By Holly Ringland
Anansi
They say you can never judge a book by its cover, but in the case of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, they’re wrong.
The cover is beautiful and complex – so is the story inside. The cover has a black background that is bursting with about 20 different varieties of colourful flowers. The story inside is dark – yes, it is – but it has flowers – beautiful, light, sensual flowers – as its backbone.
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is the story of Alice Hart, beginning from her early childhood. She’s growing up in Australia, but not the everyday version of Australia. Something is very wrong in her life – she doesn’t go to school, her mother is troubled, her father is angry. Eventually, a traumatic event separates Alice from her parents forever and she goes to live with her grandmother, June. Because of the dysfunction, she had never met her grandmother before.
June lives on a flower farm called Thornfield, where she teaches Alice the language of flowers, or the hidden meaning behind each species of flower.
Alice grows up not knowing the truth of her childhood, but the truth is always there, following her, shaping her personality. When she’s betrayed as an adult, the trauma of the earlier events rises back to the surface, causing Alice to completely change her life.
There is a sense of magic, of fate, in this novel. As I was reading it, I was reminded of the style of one of my favourite authors, Alice Hoffman. Later in the book, author Holly Ringland uses a quote by Hoffman to begin a chapter. In an author’s note at the end, RIngland thanks Hoffman for encouraging her and says, “Thank you for writing the books that I have carried with me around the world, they have shown me the way to be brave and to believe.” So clearly, Hoffman was an inspiration and it shows. In a good way.
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart hooked me in from the first page. Towards the end, it kept me up late turning pages. It’s a beautiful story, lovingly told.
Tracy.sherlock@gmail.com
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