The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

The main character, Victoria, has spent her life in various foster and care homes moving from one place to another. She is angry and alone and does not like to be physically touched by anyone. She is fostered by Elizabeth when she is 10 years old and this is where she learns the language of flowers. Fast forward to when she is 18 and about to be emancipated from the care system with no job and no home and all she has is her love of flowers and floristry.

She starts growing her own garden by stealing the flowers from local gardens and then sleeps there as she has nowhere else to go. She then finds a florist who can see the vast potential she has with flowers and offers her a job and somewhere to sleep. Victoria then starts helping the customers buy the right flowers with the real meaning behind them. This leads Victoria down a path of having to come to terms with her past culminating in coming face to face with the one person she cannot bear to see.

I don’t want to give too much away with the story but Vanessa Diffenbaugh covers topics such as guilt, motherhood, family, love and forgiveness all told through flowers and the meanings they have. I thought this was a great book and got thoroughly immersed with wanting to know what all the flowers meant and how just one stray flower could alter the meaning of an entire bouquet. I thought that the only way Victoria could express any emotion with flowers was a really interesting way of writing and I loved the way that she ended up being healed by the flowers. It is not a light hearted book by any means and she does touch on topics such as failing as a Mother but it is told in such a way that it does not seem bleak and the colour always comes back to the flowers.

This is a great debut novel and I would highly recommend it to anyone especially those who already have an interest in the meaning of flowers.

Many thanks for Emma at http://www.bookangelbooktopia.com/  for the loan of the book.





Before I go to sleep by SJ Watson

Forgive me but I am going to gush about this amazing book!  It was one of those you cannot put down and I read it in two days straight even though my eyes were sore I just had to keep on reading.

The story is Christine's.  She wakes up everyday next to a stranger not knowing how she got there and who this man is.  When she looks in the mirror she sees a 40ish woman instead of the 20 year old she thinks she is.  This is because when Christine was 29 she was in an accident and every time she goes to sleep she forgets everything and her memory is erased.  Every day her Husband has to explain who she is and what has happened to her.  She also has a Doctor trying to help her unlock the memories that are there but she just can't access.  Without giving the plot away you know that some people are not always telling her the entrire truth.

This book blew me away.  You are totally emersed into the confused world of Christine and the not knowing who to trust and turn to.  Every page offers new twists and turns and the last 40 had me actually gasping out loud!  You go on the journey with her and share her awakening memories in this beautifully written book.  SJ Watson is a debut author and if this is anything to go by I will be getting all of his in the future.  I cannot recommend this book highly enough so please run, don't walk and grab yourself a copy.  You will not be sorry.

David by Mary Hoffman

“When Gabriele arrives in Florence and finds himself penniless and alone, he has only one trick up his sleeve..the name of a renowned sculptor and the hope of work. But never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that he would become the model for one of the world’s most famous statues, Michelangelo’s David. Or that he would be sucked into the deadly world of Florentine politics, where battle, bloodshed and murder are commonplace.”
I really thought from the blurb on the back of this book that I would really enjoy it as historical novels are really my thing and I have also seen the statue in Florence so was really intrigued to read a novel about it. I am sorry to say that the book just doesn’t live up to the hype! I found it really difficult to get to grips as to who all the characters were and to be honest after about half way through I find myself not really caring about them anyway. I found all the names very confusing and although I knew the book was based in Italy I couldn’t get to grips with them and they all seemed to blend into one. I also found that it was a story that wasn’t very well told as it didn’t draw me in and make me want to read more. I really wanted to know more about the relationship between Gabriele and Angelo but this was lost in the subplots about all the women in Gabriele’s life and his political friends.
All in all this was not a book for me and sadly I would not recommend it and I would have to think twice about picking up another Mary Hoffman novel.

Many thanks to Emma at http://www.bookangelbooktopia.com/ for the loan of the book.