Justine is 21 years old and has lived with her grandparents and cousin Jules since the death of her parents. She works as a carer at a retirement home and spends her days listening to her residents’ stories.
After bonding with Hélène, an almost 100-year-old resident, the two women slowly reveal their stories to one another. Whilst Justine helps Hélène to relive her memories of love and war, Hélène encourages Justine to confront the secrets of her own past, and the loss she has buried deep within.
One day, trouble arrives in the form of a mysterious phone call that shakes the retirement home to its core and uncovers a shocking revelation. At once humorous and melancholic, Valérie Perrin’s debut novel is a story of how the past can shape our present, and the scars of undeclared love.
Review
"An endearing and original heroine, a surprising setting, a talented author." - ELLE
"What may on the surface of it appear gloomy and morose, in Perrin's hands is an appealing indulgence in nature, food and drink, and, above all, friendships." - The Guardian
"Beautiful." - L’Express
"A beautiful, intensely atmospheric bittersweet dream of a book." - Matt Haig (on Fresh Water for Flowers)
"Valerie Perrin’s delightful Fresh Water for Flowers is a funny and moving story of one woman’s belief that everything will turn out right." - Stylist (on the million copy international bestseller Fresh Water for Flowers)
About the Author
Valérie Perrin grew up in Burgundy and settled in Paris in 1986. Her novel Forgotten on Sunday won the Booksellers Choice Award. Her English-language debut, Fresh Water for Flowers won the Maison de la Presse Prize, the Paperback Readers Prize, and was named a 2020 ABA Indies Introduce and Indie Next List title. Fresh Water for Flowers has been translated to over thirty languages, and sold over 1 million copies worldwide.
Since graduating in French from Oxford University, Hildegarde Serle has worked in London as a subeditor, mainly on The Independent. In 2011, she did the CIOL Diploma in Translation. She still lives in London, but her heart lives on the Quai aux Fleurs in Paris.
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