The Flower Arrangement: A Novel. Ella Griffin. Penguin
Publishing Group. October 2016. 352 pp. ISBN#: 9781101989739.
Blossom
and Grow is the name of the lovely Dublin flower shop Lara Gray opens after
losing her baby six months into her pregnancy.
In one sense it enables her to bury her grief in work she loves, but in
the true essence of this story it connects her to emotions in the customers who
come into her shop to buy a single or multiple flowers for each special
occasion. That might be love, sorrow,
forgiveness, joy, celebration of a landmark day, etc. But Lara is so good at it that no one will
buy unless she is in attendance as she seems to possess the perfect word,
phrase or comment for the moment’s need.
Lara’s
Dad was mother and father to her and now he has one concern as he lies in
hospital dying. He wants Lara to have
another baby. After experiencing a
healing moment while delivering flowers to a new mother, she is able to promise
him she will try. However, after he
dies, Lara’s conversation with her husband, Michael, leads to a shocking
revelation that sends Lara whirling with grief on several levels.
Her
brother Phil, who has always been her biggest supporter, fills in and speaks
truth at just the right time. He has his own story intertwined with his
sister’s chronicle which at first seems unrelated but is actually part of this
novel’s essence of being true to one’s self.
The Flower Arrangement… is a relaxing, satisfying read. It doesn’t matter whether the reader loves,
hates, or couldn’t care either way about the numerous varieties of
flowers. It’s about the rightness of
certain flowers expressing the mood of the past, present and future for each
person entering Lara’s world of beauty and peace. Honesty, loneliness, grief,
bereavement, truth and wisdom fill these pages with wisdom transcending the
simplest of plots or characterization.
Nicely crafted and recommended reading!
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