The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is a gorgeously written book that delves deep into emotions, not shying away from difficult and painful topics.
I loved the characters in this book, Alice especially, for all her flaws and complexities. Her traumatic past doesn't stop her from living life, growing and coming to terms with her past as time goes by. The secondary characters (the women who live on June's farm in particular) were wonderful to read about as well, and I grew to like June too. The descriptions of the gorgeous nature surrounding the characters were top-notch and definitely added a lot to the book.

CW: death, violence, domestic abuse

The heartbreaking story of Alice Hart, a young child dealing with an abusive father and beaten mother. When her attempt to fix things herself has tragic consequences, Alice has to learn to live with June, the grandmother she has never met. While the other ladies living and working at June's flower farm are friendly, the weight of all the secrets that June is carrying cause her relationship with Alice to be strained and difficult.
As Alice grows up, she is determined to find her own way in life, while at the same time just wants to find somewhere she can belong.
I enjoyed the first half of the book, while Alice is still a child, a lot more than Alice as an adult. There were many touching, heart felt moments and I loved the language of flowers.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is a beautifully written journey for all the senses.
It is an incredible tale of love and magic with dark undertones.
It was a refreshing change to read a book set in Austrailia and I thought that centring the story around a flower farm was brilliant.

This is a truly beautiful tear-jerking book, with both incredible settings and characters.

An unforgettable read.

Set in Eastern Australia, this story is about Alice, a 9 year old girl who finds herself moving to live with her grandmother following a family tragedy. Alice has never before met her grandmother, yet there is something familiar about her face. June (Grandma) owns Thornfield, a farm that grows native Australian flowers and plants, and she takes in and employs women called 'Flowers', each with her own sad story.

Each chapter of this book begins with the description of a flower or plant, including its physical appearance, where it can be found and what that specimen 'means' according to the Thornfield Dictionary, a book of stories and knowledge written by the women of the family and passed down through the generations. As Alice grows older she tries to get her Grandmother to open up and tell her about her family. Alice knows there are many deep secrets but June thinks she is protecting Alice by keeping her in the dark, preferring to use the language of the flowers she grows instead of speaking the actual words that Alice desperately needs to hear. But eventually, despite all the lies and half truths, the secrets find a way through the flowers.

I loved this book. At times it reminded me a tiny bit of Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen and Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic, probably due to the story being mainly focused on the women (though there are a few chaps too, and dogs!), and with plants and flowers being more than than just for decoration. Having said that, there is no actual 'magic' in this book, though there is a little talk of curses and folklore and fairy tales.

A beautifully written, heartbreaking story that will stay with me for a long time.

Alice spends her days hiding from her father, and helping her bruised, fragile mother tend to the garden. She’s kept away from school, family and the local village. But then one day tragedy strikes and Alice’s world starts to open up. Can she put her demons aside, or is she destined to repeat her parents’ mistakes? A perfect summer read, although you may find it a struggle to tear yourself away.

‘Behind her the sugar cane stalks were as vividly green as she remembered. The cane seems shorter, but the air was still sweet and humid. She envisioned herself as a seven year old, running through the stalks to emerge barefoot and silent into the new and excited world beyond the boundaries or her home’. #thelostflowersofalicehart- ⭐️⭐️⭐️
.
.
.
I was lucky enough to receive my ebook copy of #thelostflowersofalicehart by #hollyringland for free from @netgalley and @mantlepressbooks.
This story is a sweeping account of Alice Hart who gets caught up in a cycle of abuse that has effected her family for generations. In order to find and free herself she must step outside her fabricated and controlled life and write her own story, a story spoken with flowers, of loss and of home.
It’s good to find a book with a sweet original quirk like this one as I found the language of flowers theme that runs through the story adds a sweet whimsy touch to a harsh story. In addition the scene imaginary is so beautifully detailed it also adds a soft to edge.
But don’t be fooled this book has weight behind it and was compelling from the very start, it could pull at the heart strings of any female that’s experienced abuse, control, or a sense that her life isn’t her own.
The book is released on June 28th 2018 so preorder the gem for the end of the month!

A beautiful read. Alice Hart lives with her parents, isolated in their farmhouse, fearing her father's violence on a daily basis. Following tragedy, she moves to live with June, her grandmother, on the Thornfield flower farm with the other Flowers - all girls with difficult histories.- where she learns the art of floriography - the language of flowers. Alice's relationship with her grandmother is often difficult and she moves on to a national park for a new start. Dysfunctional relationships continue to shape Alice's life and she strives to understand her own story using the language of flowers. As the pieces slot together, can Alice restart her story for good? A beautiful, emotional read, framed at every step with striking, evocative descriptions of Australia's flora. Highly recommended.

I loved this debut novel by Holly Ringland. It was well written with a difficult subject as it's theme. My only criticism is I felt the latter part of the book wasn't as good.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy.

I've yearned for a book like this for a while, especially since the last month had few books that made me feel like this did. I am not saying I did not read good books last month, just that they were not really for me. An hour into Alice's story and I was tearing up. I shed a tear for the child that Alice was, with her vivid imagination and poetic thoughts, I shed another for when her home situation becomes unstable enough to cause a major change in her life. Things then are supposed to settle down, pain is supposed to ease but human nature being what it is further hurdles come her way. 

Alice Hart is not safe in her home, its something she does not know at the age of nine or even before that. She does know to be careful. She feels peace with the flowers her mother grew and sees her mother a whole other ethereal being amongst them. One day, a thought and a fire later Alice's known world has collapsed.She now moves into a home, where flowers are revered and hold special secrets, a few of them her mother did not have a chance to tell her about before. That is the first phase of the book. Then there is another as she's older but not any wiser about her past. This is the story of her journey and of the hearts that she connects with on the way(Their story is given equal importance). I am not saying I liked all of the book, but the parts I did overshadowed the others to reduce it to almost non-existence. The writing has a depth which has refreshed my mind for whatever I read next. It has given me new respect for flowers.

I really loved this book and was gripped from the first few pages. Alice dreams of freedom but the only way to achieve the freedom she desires is to face herself and her story. Heartbreaking, heartwarming, raw and honest. A wonderful debut novel.

Based on the blurb I was really interested in reading this book.
The story of Alice and her family, and the past she slowly uncovers as the book progresses. I am not sure I particularly liked Alice as a character so found it hard to get in to the book.