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1-Page Summary of The Language Of Flowers
Overall Summary
American author Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s debut novel, The Language Of Flowers, tells the story of Victoria Jones who uses flower arranging to overcome her troubled past. Growing up in foster care with thirty-two different homes, she developed a mistrust of others and believed she was destined to live alone. Through arranging flowers, however, Victoria found an outlet for expressing herself while connecting with other people and creating the community that she had always desired.
The book is written from the perspective of Victoria. It gives us a look at the traumatic experiences that shaped her childhood, as well as how she coped with them when she was older. She spent her early years being abused and neglected by those who were supposed to care for her, which caused her to shut off from others emotionally.
Throughout the novel, Victoria refers to Elizabeth, her main caregiver and the person who taught her about arranging flowers. She also learned how to be patient from Elizabeth. The two have a close relationship and seem like mother and daughter. Although they love each other very much, something went terribly wrong while Victoria was staying with Elizabeth that resulted in her not being adopted.
The story is told in two timelines, one in the present and one from her past. The main character, Victoria, is an unlikeable narrator who doesn’t see love or kindness anywhere. Despite that fact, people are constantly trying to show her their love and help her out. She also has a mysterious relationship with Elizabeth that ends badly for both of them.
Victoria’s life was filled with turmoil. She found comfort in flowers, which led to her working at a flower shop called Bloom. The owner of the shop took pity on Victoria and allowed her to live there, as well as work for her. Victoria then met Grant, who happened to be Elizabeth’s nephew and someone she knew from childhood. They both shared a love of botany and soon started seeing each other romantically despite their limited capacity for trust due to past experiences that kept them from opening up completely to one another.
Victoria is shocked to find out that she’s pregnant. She assumes that she will be a terrible mother and can’t imagine disappointing Grant, who depends on her for everything in his life. This makes Victoria decide to leave him and their daughter without telling anyone, but after giving birth to the baby, she realizes how much work it will be to raise a child alone and decides not to tell anyone about the baby so they won’t have to worry about her welfare.
By the end of the book, Victoria set fire to Elizabeth’s vineyard and placed blame on her sister. Feeling overcome with guilt, she pointed to some burns and bruises acquired while setting the fire, claiming they were a result of abuse incurred by Elizabeth. Victoria was removed from Elizabeth’s home. In present day narrative, Victoria reunites with Hazel and Grant realizing that she has power over past trauma to determine fate for herself.
