What a lovely book this is. I especially wanted to read this due to the nature of the book, with Emma working as a florist after leaving her scientist job. It has a great storyline and reinforces how flowers are part of our every day life and bring so much joy. There is a lovely friendship built up throughout the book between Emma, Les and Betty the garden centre owners.

Each chapter has a sub heading of a named flower which I thought was a great touch and the storyline centre around the titanic and Emma losing her husband has an intriguing element.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for allowing me to read this title in advance of publication and provide an honest review

Another fantastic read from Sally Page!

Emma is living in the aftermath of her husband’s sudden death and the revelation of some painful secrets. In attempt to rebuild her life she changes career to train as a florist at a local garden centre where she thrives amongst the flowers and is reminded of happy times gardening with her late father.

Prompted by a talk given by garden centre owner about the Titanic, Emma begins to research the floristry on the Titanic and tries to discover just who was responsible for the flowers at sea. This in turn tells the story of Violet, a stewardess but also a lover of flowers.

A beautiful story of love, loss and friendship, all wrapped up in a wonderful fragrant bouquet.

I absolutely loved this book.
I really felt for Emma who is struggling in her day to day life after the sudden death of her husband last year.
Emma works as a scientific researcher and knows in her heart that she needs a change, so decides to leave.
She gets a part time job at a garden centre as she has always loved flowers, and the owners Les and Betty take her under their wing.
Emma is invited to a talk Les is giving about the Titanic but when it comes to it, she can’t bring herself to go in there with all the other people.
Feeling guilty, she starts to look into the Titanic and is soon drawn to finding out about the flowers on the ship, and who arranged them.
This gives Emma a new purpose and soon Les and Betty are helping her find out more information.
Emma comes across a photograph of a woman who was on board and as soon as she sees her, she feels like she knows her and is connected to her.
There are also chapters from a young woman who had a difficult start in life and we learn her identity later in the book.
This is a lovely book about grief, love, friendship and the importance of flowers. The characters are very well portrayed and I really enjoyed this book.
Thanks to Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to read this book.

I so enjoyed this gentle story which followed the main character, Emma, as she is beginning to come to terms with the loss of her husband and finding comfort working with flowers. I adored the characters of Les and Betty, the owners of the garden centre where she worked when she needed a change of direction from her scientific research job. Les and Betty were such kind people and real friends to Emma. The author used to be a florist with her own shop and it is clear from the way she writes about them that she has a great love of flowers.

Flowers are so important at significant points of everyone’s lives: births, birthdays, celebrations and deaths. They are a tangible sign of love, that someone is thinking of you. It was so interesting to hear about the many different flowers included in the story and the meanings they often have assigned to them. I think it’s true what one of the other characters, Clem says ‘most flowers are sent from women to women…reaching out when their friends are celebrating or when they’re sad or grieving.”

Equally fascinating was the historical strand of the book about Violet, a stewardess on the Titanic. Emma becomes very intrigued by who would have been The Florist on the ship (Recently Obsessed she calls herself) and also why she feels a connection to a photograph of a nurse from Titanic. Her research takes her outside her comfort zone and she begins to really live again, making some good friends along the way. Violet is based on a real historical figure and her story really is quite astonishing, all the more so because the facts are true.

The Secrets of Flowers is a book about kindness, friendship and hope. It’s not without its tense moments, some of which had my heart in my mouth. Another beautifully written, engaging and heart-warming story from Sally Page.

The Secrets of Flowers is the second Sally Page book I’ve read and I enjoyed it just as much as her first.
Emma’s life has been turned upside down with the sudden death of her husband, someone she thought was the only person who truly understood her. Having worked for most of her adult life as a research scientist, after this tragedy she gives up her prestigious position to work among flowers at a garden centre.
The story is interwoven with a dual narrative of Violet, a stewardess of the White Star Line and the way that these two plot lines intertwine is really interesting. There is a lot of detail about the Titanic and the research the author has put into this is woven seamlessly into the novel.
Once Emma starts at the garden centre, she meets people who will change the course of her life and navigate the path of who she chooses to become. The narrative deals with big issues - like what happens when the family you have, is not the family you choose, infidelity, infertility, and death.
The issues never feel forced and both Violet and Emma are really likeable characters who readers will be rooting for from the start. I read it in about 48 hrs!

Overall 4.5 from me.

Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Secrets of Flowers is a beautiful book that explores the complexity of grief. It brings us into the world of Emma who has chosen to take a simpler path in life after the loss of her husband. It brings all the characters together in a way that demonstrates the kindness of strangers and adult friendships.
The story is a little slow at times but it develops the different stories and individuals well. A lovely book to curl up to as the autumn months approach.

What a beautiful book about a woman recovering from the loss of her husband when she gives up her job and starts work in the flower shed of her local garden centre. As she starts to finally grieve and face some home truths about her life she starts a new obsession around who would have been the florist on the Titanic. As she is drawn to the story of a young woman on the ship her life is changed in ways she never expected by the friendships she makes in the flower shed as she tries to rebuild her life. A beautiful read that will make you cry and smile in equal measure!

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I enjoyed this dual timeline book.

It’s about Emma(in the present) and Violet(in the past). It’s based on incidents that happened

The characters were all lovely and the story was well written and researched.

I highly recommend this book.

This was a lovely read and a very easy book to get into. The main character, Emma, is grieving following the death of her husband Will some months ago. But there is a complication with her grief that we learn about as the novel progresses, as she has discovered something about Will after his death that has cast doubt on their relationship and complicated her feelings towards him.

We meet Emma as she is struggling to come to terms with her loss, and trying to rebuild her life and confidence working in a garden centre with the friendly owners, Betty and Les. We get glimpses of the things she struggles with - such as social anxiety and worry about being accepted. It quickly becomes clear that this must be at least in part due to the influence of her mother - a brilliantly drawn character who is a solely negative influence on Emma.

Emma becomes drawn into investigating who organised the flowers on The Titanic. Through her research she meets various people and learns to be more accepting of herself and confident that she is someone who has things to offer.

I found Emma to be a very relatable and believable character who is immediately interesting. As a reader, I wanted to know more about her internal struggles and worries. Reading about the way her mother treats her - basically disapproving of everything Emma does - made me root for her even more and, having come across similar people, it made the situation interesting to read about.

Emma's struggle to reconcile her mind to her new knowledge about her husband is very well written. And Betty and Les are also great characters with unexpected pasts and hidden facets to their personalities.

As with The Book of Beginnings, this is a really lovely and gentle read that has lots to say about how people deal with loss, disappointment and insecurity, and also how people can turn their lives around. I would definitely recommend this book and anything else written by Sally Page.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed several books by Sally Page, I was eager to read The Secrets of Flowers, and I wasn’t disappointed.

It is a dual era story and while I didn’t really connect with the fictional current day character of Emma, a widow who gives up her research job to work in a garden centre following the death of her cheating husband, I did enjoy learning about Violet Jessop, who in real life was a stewardess who survived the sinking of the Titanic. I would have liked to have read more about her.

The subject of learning to deal with grief and betrayal and then move on with life is beautifully written, as are all of Sally Page’s books, and it was interesting reading about the flowers on the Titanic, something I’d never thought about before.

I look forward to Sally’s next book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review

Sally Page's writing is so beautifully written, it truly transports you to the story's setting.
While I did enjoy the book, it didn't quite live up to my expectations, I found myself more interested in Violet’s story than in Emma’s so I was left disappointed because Violets are few & far between but it was still an enjoyable read that I’d recommend to those looking for a feel good read.

★★★½ ROUNDED UP ⬆️⭐️

Having greatly enjoyed Sally Page’s previous writing, I was delighted to be granted an ARC of ‘The Secret of Flowers’. In an age when mindfulness, forest bathing and human immersion in nature are often in the press, Sally Page’s novel could not be more topical, and it is an engaging read. The heroine, Emma, is overwhelmed by grief after the sudden death of her husband that throws everything into question. She relinquishes her post as a research scientist in favour of a job at the local garden centre that allows her to reconnect with her childhood as she and her father had shared a love of botanical life. Through her new employer, Emma develops an interest in the people who travelled on the Titanic, and slowly a special bond to one of the young women who travelled on the doomed vessel is forming …. A beautifully and sensitively set of character studies, even though the link between the two of them is perhaps a little tenuous. Warmly recommended to affirm the belief in human goodness! Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers for the free ARC that allowed me to produce this honest, unbiased book review.

I found it hard to get into this book. At 26% I gave up and left it for a while. On picking it up again I felt it got better,in fact It ended up a good story.
Emma is devastated after the death of her husband and after being an academic for years she takes a job in a garden centre run by a husband and wife. She becomes fixated on finding out who's job it was to display the flowers on the Titanic as she has read it described as a ship full of flowers.
As the book progresses more and more people help Emma on her quest and part of the book is following a young girl as she boards the Titanic as a steward.
As I said I did end up enjoying this book . I've read other books by this author and enjoyed them too.

Emma discovers a new purpose when she attends a lecture on the Titanic- she's engaged with looking for more information about the flowers, more engaged than she's been for a long time. This moves back and forth between her story and that of Violet, who was on the maiden doomed voyage of that ship. Violet's story is more interesting but Emma's emotional struggles are relatable. And the flowers. Thanks to netgalley for the Arc. A good read.

Emma a research scientist is grieving her husband Will who died one year ago. She decides to have a change of career and is to work for Betty and Les in their garden centre.
A chance talk that Les delivers one evening will change things for Emma, sets her on a different research path.

A very interesting story that was enjoyable to read. Lovely mentions throughout the book of beautiful vibrant colourful flowers and plants. They were described so well I could almost smell them.
The book moves backwards and forwards in time with Emma and Violet being the main characters, though they are joined by a mix of others, all likeable apart from Emma’s mother.
Caring about others, helping each other where possible and friendship.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for an advanced e-book copy. Opinions about the book are entirely my own.

This story begins with Emma, a young widow who is trying to come to terms with her loss and move on with her life. She decides a change of career is needed and starts work at a nursery as she’s always loved flowers.
Back in the late 1800’s, we also follow the journey of Violet, a girl who has a lot of upheaval in her life and also loves flowers!
The dual timeline is easy to follow and both girls have a lot in common. I loved all the characters and how they impacted on the girls’ lives. The Titanic history involved with Emma’s research was fascinating, and I love all the references at the back of the book! I shall be reading those when I next go to the library!
Although the two lives seem unconnected, the story ties up beautifully at the end!
A wonderful, warm story about the power of friendship and that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it!

I've enjoyed the author's previous books and this one did not disappoint. The story switched between Emma (now) and Violet (then) and is woven together and feels natural the change from one to the other. Although it is fiction, it is based on some facts and has made me curious to find out more about the people who worked on the Titanic. Much is made of the passengers but less of the huge numbers of staff who were there on the liner.

Great book and can't wait for her next one.

This book was a bit of a slow burn for me and I didn't fully engage with the story or characters until about half way through. After that I did start to enjoy it and especially the chapters about Violet and her time on cruise ships especially the Titanic. I wish her chapters had been longer. Emma's story set in the present day was enjoyable and her love of flowers and the author's vivid description of them was enthralling. I could almost smell the fragrances on the page! The research into the Titanic was excellent and Sally Page has done an incredible job here. I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of the book. Once again, the author has excelled herself with a heartfelt and emotional story that portrays sadness, healing and joy. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Having enjoyed Sally’s previous books, I was keen to read this one too. This one is now my new favourite!

It did take sometime to get going as we were slowly introduced to Violet and Emma, both of whom had interesting lives. It is a sad read in places with the loss of loved ones but also an uplifting look at the power of friendship.

I lost my own dad last year. He was an avid gardener as was his dad before him. This book was a reminder of how memories can be influenced by the sight and smell of plants.

Love how this book features the disaster of the Titanic too - had never thought about there being fresh flowers in the state rooms etc.

Happy to recommend and I’ll be buying a copy as a present.

The RMS Titanic is one subject that I will read anything and everything about no matter the subject so naturally I jumped at the chance to read this one. In hindsight I should have set a different course and avoided this one.

In all the things i've read and seen about the Titanic I have never seen anything about the florists and I had never really wondered who was responsible for the flowers. A lack of curiosity on my part, perhaps. That research and the authors curiosity about the Titanic crew was the best part of this book, for me. I could have happily left the rest to float by.

I found the story and Emma to be boring and dragged. The rest of the story felt like a very rambling and overly fictional with no real out come or end planned. While the characters were ok, for me they felt bogged down in the story I wasn't enjoying.

Perhaps it wasn't more me. I maybe went into it expecting more Titanic and less flower which possibly tinted my view of it. But this wasn't one for me.

Grab this book if you like flowers, mid life angst. Not one for the Titanic enthusiast unless you skip to the Titanic info and authors notes