Kilbourn Public Library Book Club

This month the book club will be reading Vanessa Diffenbaugh's novel The Language of Flowers.  A mesmerizing, moving, and elegantly written novel, The Language of Flowers beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past. 


After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, Victoria Jones is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.  Now eighteen and emancipated from the system with nowhere to go, Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them.  But an unexpected encounter with a mysterious stranger has her questioning what's been missing in her life.  And when she's forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it's worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.


What potential do Elizabeth, Renata, and Grant see in Victoria that she has a hard time seeing in herself?


While Victoria has been hungry and malnourished often in her life, food ends up meaning more than just nourishment to her. Why?


One of the major themes in The Language of Flowers  is forgiveness and second chances--do you think Victoria deserves one after the things she did (both as a child and as an adult)?  What about Catherine? And Elizabeth?


The novel touches on many different themes (love, family, forgiveness, second chances).  Which do you think is most important?  And what did you think was ultimately the lesson?


At the end of the novel, Victoria learns that moss grows without roots. What does this mean, and why is it such a revelation for her?


Knowing what you now know about the language of the flowers, to whom would you send a bouquet and what would you want it to say?


Let us know what you think of The Language of Flowers.