The Language Of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, Picador Australia, $32.99.
This debut novel by an American foster mum and art teacher sparked a bidding war last year, with Picador winning the coveted title.
It’s now set to be published in more than 30 countries, with a heavy-handed drum roll that is in danger of putting us off.
Yet, for once, the hype is warranted, if a little misleading.The Language Of Flowersis a remarkable novel with a voice and poignancy all of its own.
As the title suggests, it’s a story about communicating through flowers, but there is so much more going on here. The multi-layered narrative is dark and brooding, the characters are prickly and drawn from many different angles, and the plotline darts forward and back, ingeniously building a picture, like oils daubed on a canvas.
The author feels that her book is not so much about flowers, but about the desperately damaging pitfalls in the US foster care system and this certainly underpins the character of Victoria Jones, who narrates much of the novel.
We begin with Victoria on her 18th birthday being emancipated from foster care and heading for a life on the streets.
The narrative then jumps, one step forward, then two steps back, as we fill in the bleak colours of Victoria’s upbringing that have informed this troubled woman.
There are shades of Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander about Victoria — she doesn’t like to be touched or spoken to, she hides herself from the world, is haunted by the trauma of constant abandonment, believes herself to be “unforgivably flawed” and has trouble forming relationships.
Somewhere in that murky childhood, Victoria was taught the Victorian language of flowers and it is this that gives her both a voice and a livelihood.
When she gets unwanted attention from a man at the flower market, she gives him a rhododendron meaning “beware”. His response is mistletoe, meaning, “I surmount all obstacles”. Yet can he really?
An unusual love story develops and as we learn more about Victoria’s past, we also become aware of two worlds heading for a traumatic collision.
Tense, touching and smart, this is an extraordinary debut that will certainly put Diffenbaugh on the literary map.
About the author:
Vanessa Diffenbaugh lives in Massachusetts, US, with her husband and three children.
The inspiration for her first novel came from a picture book,Language Of Flowers, by Kate Greenaway.
Also a foster mother and co-founder of the Camellia Network, a movement to support youth moving out of foster care, Vanessa was inspired to combine her work with the power of this tome.
“In many ways, Victoria exists on the periphery of society. In the world of flowers, with their predictable growing habits and meanings, Victoria feels safe, comfortable, even at home,” Vanessa says.
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