Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

As you will know, if you have finished the book, dictionaries can vary a little one from another.  There are several "Flower Dictionaries" on line, as well as posters.

Questions to prompt thinking and Connection:

1) What kind of nonverbal communication systems do you have with family and close friends?  If you were to use flowers, to whom would you send a bouquet and what would it say?

2) Do you have any "18 year old regrets?"  Why do you think Elizabeth waits so long to patch things up with her sister, Catherine?  Have you given/received any "second chances"?

3) The first week after her daughter’s birth goes surprisingly well for Victoria. What is it that makes Victoria feel unable to care for her child after the weekends? And what is it that allows her to ultimately rejoin her family?

Quotes:

My own husband! The man who had been there every day—monitoring our baby and me with careful attention—thought I was as overwhelmed as the new mother in my book, Victoria.

“It’s fiction!” I told him, exasperated. “Don’t you know I made it all up?”

The trouble is—as much as I deny it—my character does, in specific instances, think and behave exactly like me.

Random House link: http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/features/vanessa_diffenbaugh/  

Planned Discussion Questions 

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

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

3. Victoria and Elizabeth both struggle with the idea of being part of a family. What does it mean to you to be part of a family? What defines family?

4. Why do you think Elizabeth waits so long be fore trying to patch things up with her long-lost sister Catherine? What is the impetus for her to do so?

5. What did you think of the structure of the book – the alternating chapters of past and present? In what ways did the two storylines parallel each other, and how did they diverge?

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

7.  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?

8.  Based on your reading of the novel, what are your impressions of the foster care system in America? What could be improved?

9.  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?