Fresh Water for Flowers

This is a beautiful book about love. The tale that is told is original and yet timeless. Love in all its various forms are explored through the world of Violette who becomes the keeper of a cemetery. Although death is a constant through the book, this is not by any means a morbid or sad book.Through the life of Violette and those around her, the story is told through the voices of people she knows and loves and those that enter her world within the cemetery. There is tragedy for Violette but the way by which Valerie Perrin leads us to Violette’s future is beautifully told and makes the reader reflect upon the value of all which is special to,us. There is a wonderful balance between the comical and tragic. This is a wonderful book which I will recommend and remember.

I usually have problems with French books. I don’t get their way of thinking, find the characters unrelatable. But I persevere with reading French literature. And this time, I am truly glad I did.

Violette Touissant is a village cemetery keeper, after having been a train crossing keeper. The cemetery is her life and vocation and care. She tends to the graves like she has never been tended herself - her being a foundling, an unloved wife, a grieving mother - she has found her calling. I cannot write anymore about the plotline without giving away some major spoilers, but rest assured there are plenty of gasp moments! Also keep a box of hankies at the ready.

This book is brimful with life, passion, death, joy, people, mourning, love - a multi-layered, deep, intense, clever, philosophical, heartfelt story. The translation from French is effortless. All senses are involved - and I learned about and looked up a lot of French music.

The characters are drawn with such a unique love for detail and you will be guided along the paths of Violette’s cemetery so well that you’d think you were there.

For me, easily the best book of 2021 - even though I’ve read quite a few excellent ones this year.

Valerie Perrin's translated novel is a pitch perfect meditation on life, death, love, marriage, motherhood, tragedy, loss, grief, and learning to live after the worst has happened. Violette Touissant is the reclusive cemetery keeper at Brancon-en-Chalon, a position she acquired after years working as a level crossing keeper. Her husband, Philippe, has abandoned her, her daily life consists of a small circle of colleagues and friends that she provides coffee and food for, the 3 grave diggers, Nono, Gaston and Elvis, the Luccini brothers, the undertakers, and Father Cedric Duras. The cemetery is maintained in a immaculate condition, with Violette growing a bountiful variety of vegetables, selling flowers, cleaning tombs, chatting to the dead, keeping records of the funerals of the dead, looking after those who visit the cemetery and keeping detailed records of the dead and their funerals.

Being at the centre of the dead puts Violette at the heart of the local community, life and death go hand in hand. However, the life she has become accustomed to begins to be upturned when she gets an unexpected visitor, a police detective from Marseille, Julien Seul, has been shocked by his recently dead mother's wish to have her ashes placed on the grave of well known lawyer, Gabriel Prudent. He had no idea his mother knew him at all, and Violette helps him with the rituals and process of his task. The narrative goes back and forth in time, as Violette's past is slowly revealed, a foundling raised in care and with foster parents, her low self esteem, the details of her relationship with the faithless Philippe that petered into one of indifference and silence, learning to read late as an adult, the joy of acquiring her first female friend, Celia, surviving unbearable grief with the support of Sasha, and the return of feelings that she thought were beyond her. Interspersed are journal entries of Julien's mother, Irene Fayolle, and her illicit life long love affair with Gabriel.

It took me a litte while to become fully immersed in this heartbreaking and simultaneously life affirming story, but once I did, I was utterly entranced. My heart opened up to and embraced Violette, dealing with the challenging set of cards that life had dealt her, her compassion in her everyday life of trying to make life easier for the grieving, and the respect and reverence she extended to those beyond the grave. There is a complexity to all of the characters that make this such an unforgettable and rewarding experience, even Philippe has his own difficult family backstory and feelings of regrets that he cannot express. This is a beautifully written novel, emotionally affecting, and a pure delight to read. Highly recommended with bells on. Many thanks to Europa Editions for an ARC.

Conveyed With Empathy….
A moving tale of life, love, loss, grief and humanity which is beautifully and poetically conveyed with empathy and deftly laced with gentle wit. An emotional read which is perfectly translated from the original French. Both engaging and compelling.