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Valérie Perrin
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Fresh Water for Flowers: A Novel Paperback – May 4, 2021

by Valérie Perrin (Author), Hildegarde Serle (Translator)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 9,893 ratings
See all formats and editions
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A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF SUMMER 2021
A 2020 INDIES INTRODUCE & INDIE NEXT LIST PICK

A #1 international best-seller, Fresh Water for Flowers is an intimately told story about a woman who defiantly believes in happiness, despite it all.

Violette Toussaint is the caretaker at a cemetery in a small town in Bourgogne. Her life is lived to the predictable rhythms of the often funny, always moving confidences that casual mourners, regular visitors, and sundry colleagues share with her. Violette’s routine is disrupted one day by the arrival of Julien Sole—local police chief—who has come to scatter the ashes of his recently deceased mother on the gravesite of a complete stranger. It soon becomes clear that Julien’s inexplicable gesture is intertwined with Violette’s own complicated past.

“Melancholic and yet ebullient… An appealing indulgence in nature, food and drink, and, above all, friendships.”—The Guardian

Previous page
  1. Print length
    496 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Europa Editions
  4. Publication date
    May 4, 2021
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 1.25 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1609456769
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1609456764
  8. See all details
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Popular Highlights in this book
What are popular highlights?
Previous page
  1. We think that death is an absence, when in fact it’s a secret presence.
    Highlighted by 671 Kindle readers
  2. If a flower grew every time I thought of you, the earth would be one massive garden.
    Highlighted by 566 Kindle readers
  3. We never meet people by chance. They are destined to cross our paths for a reason.
    Highlighted by 562 Kindle readers
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From the Publisher

San Francisco Book Review
Matt Haig

Editorial Reviews

Review

“It’s very healing... I haven’t read a more beautifully written book for a long time.”—Sarah Harden, CEO of Hello Sunshine, in the Wall Street Journal

“Full of contentment and hope... Fans of Elizabeth Berg will enjoy this thoughtful take on the inner life of an unforgettable woman.”—Booklist

“A glorious read. Touching, thought provoking, taut: a tribute to our power to heal. Another must read.”—OCinsite.com

★ “Exuberant.”—ForeWord Reviews (Starred Review)

“Colorful and highly enjoyable.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Enchanting.”—Publishers Weekly

“A beautiful, intensely atmospheric bittersweet dream of a book.”—Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library

“Romantic, yes; light, yes; meaningless, no.”—Bethanne Patrick, Literary Hub

“Fresh Water for Flowers entranced me with its quiet joy.”—Kathi Kirby, Powell’s Books, Portland, OR

“Fresh Water For Flowers goes to show how debuts can be great works. Perrin plumbs the depths of motherhood, life on the streets, and regret in her story […] It is an extremely well-written book that was frankly difficult to put down…”—San Francisco Book Review

“Fresh Water for Flowers is a moving and lyrical portrait of one woman’s quest for happiness and love. A splendid work that will keep readers absorbed to the last page. A charming must-read.”—Lindsey Bartlett, formerly of Ellen Plumb’s City Bookstore, Emporia, KS

“Fresh Water for Flowers is a saga of a woman’s life from nothing to something…A story representative of many girls and women trapped by social and financial circumstances.”—The Winnipeg Free Press

“Readers will be swept away by the poetic gentleness of the narration, by the generous gaze that the two protagonists cast over human affairs, by the desire for peace felt by both Julian and Violette.”—La Croix (France)

“This book left me breathless and in tears!...A story of life with love, loss, yearning, sadness and all of the emotions that humans experience during their lifetimes.”—Stephanie Crowe, Page & Palette, Fairhope, AL

“Gorgeous.”—Cat Chapman, Oxford Exchange, Tampa, FL

“One of those special books that defy description and make you glad it was written!”—Deon Stonehouse, Sunriver Books & Music, Sunriver, OR

“The only way I can describe this book is that it’s an epic…It is contemporary fiction, a murder mystery, a thriller, a tragedy, and a romance all rolled into one.”—Katie MacKendrick, librarian, Denver Public Library

“Reading [Fresh Water for Flowers] was truly a magical experience.”—Quentin Greif, Little City Books, Hoboken, NJ

“This story is simply beautiful. Fresh, fun, and so unique.”—Kappy Kling, HearthFire Books, Evergreen, CO

“Breathtaking.”—Unidivers (France)

“This may be my favorite book of 2020…A novel of astonishing humanity accomplished with an art so subtle it will take your breath away.”—Mary McDonald, Nicola’s Books, Ann Arbor, MI

About the Author

Valérie Perrin was born in 1967 in Remiremont, in the Vosges Mountains, France. She grew up in Burgundy and settled in Paris in 1986. Her novel The Forgotten Sunday (2015) won the Booksellers Choice Award and the paperback edition has been long-selling best-seller since publication. Her English-language debut, Fresh Water for Flowers (Europa, 2020) won the Maison de la Presse Prize, the Paperback Readers Prize, and was named a 2020 ABA Indies Introduce and Indie Next List title. It has been translated into over thirty languages. Figaro Littéraire named Perrin one of the ten best-selling authors in France in 2019, and in Italy, Fresh Water for Flowers was the best selling book of 2020. Perrin now lives in Normandy



For Europa Editions, Hildegarde Serle has three novels by Christelle Dabos, including the best-selling A Winter’s Promise. She lives in London, but her heart lives on the Quai aux Fleurs in Paris.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Europa Editions (May 4, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1609456769
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1609456764
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 1.25 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 9,893 ratings

About the author

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Valérie Perrin

Valérie Perrin

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Valérie Perrin was born in 1967 in Remiremont, in the Vosges Mountains, France. She grew up in Burgundy and settled in Paris in 1986. Her novel Forgotten on Sunday (2015) won the Booksellers Choice Award. Her English-language debut, Fresh Water for Flowers (Europa, 2020) won the Maison de la Presse Prize, the Paperback Readers Prize, and was named a 2020 ABA Indies Introduce and Indie Next List title. It has been translated into over forty languages. Figaro Littéraire named Perrin one of the ten best-selling authors in France in 2019, and in Italy, Fresh Water for Flowers was the best selling book of 2020.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
9,893 global ratings
Surprisingly Wonderful!
5 Stars
Surprisingly Wonderful!
I devoured this book and didn't miss a crumb. This is a beautifully written and translated French novel that has everything to please the reader. Love, Anger--Hate, Mystery, Sex, Death, Evil, Interesting and Unusual Settings, Fascinating Characters and Lovely Writing.We follow Violette, an orphan who went from foster home to foster home and was never adopted. When she had the chance to see her file she learned nothing because it was empty. Violette worked in a bar and one evening left the bar with the most handsome man she had ever seen. He was a loser as a husband, and later as a father. Violette, who could barely read, decided she needed to learn and strangely enough bought Cider House Rules by John Irving--in French with a title that is mentioned again and again in the book because it is her favorite book for many, many years. I found the choice of a book by an American author very interesting, but Irving's book is about an orphanage and does make sense as Violette's choice. (I haven't read it, but will soon).Fresh Water for Flowers is so interesting that I would have been delighted if it was 200 pages longer. Simply a joy to read and I hope thousands and thousands will enjoy it as much as I did.
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Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars very sweet
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2024
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I gave this book 4.5 but rounded up to five for purposes of Goodreads. It was a really sweet, peaceful read, with angst and struggle, but everything beautifully written and characters that were deep and complex.
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skangirl
4.0 out of 5 stars WISH I COULD READ IT IN FRENCH!
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2023
Verified Purchase
I know enough French to understand that there are things that didn't translate well. But even in translation, there are some exquisite bits of writing within an interesting and touching story. The setting of a French cemetery and the woman who is responsible for its day-to-day operations and doling out TLC to the visitors (and even to the "residents") is definitely unique.

The format is one I've had to get accustomed to. There are several characters in several different decades. Because I usually read in small fragments of time, it can get a little confusing. It can be hard to keep track of which character is speaking and in which decade. I'm sure that if I read for hours at a time, it would have flowed more easily for me. At its best, this style of writing creates a seamless, woven story with multiple intersections. Fresh Water for Flowers doesn't quite meet that standard. Still, the story is both sad and uplifting. I found myself highlighting passages simply because the writing was beautiful.
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Sandra Fox Murphy
5.0 out of 5 stars Pure poetry reveals this story … “a novel that’s a friend from whom it’s hard to part ….”
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2021
Verified Purchase
Valérie Perrin has created a new genre in how she has fashioned this story of Violette Trenet Toussaint’s passage through life. As Violette’s character comes to being a cemetery-keeper, she conveys so much more than her own journey … as her life encompasses the passage of those resting in her cemetery. Oh, all the stories! Violette’s existence begins as an orphaned waif, belonging to no one, and this beginning clearly draws the lines of who she becomes as a woman. Feeling invisible in a world that owes her nothing. The chapters in her story are typically short but full of significance. Her husband is clearly a cad, but a soul-searching mystery develops that is unexpected in the quiet life of a young woman who manages train barriers and then, a cemetery, a woman who seeks an uneventful life.

I’m trying to avoid spoilers, for much of the story is revealed in flashbacks, which only increases the pull to read further. Yes, this is an un-put-downable book. Yet, the icing on the cake, beyond the mystery and the lyrical passage of a young woman’s years, are the helpers. Along the way, there are angels who reach out to Violette, who are generous with their time and kindnesses. I fell in love with them—especially Sasha, who was the keeper of the graveyard before Violette. Ms. Perrin reveals her characters in gentle ways, making you look for the good in the malevolent and suspect of motivations—flawed as we all are.

There is delicate mysticism and beautiful scenes in the sea. The story holds so many details and subtle imagery, such as how Violette dresses, which so reveals her character. And family for a girl who came with none … the gravediggers, the priest (a father figure), and the undertakers, a dear friend she met by chance and generosity. And, of course, Violette’s daughter (mysterious throughout). There are stories within stories and unexpected twists. I loved Chapter 53 when we saw into Sasha’s heart, and how ironic when the author wrote the lines metaphorically about the end of a journal that she shares with us: “The way one closes a novel one has fallen in love with. A novel that’s a friend from whom it’s hard to part, because one wants it close by, in arm’s reach.” That would be this book! I never wanted it to end.

And, of course, there are the ceaseless poetic words announcing each chapter … like splendid inscriptions on tombstones.
39 people found this helpful
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Joan Tabb
5.0 out of 5 stars Shakespearean saga - Magnificent twists and turns - one of my favorite books EVER
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2022
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I could not put this book down and I am a different person for having read it. The twists and turns in these characters lives made me see things in a richer, more deeply felt way. The characters are real, three dimensional people we get to live with through time and see how their lives play out. In a way it's a morality play, in a way it has unexpected pain and acts of generosity and deep humanity. I only hope this story makes it to the big screen as I'll be on the first to see it!
If you are looking for a page turner that goes deep, wide and incredibly into the French culture and human culture, human nature, you have your reading cut out for you.
We discussed Fresh Water for Flowers at our book club this month, and it was unanimous...WE LOVED IT and all want to do a field trip to the cemetery our main character worked in -- and then we'll head down to Marseille and the sea. I loved the metaphor of the garden, how to nurture growth, and how we need to sow the seeds of the gardens of life. And much deeper ideas of death and my favorite line is: "We think that death is an absence, when in fact it's a secret presence." I've always felt the 'secret presence' of my wonderful mother, but the author helped validate it. Thank goodness for writers like Valerie Perrin!! We can't wait for her next novel to be released as it's already included in our book club plan. And interestingly, one of our members is bilingual and read the book in French -- she shared the double entendres and even deeper riches that come thru in the original French.
8 people found this helpful
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Karin B
3.0 out of 5 stars I’m mixed on this one
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2023
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I really enjoyed aspects of this novel and really had trouble with others. The parts that bothered me most were some of the archetypes used in the story: I found them old-fashioned and even a little racist. Another aspect has to do with the audiobook, in which mispronunciations of the French were rampant and distracting to me. I don’t know much French, but I do know enough to recognize mispronunciations. For the good side of things, I found the protagonist interesting and much of the writing very good. It’s a mixed bag for me on this one as I wasn’t really captivated by any of the characters. I did like the plot devices, though, which were clever. The organization of the novel is well done. It’s also a fairly gothic novel in many respects and if you like modern callbacks to this genre, you may like it more than I did.
11 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Charlene Doiron
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly enjoyable
Reviewed in Canada on March 2, 2024
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A beautiful story exhibiting the resilient human spirit.
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A Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars Evocative and poetic, bleak but redemptive
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2024
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This book was recommended to me by a dear friend and fellow Francophile. Although I read the English version I felt steeped in the French way of life, its philosophy, culture, and food. A deeply evocative book, almost unbearably sad at times and slow to start with, I came to love it as I was swept up in Violette's tale. The poetic language moved me to tears with its beauty and kept me enraptured throughout. Life can be both mundane and tragic but ultimately love will win out. Highly recommended.
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Rebeca
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!
Reviewed in Germany on March 6, 2023
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The most wonderful book I have read in a while! You just cant stop Reading it!
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Rebeca
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!
Reviewed in Germany on March 6, 2023
The most wonderful book I have read in a while! You just cant stop Reading it!
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Jacqueline Allen
5.0 out of 5 stars Livraison de ce livre magnifique - impeccable.
Reviewed in France on September 1, 2021
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Ayant déjà lu ce livre incroyable en français je l’ai commandé comme cadeau pour une amie anglaise qui en était ravie.
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Mary Avakian
5.0 out of 5 stars Un libro magnifico
Reviewed in Italy on February 7, 2021
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Un libro bellissimo, ambientato in un luoghi fuori dal comune, originale, sopra "un ponte" che la protagonista riesce a costruire tra i vivi e quelli che non ci sono più. Scrittura impeccabile, scorrevole e mai banale. Personaggi indimenticabili, nel bene e nel male. Vorresti che non finisse mai...
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