The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Characters

Victoria Meredith Combs – Social Worker Elizabeth – foster mother Catherine – estranged sister Grant – Catherine’s son Perla – Carlo’s daughter, Elizabeth’s vineyard foreman Renata – owner of Bloom Natalya – singer, Renata’s sister Mother Ruby – midwife, Renata’s mother Message – Victoria’s florist business Marlena – worker from Gathering House Customers: Earl – periwinkle (tender recollections), spider mums (truth) Bethany and Ray – red roses (love), white lilac (first emotion of love), rosemary (remembrance) Annemarie – jonquils (desire)

For Discussion:

Note: Page numbers are from the paperback edition.

1. Could Victoria’s story have been different if someone or something else had intervened?   What events could have made her life better?
2. How well did Meredith do her job?  What could she have done differently?
3. Why did Elizabeth stop the adoption? 
4. To what did you attribute the changes that happened with Earl and Bethany after Victoria made them the bouquets?  On page 113 the author reflected that “It wasn’t as if the flowers themselves held within them the ability to bring an abstract definition into physical reality, instead, it seemed that Earl, then Bethany, walked home with a bouquet of flowers expecting change, and the very belief in the possibility instigated a transformation.”  Do you agree?  Is this possible?
5. On page 209, Victoria asked the girls at The Gathering House three questions before hiring Marlena:

1.       Do you have an alarm clock?

2.       Do you know how to get to 6^th and Bethany by bus?

3.       Why do you need the money?

Was there anything else you think she should have asked?

6. How many times did you refer to Victoria’s Dictionary of Flowers while you were reading?  Did it add to your reading pleasure?
7. The meaning of flowers had once been common knowledge.   Do you think it would be nice if it still was or would that add more difficulty to buying someone flowers?   What might be common knowledge now that will be lost in the future?
8. Do you think Mother Ruby should have seen that Victoria was not prepared to keep the baby alone?
9. Victoria thought that leaving Hazel with Grant had been the “most loving act “ she had ever done (page 271).  Do you agree?  What do you think she should have done?
10. Discuss your reading experience.  Did you like how the author drew out the story of Elizabeth, Catherine and Victoria?  Would you recommend this book to your friends?
11. Did you like the ending or was it "too pat?"  
12. The author has foster parented many children.  How do you think that influenced how she wrote the book?

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

The Life of the Party, by Bob Kealing

Review:  I really enjoyed this book.  Growing up I remember Tupperware Parties so I was able to easily relate, but it would be interesting and informative for younger readers as well.   There is a lot of information about how to be successful in sales as well as life in general and it could also be listed as a “how-to” book for business success as well as non-fiction.  But it is also an interesting character study.   Why was Bonnie Wise so successful?  What led to the break in her relationship with Earl Tupper and could it have been avoided?  There are multiple reasons to choose this book and any one of them will lead to an enjoyable reading experience.  I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for this review.

People
Tupperware Home Party Division (THP)	Executive Office
Brownie Wise Robert – husband, divorced Jerry – son Rose Humphrey – mother Hibiscus – pen name for advice column Water’s Edge – home in Kissimmee, FL Isla Milagra (Miracle Island) – island in Lake Toho Mary Frances Babb – secretary Herb Young – office manager, only one who left and joined Brownie after she was let go Stanley Sales Force who moved to Tupperware with Brownie: *Rose Humphrey – mother, Hibiscus Sales *Florence Zewicky *Peter and Elsie Block – ring leaders of distributor revolt *Dorothy Shannon *Gary McDonald – Dorothy Shannon’s nephew Best Wishes – Brownie’ book, not successful Dealers >> Managers >> Distributors	Earl Tupper *Hamer Wilson – Sales Counselor *Gary McDonald – Sales Promotion Manager *Norman Squires - General Sales Manager *Jack Marshall – General Sales Manager *Elsie Mortland – Originally one of Rose’s key star dealers, perfected the “Tupperware burp,” Hostess Demonstrator, ran Magic Kitchen at headquarters *Ruder & Finn – Madison Avenue PR firm *Charles McBurney – Public Relations Department *Glen Bump – writer for McBurney *George Reynolds – Maintenance Manager *Tony Ponticelli – Special Events Director for Home Parties Fuller Brush Co./Stanley Home Products *Frank Beveridge – first to use home parties, told Brownie “management is no place for a woman” (page 27) *Elmer Nyberg – Director of Education, influential to Brownie’s sales philosophy

For discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1. Do you think things might have turned out differently if Brownie had not received so much media attention?
2. Was there anything Brownie could have done differently to avoid the conflict with Tupper or was it inevitable?   Given how well she worked with people, should she have foreseen the problem and worked to avoid or repair it?
3. At the end when Brownie tried to lure dealers away from Tupperware after she was let go, were you surprised that no one followed her?  What do you think you would have done?
4. On page 95, what did you think about the statement that one part to the success of Tupperware was that women never got praised for what they did until they got praise for selling Tupperware?  How important is praise to you?
5. On page 16, the author listed Elmer Nyberg’s seven ways “to make people like you.”  Is there anything you disagreed with or would add?
6. When talking to a Tupperware convention, Bonnie Wise said that “Being completely satisfied would be a little like death” (page 127).    Do you agree?  Is it negative to be satisfied with what you have accomplished?
7. On that same page (127), she said that “success was limited only by how willing they were to let it consume them.”  Do you agree?  What has consumed you in your life?  Do you see a connection to how successful you were with that endeavor?
8. There was a lot of emphasis on helping other people be successful.  (See page 139 where Tony Ponticelli, special events director, said that at his first convention he, “was converted.  It wasn’t a phony, staged kind of thing…before you know it, you had a new religion of helping other people.”)   How did this philosophy help Tupperware and Bonnie Wise be successful?

 ***

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.