The Flourishing of Floralie Laurel

by Fiadhnait Moser

Overview

This middle grade, magical realism debut about a young girl who sets out to discover the truth behind her mother's disappearance is The Secret Garden meets the Book Scavenger series!

Floralie Laurel, freshly expelled from Mrs. Coffrey's School for Young Girls, works as a flower seller in an English village with her guardian brother, Tom, miles and miles away from their real home in France. Tom and Floralie are drowning in debt, but fortunately, Grandmama arrives to save them. Unfortunately, Grandmama's idea of "saving" means sending Floralie to the Adelaide Laurel Orphanage for Unfortunate Children and shaping her into a proper lady-i.e., ridding her of imagination, daydreams, paintings, and poetry.

Before Grandmama can take her away, Floralie discovers a hidden box of dried flowers and a letter from her mother, who had mysteriously disappeared years ago. The letter promises that the flowers will lead Floralie to Mama if Floralie decodes them with a floriography-a dictionary of flower meanings-written by Claude Monet's gardener.

Accompanied by an orphan boy who speaks only on paper, a blind librarian, and a thieving dormouse, Floralie sets off for Monet's house in France to find Mama. But Mama's fate may not be quite as Floralie expected, and the gardener may be hiding secrets deeper than Monet's water lily ponds....

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781499806687
Publisher:	little bee books
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	948,906
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Fiadhnait Moser has studied creative writing, dance, and visual art. When she is not writing, she can be found oil painting, taking photographs, speaking French, or choreographing. She teaches Irish and contemporary dance at her own studio, the Fiadhnait Moser School of Dance. She also teaches preschool. She grew up in the Boston area and currently lives in Vermont. The Flourishing of Floralie Laurel is her debut novel.

Editorial Reviews

03/19/2018
In 1927, 11-year-old Floralie and her brother, Tom, live on their own in an English village, supported by their grandmother, who disapproves of Floralie’s lack of proper manners and passion for painting. Flashbacks reveal the story of the children’s parents: their dynamic, flower-loving mother, who was taken away after a breakdown, as well as their abusive, deceased father. When their grandmother announces that Floralie will now live with her at the orphanage she runs, to begin training to be a “proper wife,” Floralie is distraught. Then, with her new friend, Nino, a boy who has escaped the orphanage, she discovers a letter from her mother with a series of flower clues that might lead Floralie to find her. The key to deciphering the meaning of each flower is a dictionary, and the only remaining copy is owned by the gardener at Giverny, Monet’s estate and the town where Floralie once lived. Together with Miss Clairoux, a librarian with a secret family connection, they set off for Giverny, uncovering lost relatives along the way and scrambling to escape the henchmen Floralie’s grandmother sends after her. Moser brings the era, with all its limitations for girls, to life and readers will sympathize with Floralie’s longing for more. This fast-paced and vibrant debut is packed with twists and turns that lead to a satisfying conclusion. Ages 10–14. Agent: Jaida Temperly, New Leaf Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

The Flourishing of Floralie Laurel is a vividly drawn debut that will stick with you long after the final page is turned. Moser's words are her paint and the page her canvas, and the result reads like a Monet masterpiece.

MarcyKate Connolly

In The Flourishing of Floralie Laurel, Moser places her words as carefully as Floralie's flowers, and shows how we can connect with each other, through time and distance, if we're willing to learn another's language at the risk of showing our imperfections.

Janel Kolby

A beautiful bouquet of lush language, magical landscapes, and colorful characters. Moser has written a story designed to be sipped and savored like nectar.

Laura Marx Fitzgerald

In The Flourishing of Floralie Laurel, Moser places her words as carefully as Floralie's flowers, and shows how we can connect with each other, through time and distance, if we're willing to learn another's language at the risk of showing our imperfections.

—Janel Kolby, author of WINTERFOLK

The Flourishing of Floralie Laurel is a vividly drawn debut that will stick with you long after the final page is turned. Moser’s words are her paint and the page her canvas, and the result reads like a Monet masterpiece.

—MarcyKate Connolly, New York Times Bestselling author of Shadow Weaver

A beautiful bouquet of lush language, magical landscapes, and colorful characters. Moser has written a story designed to be sipped and savored like nectar.

—Laura Marx Fitzgerald, award-winning author of UNDER THE EGG and THE GALLERY

From the Publisher

04/01/2018
Gr 5–8—From debut author Moser comes a Secret Garden—like tale that blends fairy-tale elements with an adventuresome mystery. Evil Grandmama wants to whisk young Floralie Laurel away from her brother's care in London to the Adelaide Laurel Orphanage for Unfortunate Children in order to mold her into a "proper young lady." Hoping to help Floralie avoid this fate are an orphan boy, Nino, who has selective mutism; his pet mouse that is known for stealing paper; and a blind librarian. Floralie finds a hidden box of dried flowers that may contain clues to the whereabouts of her missing mother, which leads the group on a journey to Monet's house in France. Nino expresses himself through poetry, while Floralie finds a creative outlet in painting flowers. Among the whimsy, somber elements emerge in the depiction of Floralie's father, who is an alcoholic and is verbally abusive. The luscious descriptions and light touch of fantasy make this an appealing tale for a wide variety of young readers. VERDICT A solid addition for large collections.—Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA

School Library Journal

2018-03-04
Sometimes family is the friends you make and sometimes the friends you make turn out to be family.In 1927 England, 11-year-old Floralie Alice Laurel and her older brother, Tom, survive by selling flowers—Floralie from a basket on the street and Tom from his shop. They also get help from their grandmother. However, Grandmama's help comes with strings attached. Grandmama owns an orphanage, and she is convinced that Floralie would be better off there and less likely to succumb to the mental illness experienced by their artist mother. In an effort to escape Grandmama's clutches and find her mother, Floralie accepts the help of a quiet boy living in the attic over the flower shop and the local librarian, who is blind. They escape with her to France to find someone who can decipher the flowers she found hidden in the wall of the attic. This confusing series of events relies heavily on coincidence and is delivered in language that is often as flowery as Floralie's sales job. Interesting flashbacks are woven well into the story, and the quirky relationship Floralie has with the world is intriguing. Mental illness plays a confusing role in the story, presented as an affliction that Floralie's mother suffers from but with no clear explanation or exploration of it. A few black-and-white sketches illustrate the cast of white characters.An ambitious story that suffers from a lack of clarity. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews