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Fresh Water for Flowers

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Fresh Water for Flowers

By: Valérie Perrin
Narrated by: Sara Young
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About this listen

Violette Toussaint is the caretaker at a cemetery in a small town in Bourgogne. Casual mourners, regular visitors, and sundry colleagues - gravediggers, groundskeepers, and a priest - visit her to warm themselves in her lodge, where laughter, companionship, and occasional tears mix with the coffee she offers them. Her life is lived to the rhythms of their funny, moving confidences.

But her routine is disrupted by the arrival of the local police chief, who insists on scattering the ashes of his recently deceased mother on the gravesite of a complete stranger. Soon it becomes clear that his inexplicable gesture is intertwined with Violette’s own difficult past.

With Fresh Water for Flowers, Valérie Perrin has given listeners an intimately told story that tugs on the heartstrings about a woman who believes obstinately in happiness, despite it all. A number-one best seller in France, it is a heartwarming and tender story that will stay with listeners long after they finish it.

©2020 Valérie Perrin (P)2021 Dreamscape Media, LLC Contemporary Contemporary Romance Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Romance Women's Fiction Heartfelt Funny
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I personally didn’t mind the narrator, as her voice was soft and gentle, perfect for this story. Although, admittedly it didn’t sound very French.
The story is twisted, in many parts sad and beautiful 💕

Beautiful story

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Beautifully balanced - delicate and thoughtful but also robust and powerful.
Compellingly hypnotic and I couldn't leave it alone for long!
Thoroughly enjoyable read.

Soulful, enchanting and captivating

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A tale of such simplicity and such suffering that somehow draws you in and keeps you transfixed right til the very end.

A gorgeous book - absolutely escapism into the world and heart of Violette

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One of the male characters I did not warm to the narrator’s voice ( too wooden) however there were plenty other characters it was well read .sometimes hard with the weaving in and out of the time line however the poetic style and depth of human sorrow and joy was well worth the read .an enchanting read to the end

Heartfelt original setting and plot

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I struggled to get into the book, the time changes were difficult to follow. However, once I understood the rhythm, I thoroughly enjoyed the narrative, character development and at times, challenging story. I especially liked the accuracy around bereaved parents grief

slow start, but well worth persisting

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I have to agree with many reviewers that the narration let it down… such a strong American accent and mispronounciation was distracting.

Lovely story

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The really bad French pronunciation
A woman in France is called Françoise pronounced francewarse , François is masculine and pronounced as it was in the narration which made me shudder .

The characters and the scenes where so lifelike and penetrating I could have happily lived in the grave keepers cottage

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it is a French story but the reader obviously does not speak French. One of the female characters, Francoise, has her name read as the male form. The internationally known car, the Peugeot, is pronounced Pergot. This happens with other French words throughout the story. I love audio books but this type of mistake really greats and spoils the listening experience

beautiful expression of emotion

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the chronology jumped around which was hard to follow with different characters in different times

such an array of wonderful characters

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I gave up on the audio version and read the book instead - which was well worth it.
Was there no one with French as a first language available to read this? The decision to have a narrator with a strong US accent was bizarre - although her voice was pleasant and varied, it was completely off-putting for a French book with a cast of French characters. The odd mispronunciation jarred as well.

Great story let down by poor choice of narrator

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