The Language of Flowers is a beautiful story about a young girl who is much more than she seems. Victoria is a loner as one might term. She keeps to herself and does not show much for human companionship. She instead, much prefers to spend her time with flowers. However, it is gradually revealed that her love of flowers and vast knowledge of them comes from having lived with a foster mom, Elizabeth.

Yes, the plot thickens, Victoria is a foster child – we know nothing of her biological parents and the only constant source of human companionship we know that has been somewhat consistent is her case worker Meredith, who has been Victoria’s case worker for 8 years. When Victoria is placed with Elizabeth, she is a young girl, if memory’s serves I think she is around 10 years old. Elizabeth and Victoria are perfect for each other – albeit difficult for both to adjust in the beginning. Not to give too much away, Elizabeth begins to teach Victoria about flowers, how to care and nurture them, but also, about the language of flowers, what each flower represents and means – fun fact, this was a real way for people to communicate during the Victorian era when people were not allowed to speak outright.

The book runs parallel to real life events and is not chronological put rather certain events form the passed and present are revealed at the same time while the reader pieces the story together. There is also a love interest in this book for Victoria, Grant who also fits into the story in an exciting and almost poetic way seemingly to tie up loose strings to the depth of character in the book. The book is also largely concerned with foster care, the foster care system, nutrition, education and of course, flowers.

This book definitely helped me look at foster care, independence and resilience in whole new light. A lovely read, easy but complex.