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A review by jailala
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
An excellent contemporary read! This book spans the first few decades of the main character's life (while also exploring the past of her family members to explain why she is being raised the way she is) so it can feel a bit disconcerting if you don't know this.
There are three almost separate seeming 'chapters' of Alice's life explored so it helps to know that going in- otherwise, the break between her early disjointed childhood understanding into the people caring for her in the second part can through you.
The third part, told more from her adult perspective was fairly easy to read (though the topics she works through can be triggering to some- brutal!) Another author might have simply told the story only from that third part- throwing in bits and pieces in flashbacks to help you understand. As it stands, we are led through Alice's life from beginning to her final growth into an adult on her way to a well-rounded life and we get a much more complete picture because of Ringland's choice of structure.
I found this choice of structure particularly intriguing given Alice's constant struggle to get the caregivers in her life to simply be straight with her and explain her family's history to her once and for all already!
Those who do not understand their history and, by extension, their family's history, are doomed to repeat the same bad patterns over and over.
Hiding the past almost never ends well and can actually be quite destructive.
There are three almost separate seeming 'chapters' of Alice's life explored so it helps to know that going in- otherwise, the break between her early disjointed childhood understanding into the people caring for her in the second part can through you.
The third part, told more from her adult perspective was fairly easy to read (though the topics she works through can be triggering to some- brutal!) Another author might have simply told the story only from that third part- throwing in bits and pieces in flashbacks to help you understand. As it stands, we are led through Alice's life from beginning to her final growth into an adult on her way to a well-rounded life and we get a much more complete picture because of Ringland's choice of structure.
Those who do not understand their history and, by extension, their family's history, are doomed to repeat the same bad patterns over and over.
Hiding the past almost never ends well and can actually be quite destructive.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
Minor: Stalking and Animal cruelty
While the entire book is cathartic, in order to get to the growth of the main character the story goes to some pretty traumatic places.
None of it is over-the-top or used purely for effect. All of it has specific ramifications and growth relation to the characters.