Fresh Water for Flowers

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Immediately afterward, she receives a mysterious plaque with the words “My darling, you were born on September 3 rd, died on July 13 th, but to me, you will always be my August 15 th.” Seeing the inscribed words, she suddenly comes to a realization. She decides to find out the truth about how the fire started. For the first time in months, she visits the cemetery where her daughter is buried. She meets the cemetery keeper there and strikes up a friendship with him. 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.

This book is about life and death. It is about grief and memories. This book left me feeling hopeful. After 2020, we all could use more hope and faith. Perrin chooses to slowly reveal Violette’s story, through Violette’s narration, skipping around in time. From her we learn of her stark childhood, her tragic marriage, her life as a mother, her life as a bartender and crossing keeper, and her final job as a cemetery attendant. We “feel” how Violette was diminished, mistreated, degraded throughout her life. Her resilience is astounding. Valérie Perrin, born in 1967 amidst the picturesque Vosges Mountains in Remiremont, France, is a celebrated author whose storytelling prowess has touched hearts around the world. Violette Trenet got off to a bad start. She was abandoned at birth and raised in a succession of foster homes. At seventeen, waitressing at a bar, she met Philippe Toussaint. "The first months of my life with Philippe, I was on a perpetual high...but...I think he was already cheating on me...he went for rides on his motorbike...Philippe only worked occasionally". Their daughter Leonine, born in 1986, brought Violette her greatest joy. Leonine amused her father Philippe for a few minutes but then he was off cruising on his motorbike. Violette’s real home was out in the courtyard. She knew almost every dead person, their location, their death, everything.Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin is a moving novel of love, loss , grief and life. The protagonist Violette is a cemetery keeper who lives alone in a house on the premises of the cemetery she looks after. Abandoned by her husband years ago she spends her days taking great care of the cemetery , growing flowers , cleaning headstones , reading epitaphs and meeting people to whom she provides comfort in their times of bereavement and distress. We also learn about Violette's overbearing mother-in-law, who raises her son to be a selfish narcissist; Hope you enjoyed my book club discussion questions and reading guide for Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin! 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 . Violette and Philippe are soon living in a small house in a French town, working as level crossing keepers.

Violette endures a challenging and intricate relationship with Philippe, accepting their unconventional living arrangement for an extended period. Analyze the psychological and emotional factors that might have influenced Violette’s decision to remain in such a situation. How does her traumatic past play a role in her choices? Did the story inspire me? Did the stories have me think deeply, challenge my thoughts, and see something different? Or learn anything new?

What Are Aquatic Flowers?

You must learn to be generous with your absence to those who haven’t understood the importance of your presence. After 10 weeks of posting (and being a regular reader) here, I wrote a thank you note to TLS and many of its participants. After nine more weeks, I feel even more indebted.

Sex when it intersects with love is written beautifully here. There are scenes where anticipation is palpable and scenes where lovers are in bed together for days. Perrin writes lovemaking that's sensuous, at times voluptuous. What sex she writes is visceral, and I was in awe that Perrin did it without ever being explicit. There's the feel of a finger tracing a body, rhythms and shudders and sweat, yet I can't recall mention of a single body part. I have no problem with explicit sex yet here I found less was more in a way that was, well, gratifying. Because this is realism there is, of course, love that's unhealthy -- 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.This story is so full of people, their sorrows and passions, their hopes and secrets. Love and longing plays a huge part in the story and the stories are told over a myriad of timelines. For the last 30 years Violette has had her cemetery, garden, cats, dogs, and the people that work there or visit regularly. This is her holding pattern and she doesn't expect anything more than what she has right now. Remarkably, this is a gentle tale in that it is Violette who sets the tone of the story. Although her life seems to be one tragedy after another, she perseveres. She creates moments of tenderness. Perrin’s lyrical style of writing makes this a tender read. Themes of grief, loneliness, faith, death, marriage, parenting are explored with care. Violette remained steadfast in her compassion and empathy towards others. I am in awe of protagonist Violette’s endurance, her steadfast resolve in soldering on, in the face of disappointment and loss. Violette is a rare character who exhibits the fortitude of the human condition.

For a woman like me, not feeling compassion would be like being an astronaut, a surgeon, a volcanologist, or a geneticist. Not part of my planet, or my skill set.” ~ Violette Overstuffed, at times rambling, but colorful and highly enjoyable and pulled together by an engaging narrator. Cabomba Aquatica is a popular type of water plant with stems that usually reach the surface during flower production I hope you and your book club will enjoy my discussion reading guide for Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin.✨ Violette and her husband Philippe experience a tragedy that adds a mystery element to the story, and we start to see more into his character and motivations. He is pretty unlikable with his cheating and lazy ways, but he becomes a character to sympathize with after the tragedy.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. 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): My teacher fell in love with the little poem I’d written on the theme of abandonment and empathy. She had it printed and we all studied my piece in class. Since I was a bad pupil who didn’t like school, I’ve never forgotten that extraordinary event. Tell me a little more about the path that led to the publication of your first novel. Reflect on the role of fate and coincidences in the lives of the characters. How do chance encounters, like Julien bringing his mother’s ashes to a stranger’s grave, shape the course of their lives and their relationships? What an absolutely phenomenal book! The perfect book to start 2021. I have a feeling that this one already made it to my top ten of 2021.