the folklore associated with plants and flowers. Although our modern-day use of floriography comes from a different place, we're not too unlike our Victorian ancestors in our desire to only share certain aspects of ourselves. Most of us might not be trapped by repressive etiquette, but we are still bound by the perception of others. "I wouldn't say we're living in a similar repressed world of etiquette today," says Roux. "But I do think we present only certain sides of ourselves online." During the Victorian era when "stiff upper lip" was the expected societal decorum, the language of flowers was a means of bypassing repressive etiquette. Roux explains: "The Victorian language of flowers – also called floriography – emerged as a clandestine method of communication at a time when etiquette discouraged open and flagrant displays of emotion."