book the language of flowers by vanessa diffenbaugh

On the day of her eviction into unassisted adulthood Victoria takes her flowers and moves into the concealed shrubbery of the town's recreactional area. She spends her days stealing flowers from communal flower beds and people's gardens to plant them in milk cartons, unconcerned about flooding and molding the carpet. On the contrary: She does not use her final three months time in the transition home to hunt for a job and find a room. But somehow Victoria left and was made to leave foster family after foster family, fought in between for affection, food and physical integrity among cruel or indifferent caretakers and fellow foster kids as emotionally messed up and adapted to the loveless situations of their short lives as herself, botched up her last and only chance at a permanent solution at the age of eleven, drove Meredith crazy for the remaining seven years by countless court trials and group home fights and now, on her eighteen's birthday, the day the State of California finally rids itself from the responsibily of its parentless ward's well-being, she does not react as frightened and subdued as Meredith wished her to. A dark blotch on her white sheet of professional accomplishments: For Victoria has been a foundling baby, abandoned at an age that usually makes finding families willing to adopt an easy task. Even social worker Meredith sees her only as a failure she personally doesn't deserve. There is nothing victorious about Victoria apart from the fact that she survived to see her eighteen's birthday.

I will try to explain how this unceremonious drop around the middle of the story came to pass after introducing Victoria to you. The elegantly worded The Language of Flowers made me invest quite a lot during the first chapters, but gambled all my affection away later on.

Book the language of flowers by vanessa diffenbaugh