6 Great Books Inspired By Flowers

Are you an avid reader? Do you love flowers? Why not combine your two loves into a relaxing, soul filling experience. World Book Day is April 23^rd and in honor of this literary celebration, we have collected a list of 6 books inspired by flowers for your reading enjoyment.

Imagine sitting down in a comfy chair, with a hot cup of tea (or an iced tea if you’re sweating it out in the humidity of summer,) and a good novel. Doesn’t that sound fantastically soothing? And (hint, hint) you can complete the mood by surrounding yourself with boxes of Don de Fleurs® sweet smelling preserved roses…just sayin’.

But if you’re at a loss of what to read, look no more. Without further ado, let’s bring in the books!

The Secret Gardenby Frances Hodgson Burnett

“As long as you have a garden you have a future and as long as you have a future you are alive.”

The Secret Garden is a classic. The novel follows the life of orphaned Mary Lennox who is sent to live with her uncle, where she finds a beautiful secret garden with a mysterious past. While the garden is home to many flowers, the rose takes center stage, making this enduring classic of children’s literature a personal favorite of ours.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotelby Deborah Moggach

“Can’t we just send him away somewhere? Somewhere far, far away.”

When Ravi Kapoor, an overworked London doctor, reaches the breaking point with his difficult father-in-law. His problem is seemingly resolved when Ravi’s entrepreneurial cousin sets up a retirement home in India, hoping to re-create in Bangalore an elegant lost corner of England. Several retirees are enticed by the promise of indulgent living at a bargain price, but upon arriving, they are dismayed to find that restoration of the once sophisticated hotel has stalled, and that such amenities as water and electricity are . . . infrequent. But what their new life lacks in luxury, they come to find, is plentiful in adventure, stunning beauty, and unexpected love.

The Perks of Being a Wallflowerby Stephen Chbosky

“He's a wallflower. You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand.”

Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts high schooler Charlie on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

“I closed my eyes to watch tiny dancers like jeweled birds cross the dark screen of my eyelids.”

The unforgettable story of Ingrid, a brilliant poet imprisoned for murder, and her daughter, Astrid, whose odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes--each its own universe, with its own laws, its own dangers, its own hard lessons to be learned--becomes a redeeming and surprising journey of self-discovery. 

The Rose Gardenby Susanna Kearsley

“Tis never the place, but the people one shares it with who are the cause of our happiest memories.”

When Eva finally accepts that she is able to slip between centuries and see and talk to the inhabitants from hundreds of years ago, she soon finds herself falling for Daniel Butler, a man who lived - and died - long before she herself was born. Eva begins to question her place in the present, and in laying her sister to rest, comes to realize that she too must decide where she really belongs, choosing between the life she knows and the past she feels so drawn towards.

Desert Flowerby Waris Dirie & Cathleen Miller

“My mother named me after a miracle of nature: Waris means desert flower. The desert flower blooms in a barren environment where few living things can survive.”

Illiterate and impoverished, with nothing to her name but a tattered shawl, Waris Dirie ran away from her oppressive life in the African desert. She traveled alone across the dangerous Somali desert to Mogadishu — the first leg of a remarkable journey that would take her to London, where she worked as a house servant; then to nearly every corner of the globe as an internationally renowned fashion model; and ultimately to New York City, where she became a human rights ambassador for the U.N. Desert Flower is her extraordinary story.

Not only are they beautiful to look at, but through symbolism both on and off the pages of a novel, flowers have always had a language of their own. So, if you’re so inclined, settle in with a good book in your perfect reading nook (Dr. Suess anyone?), a cuppa (for you British readers), a beautiful bouquet of preserved roses and float away to a world hidden within the written word. Happy reading!

Source: Goodreads