Book Review #46 - The Language of Flowers

I realize no book can do all things but I also think a book can do more than one thing. The Language of Flowers is a beautiful book. With its imagery and description of beautiful flowers, not to mention the inclusion of every noted flower's victorian definition, it's easy to believe in the power of roses,jonquils and even thistles. It's easy to enjoy this story about a broken, abandoned girl who communicates with flowers and begins to discover her own worth and strength by using her talents to help others. Most of me wanted to believe in all of the blossoming magic.

But, I didn't. Maybe that's unfair.

Victoria is a victim of abandonment, never knowing who her biological parents were or why they left her to the care of the government but her journey through foster families reveals the sometime ugly realities of the system. At times starved, emotionally manipulated, and continually rejected by family after family, Victoria seems a textbook case of someone suffering from attachment disorder. When she is finally placed in the care of a loving woman who wants her and suffers through all of Victoria's attempts of sabotage, her future seems to finally have the possibility of a happy ending. From the very beginning of the story, however, we know something didn't work out. The novel uncovers the unhappy story, chapter by chapter, weaving between her newly independent adult life and the flashbacks through her childhood, mostly during her time with a woman named Elizabeth who teaches her about flowers and wine grapes and life.

There is enough realism in the narration that the unrealistic parts of the book distracted me. Who are these secondary characters in Victoria's life that seem too good to be true? Is it possible that someone with as severe emotional problems as Victoria can really function at a job? Or have a relationship with a man? I'm not implying that the author made it easy for Victoria. On the contrary, the author repeatedly highlighted Victoria's difficulty in each of these life developments. Some of the details her moments of despair made my stomach church with sympathy and pain. What was missing was the difficulty of the other characters. Weren't they outraged by her behavior? Weren't they turned off by her appearance, her deception, her almost feral behavior around food? I want to believe that there are people who are blessed with patience in abundance and who are ambassadors to help rehabilitate these poor, love-starved souls and I do believe that they exist. I just want to know about them too. I was disappointed by getting a little bit of Elizabeth's story and motives but never really getting to know her. I never understood her connection to Victoria, a connection that was vital to believing the story.

Ultimately, I think the author became a bit too focused on sharing the language of flowers and left out some critical development to the more interesting human story. I just wanted...more.