The Language of Flowers

Victoria Jones is The Language of Flowers’s first-person narrator and protagonist. She is described as having dark hair and bright blue eyes, and is slender—the result of food-centric abuse at the hands of foster parents and group homes. Victoria herself is “satisfied to see that I was neither attractive nor repulsive” (19). She is antisocial and distrusting, often becoming uncomfortable when people try to touch her. She does not know, nor has a desire to know, her biological parents. When Victoria becomes a mother, she feels sympathy for her parents, but turns to her foster mother Elizabeth for comfort.

Victoria’s preferred method of communication is the language of flowers, a secret form of messaging developed during the Victorian Era. Each flower is representative of a word or feeling, and different combinations can be used to send a private message. Elizabeth teaches Victoria this style of communication when she is 10 years old, but it is not until the latter encounters Grant in the flower market that anyone recognizes what she is saying. The language of flowers influences Victoria’s work as she integrates her knowledge into unique bouquets that take on a magical quality.