Fresh Water for Flowers

TRANSLATED FROM FRENCH. Intimately told story of Violette, survivor of foster childhood, marries a man without ambition, supports them both and their child raising/lowering train stanchions about 20 hours a day. In spite of all that, she strives for a happy life. Daughter died at 6 in tragic accident which devastated V. Eventually becomes caretake of cemetery where daughter is buried. Her life, though lived in solitude, was full of colorful characters and a lot of daily activity. Her husband eventually disappeared from her life when he found out that his parents were responsible for the accident that killed their daughter. It's written in the first person and reads almost like a personal journal of her life and that of the people and events around her. emotional - hopeful - inspiring - reflective - tense Well-developed characters. Loved it.

“As I go to bed, I think how awful it would be to die in the middle of reading a good novel.”

This was one of the most beautiful books I've read in recent years. Valérie writing is beautiful, and I lost count of how many times the story broke my heart and put it together just to break it later again.
It is one of those books you just need to slow down the reading speed to savor each words and let the sentences fill your heart and soul. I cried, smiled, and now I'm not sure what to do with myself.

Violette is a cemetery caretaker, and though this might appear to be a terrible sad job and environment, it ends up being more about a celebration of love and life. About picking up broken pieces and find ways to move on, watering what can grow and keep living. It depends on the lens we choose to use when looking at death, and this novel shows it perfectly.

”Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow.”“When we miss one person, everywhere becomes deserted”

This story, as life, is full of lovely and awful characters, good, neutral, bad and terrible moments. It shows different forms of grief, love and the normalcy of living.

“It will avoid unspoken resentment, lamentment, and all that.” “What's lamentment'?”“It's a word I invented to combine melancholy, guilt, regrets, steps forward, and steps backward. Everything that really bugs us in life, in other words. That holds us back.”

I might reread it in Portuguese as, although the English translation is beautiful, I just know it would translate better to other neo-latin language. I wished I knew French enough to read the original version.

“Make love. I'd like to take off all your beige and make you see all the colors of the rainbow.““I have absolutely no desire that, one day, your ashes end up on my tomb. I couldn't care less, in fact. I want to live with you now, right now. While we can still gaze at the sky together . . . Even when it's pouring like today.”

This novel is also a mystery book, and although I enjoyed it a bit less when the mystery kicked in, I couldn't rate something that left me this emotional with less than 5 stars.

It might not be for everyone one as it is very “French”/ “European” and it includes themes that I know bother a lot of readers. If you don't mind reading about those, do pick up this book! It is worthy!

TW - Cheating, loss of a child, sexual assault, death

This is one of those quiet novels that is full of drama! Following the life of Violette Toussaint, former level-crossing keeper, now a cemetery keeper. In dual timelines we follow her life with Philippe Toussaint who left her, and her tentative new relationship with detective Julien, and the troubles in her past that she needs to acknowledge and deal with and a mystery for Julien to solve. Violette is a wonderful narrator, and the pages just flew by. I loved it. Full review on my blog https://annabookbel.net/one-translator-two-novelists-two-translated-by-hildegarde-serle