Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin

As I finished Valérie Perrin's novel Three this month, I wanted to transfer my review for Fresh Water for Flowers here.  I  read this one last August so if you've followed me on Goodreads you'll have seen it there. 

This was my first book by Valérie Perrin and I look forward to reading more of her work.  I discovered this author through Goodreads and the Women in Translation project which is celebrated in August.

The description for this book states Violette Sousaint is a caretaker at a cemetery in a small town in France. She lives on the grounds, opening the gates in the morning to receive visitors and funerals, caring for the flower and vegetable gardens, closing the gates at night. 

I like the beginnings of each chapter with a the epitaphs:

His life was a lovely memory, His absence a silent agony.

We lived together in bliss, We rest together in peace.

They'll always be someone missing to make my life smile: you.

The epitaphs seem to "ward off the passage of time.  Death begins when no one can dream of you any longer."

"There are more than a thousand photographs scattered across the cemetery. On the day all of those photos were taken, none of the men, women, childen could have thought that that moment would represent them for all eternity.   It was the day of a birthday, a family meal, a walk in the park, at a wedding...."

Violette is a wonderful character.  The chapters will abruptly switch to another timeline where you'll get more of her back story.  She was thought dead when she was born, roused by a nurse yet unwanted by her mother.  She went through life in foster care, hoping to be adopted and belong.  She never was wanted by any family. When she became of age to work, pouring drinks at a local bar she met her husband. The stunningly gorgeous Phillipe Toussaint singled her out and took her home. He may have been a handsome devil but he is also a scoundral. Once they had a daughter it seemed Violette's life was whole as she had what she always wanted - a family.

The back stories are not only of Violette.  The people interred have stories as well.  The visitors to the graves sit with Violette and pour out their hearts.  It's all entwined how a mourning lover still leaves flowers or tokens on a lover's tomb, only to swept away by the widow when she visits. 

A turning point comes when a policeman named Julian Sole arrives to ask questions about Gabriel Prudent, a man his mother Irene wants to be buried with. This man Prudent is a stranger to him but through his mother's journals, Irene and Gabriel's story unfolds in future chapters. 

The story about Violette's daughter will break your heart. As you read you'll find love, hope, sorrow and grief.

This book was touching, moving slowly but not boring, learning about so many people and their stories then wrapping it up with several revelations I never considered.

Perrin's next novel is titled Three, also translated by Hildegarde Serle.

Review coming up.........

Getting current here on my February books.........

It's been a while since I book blogged...burnt out on the food blogging but books have always pulled me back to the keyboard.  Here are three of my February books. 

Beyond That, the Sea is a book spanning decades.

The working class family Reg and Millie Thompson decide to send their young daughter Beatrix from London to America during WW II.  The girl doesn't want to go but joins other children in relocation, safe from the bombs and destruction.

All the chapters are short and told from different viewpoints.  There is the Thompson family in London and the Gregory family in the U.S.  Nancy and Ethan Gregory have two sons, William and Gerald.  They welcome Beatrix with open arms and she eventually blends into their family, becoming the daughter they never had.

Meanwhile Millie is missing her daughter, feeling like she is missing out on Beatrix's childhood and indeed she is.  Mille and Reg are dealing with war, food shortages, burnt out buildings and hardship.   Bea, as the American family call her, lives with the Gregory family for five years and has many wonderful experiences.

Over the decades the stories are about love, death, disappointment, friendship and hope.  The settings are New York, Boston, Maine and London. 4.5 stars

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When All is Said by Anne Griffin is reflective story of a man's life and the people who meant the most to him.

Eighty-four year old widower Maurice Hannigan reflects on his life as he sits on a barstool, raising a toast to the five people he loved the most and the influences of others (not always positive) who shaped his life. He starts with his brother Tony and sips a stout, moving on to the other dear people in his life with a different whiskey and ale for each.

As he reflects on his regrets, triumphs, grief and revelations you are transported to another time when he was younger. I loved all of this book and true to Irish literature there are very sad moments.

The story unfolds and intertwines with the lives of the rich Dollard family and how they effected each other. Near the end some fairly interesting twists came to light.

The setting is Meath Ireland.

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Skylight by Jose Saramango

This is a novel translated from Portuguese by a Nobel Prize winner author. It's a slice of life from the 1950's in a small town, getting into the everyday lives of regular people. There are fractured relationships, secrets, love and deception.

Something I found interesting was the preface explaining about the author and how this novel came to be published after his death. He sent it to a publisher and unbeknowst to him, it was placed in a drawer and forgotten for over 30 years. When the company was moving to a different location the manuscript was discovered.

Imagine 30+ years later getting a call about this manuscript. Saramago immediately went to pick up his typed work, was offered to have to publsihed and he declined. He stated you must respect people and so he wouldn't have it published until after his death.
I rounded up to 4 stars.

One more to go and I'll start my March book stats.  So far, so good :-)

The Women by Kristen Hannah

This was a wonderfully written novel and I am glad I picked this up from the library, even if it was by accident as I meant to cancel the hold.  Having tried two other novels by Hannah which were DNF (Firefly Girls and The Great Alone) I'd decided she wasn't an author I would like to read.  This one hit it out of the park.

It covers so much about the Vietnam war from the outlook of nurse Frances "Frankie" McGraff.  She grew up in California in an affluent family and hadn't encountered hardships in her life.  She was working towards her nursing degree and excelled in her studies, wanted to make a difference. Frankie was naive as she was entrenched in a privileged  society where realties of working class life were never experienced.  All her parents  wanted was for her to get married, have children and be part of the country club group.  Then, when gazing at that wall of heroes in her father's office, her brother's friend asked why there weren't any photos of women there and told her women could be heroes too.

Frankie's brother Finley was about to be deployed to Vietnam and would, one day, earn his place on that "wall of heros," praised for his upcoming military service to Vietnam. Two different standards upheld for sons and daughters.....those will infuriate you when you read how Frankie was treated after her service as a MASH nurse.

I got ahead of myself but that was the beginning.  Frankie was hired as a nurse at a local hospital and despite her excellent skills all they had her do was get water for the patients, empty bedpans and basically be a candy striper.  She ended up joining the Army was sent to Vietnam for a hefty dose of culture and reality shock.

The book is graphic, devastating, tells of the horrific injuries that soldiers - basically teenagers - suffered when they were brought into the MASH unit.  Frankie grew up fast as she experienced what combat nursing entailed, the realities of war and the realization our government didn't share the truth about the war with the public.  They said there weren't any women in Vietman.  They said there were zero casualties for days when Frankie and the other medical personnel saw scores of body bags ready to ship home, held the hands of those who were dying with no expectation of survival.

Returning home, nurses were experiencing PTSD along with the soldiers but they were denied help at the V.A. and support groups because....women weren't in Vietnam. The nurses and the soldiers were treated abominably when they returned home - spit on, called nazis and child killers.  People who had zero idea about the bloody TET offensive, POWs or the hours selfless doctors and nurses worked to save as many boys as they could.

This book is not chick lit - you will read about depression, drug addiction, war and injuries and death sustained.....I am glad I read this one.  It's amazing and near the end, I most certainly had tears in my eyes.