Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin

Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin

translated from French by Hildegarde Serle

published 2018 in France, 2021 in UK

This book was a massive bestseller all over Europe – and you can see why – although I have not heard people talk about it in the UK so much.

It tells a long complicated story about a woman who is looking after a cemetery: Violette lives onsite and is friends with the undertakers, gravediggers and priest. She grows vegetables to eat, and flowers for people to put on the graves. She keeps the graves in good order, talks to visitors, and knows where everyone is buried. She keeps records of all the funerals. In the publicity for the book (and much quoted elsewhere) she is described as ‘a woman who believes obstinately in happiness’. That is not remotely how she came over to me.

Before taking this job, she worked at a human-operated level crossing, one of the last to be automated. She has obviously had some bad things in her life – including an exceptionally awful husband – and these are slowly teased out during the course of the book, in short chapters with changing points of view.

The story very much drew me in to begin with – it was compelling and intriguing. A man comes to the cemetery because his recently-dead mother has left instructions she is to end up with someone that the son has never heard of: he wants to know why.

There were times when I became completely lost in the story, in a good way. But then – it lost me in a different way: too many timelines, too many relationships, real confusion over where we were, and when. The couples deciding whether to have sex, whether to go off together, were too similar, indistinguishable. There was a long sad story buried in there, but it got lost among the flirty sexy chit chat. (‘Oh just make up your minds’ I wanted to say to at least four of the characters).

But it certainly had a pull, readability, charm. And it faced up to death in some lovely passages – ‘I don’t ask you to rest in peace, dear Grandfather, because you’re incapable of resting. I simply say to you: have fun and see you later.’

There is a chapter about a dead child – a list of what the child will never do

You won’t dance any slow dances

You won’t have a handbag or painful periods

I won’t hear you lying. I won’t have to cover up for you, or stick up for you

It is beautiful writing, and would make a stone cry.

… and surrounded by chapters which are really nothing special.

It probably would have helped if I’d had a clearer picture of the geography, as I didn’t know how far apart the different locations were. But then – when I did look at a map, I couldn’t work out why a key grave was where it was.

I wished it was 100 pages shorter, and a bit clearer and less complicated, and I might have loved it. But then – hundreds of thousands of readers obviously did love it. And Valerie Perrin is a very talented writer with a great ability to create characters, and a feel for nature that is very soothing.

So – a good weekend read maybe.

And, I love these photos of graveyards from my favourite photographer, Denise Perry.   The best way in to her work is via her Instagram feed Denise Perry (@dhellphotography) • Instagram photos and videos