Vanessa Diffenbaugh, The Language of Flowers
11 quotes
"There was only one way to the other side, and that was through the pain."
"The open forgiveness in her eyes, the uncensored love, terrified me."
"Nothing you could do would make me send you away. Nothing."
"Hyacinth. Please forgive me."
"Anyone can grow into something beautiful."
"I’m talking about the language of flowers. It’s from the Victorian era, like your name. If a man gave a young lady a bouquet of flowers, she would race home and try to decode it like a secret message. Red roses mean love; yellow roses infidelity. So a man would have to choose his flowers carefully."
"I believe you can prove everyone wrong, too, Victoria. Your behavior is a choice; it isn't who you are."
"Her eyes were open, taking in my tired face... Her face twitched into what looked like a squinty smile, and in her wordless expression I saw gratitude, and relief, and trust. I wanted, desperately, not to disappoint her."
"I would keep her, and raise her, and love her, even if she had to teach me how to do it."
"Over time, we would learn each other, and I would learn to love her like a mother loves a daughter, imperfectly and without roots."
"Now, as an adult, my hopes for the future were simple: I wanted to be alone, and to be surrounded by flowers. It seemed, finally, that I might get exactly what I wanted."