Harry Bennett Branch Book Discussion via Zoom: Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin

Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin, translated by Hildegarde Serle

Violette Toussaint is the caretaker at a cemetery in a small town in Bourgogne. Casual mourners, regular visitors and sundry colleagues—gravediggers, groundskeepers and a priest—visit her to warm themselves in her lodge, where laughter, companionship and occasional tears mix with the coffee she offers them. Her life is lived to the rhythms of their funny, moving confidences.

This routine is disrupted one day by the arrival of Julien Seul, a police chief who wishes to scatter the ashes of his recently deceased mother on the gravesite of a complete stranger. It soon becomes clear that Julien’s inexplicable gesture is intertwined with Violette’s own difficult past.

With Fresh Water for Flowers, Valérie Perrin has given readers an intimately told story that tugs on the heartstrings about a woman who believes obstinately in happiness, despite it all. A number one bestseller in France, Fresh Water for Flowers is a heartwarming and tender story that will stay will readers for years after the final page is turned.