Fresh Water for Flowers

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Hope you enjoyed my book club discussion questions and reading guide for Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin! There's also a mysterious tragedy in the story, and exploring this event reveals dark secrets as well as hidden depths. They’re not ass-kissers, ambitious, grudge-bearers, dandies, petty, generous, jealous, scruffy, clean, awesome, funny, addicted, stingy, cheerful, crafty, violent, lovers, whiners, hypocrites, gentle, tough, feeble, nasty, liars, thieves, gamblers, strivers, idlers, believers, perverts, optimists.

It's a gentle novel because even though there are moments of tragedy, they are seen through the eyes of the most empathetic character, so even the most villainous, unlikable characters are given a generous, understanding hearing. The suspense of finding out what exactly happened on that fateful day and who was responsible for the fire is better to be read on your own. The author adds a lot of twists and turns to keep the story engaging to the very end. WHAT WE LIKED ABOUT FRESH WATER FOR FLOWERS

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Even though Cabomba aquatica is one of the best flowering floating plants for aquariums, it’s not ideal for all aquarium fish types. Goldfish and cichlids will eat their way through the delicate leaves. Aquatic Flowers That Grow in Ponds Outdoors (With Pictures and Names)

Violette Toussaint was a cemetery caretaker in a small town in France: Bourgogne- Brancion-en-Chaplin cemetery. She had worked there for more than twenty years.. I got a whiff of Maria Semple very early in the book (and before I noticed the Semple blurb on the cover). Funny, breezy, nothing that is likely to last long but a pleasant way to spend a few days. We meet many visitors: one being a stranger - a local detective - who shows up at Violette’s door early one dark morning. Violette let the strange man into her house and served him coffee ( coffee was always ready to go)....she described her room ( the place she had lived 20 years): Julien is not the only one to guard a painful secret: his mother’s story of clandestine love breaks through Violette’s carefully constructed defences to reveal the tragic loss of her daughter, and her steely determination to find out who is responsible. Eloquent, fluctuant, picturesque, poetic descriptive writing that appeals to your senses of sound, smell and taste.

In her, the author paints a portrait of a woman whose past is marked by much loss and personal tragedy but who lives her life with dignity and grace, forging friendships with the people she works with and those who come to grieve . I think Adichie might very well be the best writer today of the immigrant experience, The Landless Exile, The Housed Homeless. Her vagabondity gives her a unique slant to see so many battlegrounds from a different perspective. But she is brilliant at showing both the benefits and detriments that come with the outsider’s panorama.

A couple more things to share - but I don’t want to spoil the actual story about Violette....and her LIFE....( her circumstances, history, people she meets, her gifts, or even too much about her charming unique character).... In 1997, Violette and Philippe Toussaint arrived in Bourgogne to become the cemetery keepers at Brancion-en-Chalon Cemetery. "When it came to laziness, I'd won the lottery with [Philippe]". Violette was the sole cemetery keeper after Philippe became a police footnote, a "disappearance of concern". Valérie Perrin explores themes of spirituality, the paranormal, and life after death through Violette’s perspective. Do you agree with Violette’s beliefs regarding ghosts and the afterlife? Discuss the author’s portrayal of these elements and how they contribute to the overall narrative and themes of the book. Violette tells her story, reflecting upon her life, her 20 years as a cemetery keeper. She was unclaimed at birth and was raised in the system where she learned that girls in care don’t need much. She aged out of the system and found work as a bartender where she met her husband, the philanderer and emotionally cruel Philippe Toussaint. Violette is used to being treated poorly, it’s all she’s known. She sees joy in everyday moments. Her eccentric cemetery staff, along with her 16 (or more) cats, provide much needed humor. One of her gravediggers, Glaston, is a bit clumsy, which allows some humor in a very solemn business. Elvis is another gravedigger, who names all the feral cats (Moody Blues, Love Me, Tutti Frutti, Spanish Eyes to name a few), some of which arrive with their dead parents. Some are left because it is known that they feed and care for the cats.Death never takes a break. It knows neither summer holidays, not public holidays, nor dentist appointments...It's there, everywhere, all the time. No one really thinks about it, or they'd go mad. It's like a dog that's forever weaving around our legs, but whose presence we only notice when it bites us. Or worse, bites a loved one. Slowly I was absorbing the depths of this -breathtaking - story.... multi-layered—a type of meditated trance - if you will - between life and death....and how I ( just one tiny person) - belonged to both: life and death in almost equal measure. At times, it feels like the author has crammed a lot of character detail into the book. As a result, the story feels disjointed at places. It takes a while to piece together all the information provided by the author. QUOTES This book was wonderfully translated by Hildegarde Serle. I would love to read more books by this author, so crossing my fingers more will be translated. Finally, as they close Fresh Water For Flowers, I hope they will phone those they love to say “I love you”. How did you feel when you heard that your first novel was going to be published?

Violette Toussaint is the caretaker at a cemetery in a small town in Bourgogne. Random visitors, regulars, and, most notably, her colleagues—three gravediggers, three groundskeepers, and a priest—visit her as often as possible to warm themselves in her lodge, where laughter, companionship, and occasional tears mix with the coffee that she offers them. Her daily life is lived to the rhythms of their hilarious and touching confidences. Violette’s bedroom was upstairs. She repainted it after her husband Philippe’s disappearance. No one had ever stepped inside her bedroom after he left. Many flowers thrive in ponds, lakes, streams, or other bodies of water. If you have a garden pool, fishpond, or other water feature, flowers growing in water can enhance your garden’s aquatic landscape. The American lotus flower is a striking perennial aquatic plant for ponds. American lotus plants have huge umbrella-like leaves up to 2 ft. (0.6 m) across. Large pale yellow flowers emerge from water on the end of stiff stems. Spectacular lotus flowers can grow up to 1 ft. (0.3 m) across.Examine the portrayal of motherhood and the different ways it is depicted through Violette’s experience and the loss of her daughter Léonine. How does this loss shape Violette’s identity and her relationships with others?