The book The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh touched at least 2 points in my life. The story is about a group home girl when she is emancipated at age 18. She had significant problems in her life and had difficulty connecting with people. She loved flowers and the meaning of each flower. The flowers were the one way she felt confident in communicating with others.
The chapters alternated between Victoria as a 10 year old girl living with a woman who wanted to adopt her, and Victoria as a young woman getting a job in a florist shop and building her life. Victoria as an adult ends up starting her own business having a baby, abandoning the baby with the father, maturing and reconciling with not only the father but the woman who once tried tried to adopt her. She had to learn how to connect and how to negotiate the challenges of personal intimacy.
I used to be a group home counselor and saw first hand the challenges of girls who had never adopted. The description and characterization of Victoria and how she coped was true to what I saw with other group home girls.
I too have found solace in flowers. In a time of grief, I purchased a wild flower book and wandered the local trails looking for each flower. I would mark what trail I found the flower on and noted anything special about it. There was peace in identifying and communing with the flowers.
This was a quick read, well written and touching.
