A few years back, a friend of mine shared with a large group of women how God had renamed her just like he did with so many in the Bible. After hearing this, I truly wanted to know the name that God had chosen for me. As of today, I still don’t feel like I have a clear answer on what that name is; however, I have one word that ignites my soul and resembles exactly who I believe God has designed me to be…WILDFLOWER. Maybe that’s my name. Maybe it’s just a special word that ignites a fire within me.
I’ve struggled sharing this with many people because I feel like there is a societal fad of wildflowers at this point in time. Regardless of that, the word WILDFLOWER holds so much beauty to me, and it led me to The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland.
A beautiful collection of painful stories of one girl’s experiences growing up, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart reminds me of a blend between Where the Crawdads Sing and The Language of Flowers, two books I highly suggest. Set in various regions in Australia, Alice must overcome generational suffering.
At a young age, Alice loses her mother, her most favorite human, and her father, the man that brought about so much pain before she was born and after he was gone. Because of their loss, Alice is forced to go live with the grandma she has never met, June.
Arriving at Thornfield Farm, where wildflowers bloom, Alice learns about love, her family dynamic, and the unspoken language of the flowers around her. The space seems safe, even if she does not receive the full story about everything going on around her, so she thrives in this environment and falls in love for the first time. However, as Alice gets into her mid-twenties, lies come out into the light, and she finds herself packing her bags and heading to the desert.
In Kililpitjara, a fictional setting created by Ringland, Alice is exposed to life in a very raw, real way and is made so aware of the toxicity that has surrounded her family for years. It is in this place that Alice goes back to the start and finds the healing that is truly needed.
I feel I could read The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart again and again because there is so much depth and detail that can be missed along the way. Truly a beautiful story, this one should go to the top of your TBR list.