With the rights already sold in 27 countries, Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s debut novel, The Language of Flowers (Aug.), is creating quite a buzz. “This is such a special novel, and one that I think will really resonate with readers,” says Ballantine Bantam Dell senior editor Jennifer Smith. “Everyone here fell completely in love with it last spring, and we won a fiercely fought auction to publish it. I couldn’t possibly love this book more, and I can’t wait for others to discover it for themselves.”
The book, which tells the story of a young woman who uses the Victorian language of flowers to communicate with others and make sense of her troubled past, is also garnering rave reviews from booksellers like Elizabeth Lewis of Kansas City, Kans.’s Rainy Day Books. “The Language of Flowers is unlike anything I’ve read,” she says, “and I love it for that fact. You know those people who say there are only so many original story lines and everything since then is just a retelling? They should read this book.”
Victoria, the novel’s protagonist, was raised in foster care, a system with which Diffenbaugh is intimately familiar—but in a most unexpected way. She and her husband became the legal guardians of their then 14-year-old foster son, Tre’von, when they were only 28 and 29. While Diffenbaugh is quick to admit that Tre’von was an inspiration for Victoria, “their characters are so different. Tre’von is open, smiling, and puts everyone around him at ease. Victoria is angry and afraid, but still hopeful for her future.” Tre’von, it should be noted, is now attending New York University on a Gates Millennium Scholarship.
Diffenbaugh’s great hope for The Language of Flowers is that readers will become advocates for young people facing the challenges of aging out of the foster care system. She’s founded the Camellia Network, whose mission is to create a nationwide movement to support youth transitioning from foster care. In the language of flowers, Camellia means “My Destiny Is in Your Hands,” and the network’s name emphasizes the belief in the interconnectedness of humanity: each gift a young person in the program receives will be accompanied by a camellia, a reminder that the destiny of our nation lies in the hands of our youngest citizens.
To find out how you can participate in the Camellia Network, visit Diffenbaugh’s Web site, www.vanessadiffenbaugh
.com, or stop by and meet her today at 11:30 a.m. when she’ll be signing ARCs in the Random House booth (4420). —Lucinda Dyer
