The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
Having grown up in a house and an area where domestic violence was the norm, and in an era when it was not spoken about, this debut novel from Holly Ringland resonated with me.
Alice learned to use flowers to say the things she could not speak. Her mother, grandmother and great grandmother had violent fathers and loved abusive men, men unworthy of them. They found a voice through the Australian wild-flowers they grew and Alice learned well from them. Too well perhaps as we come to see when Alice falls in love.
Each Chapter is prefaced with a wild-flower and its meaning and each section by an excerpt from Tennyson, Sappho, Emily Bronte and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The flowers become a sub-text for the plot, such as 'Black Fire Orchid' which introduces the fire that took so much from Alice, and 'Blue Lady Orchid' (Chapter 15) which means Consumed by love.
The settings are beautifully drawn and the different environments seem like characters; the ocean on the east coast of Australia, the deserts of the inland, the river that Alice dreams will carry her back to her beloved ocean home, and the brilliant sunsets over the red earth of the outback. Books also feature in the story as keys for Alice to discover and empower herself as she grows up.
Fairy tales are referenced in the text, along with the flowers and their meanings. And there are myths and stories from different cultures, told to Alice by Twig, her Koori carer, Lulu, a Mexican friend and Ruby, a Park Ranger, from whom Alice learns the power of story to heal.
For a long time, Alice thought her colour was blue, like the Alice she met in Wonderland, but when she flees from her family to find herself, she discovers that she is red. Her flower is the Sturt's Desert Pea, which means 'have courage, take heart.'
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart shines a light on a dark subject, one that is finally being openly discussed. It is an absorbing story and will keep you enthralled until the very end.
Alice learned to use flowers to say the things she could not speak. Her mother, grandmother and great grandmother had violent fathers and loved abusive men, men unworthy of them. They found a voice through the Australian wild-flowers they grew and Alice learned well from them. Too well perhaps as we come to see when Alice falls in love.
Each Chapter is prefaced with a wild-flower and its meaning and each section by an excerpt from Tennyson, Sappho, Emily Bronte and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The flowers become a sub-text for the plot, such as 'Black Fire Orchid' which introduces the fire that took so much from Alice, and 'Blue Lady Orchid' (Chapter 15) which means Consumed by love.
The settings are beautifully drawn and the different environments seem like characters; the ocean on the east coast of Australia, the deserts of the inland, the river that Alice dreams will carry her back to her beloved ocean home, and the brilliant sunsets over the red earth of the outback. Books also feature in the story as keys for Alice to discover and empower herself as she grows up.
Fairy tales are referenced in the text, along with the flowers and their meanings. And there are myths and stories from different cultures, told to Alice by Twig, her Koori carer, Lulu, a Mexican friend and Ruby, a Park Ranger, from whom Alice learns the power of story to heal.
For a long time, Alice thought her colour was blue, like the Alice she met in Wonderland, but when she flees from her family to find herself, she discovers that she is red. Her flower is the Sturt's Desert Pea, which means 'have courage, take heart.'
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart shines a light on a dark subject, one that is finally being openly discussed. It is an absorbing story and will keep you enthralled until the very end.
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