*A NUMBER 1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*

*Jane Garvey and Fi Glover's book club pick*

Violette Toussaint is the caretaker at a cemetery in a small town in Bourgogne. Her daily life is lived to the rhythms of the hilarious and touching confidences of random visitors and her colleagues-three gravediggers, three groundskeepers, and a priest.

Violette's routine is disrupted one day by the arrival of police chief Julien Seul, wishing to deposit his mother's ashes on the gravesite of a complete stranger. Julien is not the only one to guard a painful secret: his mother's story of clandestine love breaks through Violette's carefully constructed defences to reveal the tragic loss of her daughter, and her steely determination to find out who is responsible.

The funny, moving, intimately told story of a woman who believes obstinately in happiness, Fresh Water for Flowers brings out the exceptional and the poetic in the ordinary. A delightful, atmospheric, absorbing tale.

"An appealing indulgence in nature, food and drink, and, above all, friendships."-The Guardian

What readers are saying:

"I'd read this book over and over again"
"One of those books that you don't want to end"
"Absolutely amazing story"
"This is one of the BEST BOOKS EVER WRITTEN!"
"A really moving story of hope love and determination"
"this is one of the most life-affirming books I have read"

About the Author
Valerie 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 thirty languages. Figaro Litteraire 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. Hildegarde Serle graduated in French from Oxford University. After working as a newspaper subeditor in London for many years, she obtained the Chartered Institute of Linguists Diploma in Translation. She is the translator of A Winter's Promise and The Missing of Clairdelune.

Reviews
"A beautiful, intensely atmospheric bittersweet dream of a book." * Matt Haig *
"Beautifully written and compelling to read." * TLS (Book of the Year) *
"Valerie Perrin's delightful Fresh Water for Flowers is a funny and moving story of one woman's belief that everything will turn out right." * Stylist *
"The story fluctuates between extremes with stylish elegance. It is melancholic and yet ebullient...What may on the surface of it appear gloomy and morose, in Perrin's hands is an appealing indulgence in nature, food and drink, and, above all, friendships." * The Guardian *
"A tender and poignant exploration of love, loss, and redemption." * Publishers Weekly *
"A triumphant celebration of life and love." * ForeWord Reviews *
"Breathtaking." * Unidivers *
"A bad, bad, bad case of love at first read. This is a splendid, moving book." * C'est au programma *
"An insightful novel, a book whose droll and endearing characters will bring you from tears to laughter." -- Michel Bussi
"The balance between laughter and tears is spot on." * Lire *
"Thundering applause. And, believe us, the word 'thunder' is not too strong." * La Marseillese *
"A million seller in its native France, Perrin's novel sees the world through the eyes of Violette, a cemetery caretaker, and the people who pass through her care, living and dead, with their stories and secrets." * The New European *
"This book is exquisitely composed and utterly devastating in places, packed with meaningful meditations on life, death and love, and may leave you longing to adopt some of Violette's considered routines - while also hoping to avoid the heartbreak which led her to this more thoughtful way of life... place this right at the top of your wishlist." * Cambridge Edition Magazine *
"This is a novel set in a place of death, but Violette makes it a place of life, hope and memory." * The Book Trail *


Awards
Winner of Prix Maison de la Presse 2018 (France).



Book Information
ISBN 9781787703117
Author Valerie Perrin
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Europa Editions (UK) Ltd
Publisher Europa Editions (UK) Ltd