A review by smalltownbookmom
The Kew Gardens Girls by Posy Lovell

5.0

A surprisingly delightful debut set in England during WWI. The story focuses on the Kew Garden girls, specifically the friendship that develops between Ivy, Louisa and Bernard - a pacifist Quaker with social anxiety who loses his job because of his stance as a conscientious objector. Ivy is a young girl who falls in love with fellow gardener Jim (who ends up going to the front) and Louisa is an older woman who left her violently abusive husband. Both women get jobs working at Kew Gardens when the men leave for war and discover that women gardeners are getting paid less than the men are for the same work. Banding together, the women present a united front fighting for equal pay for equal work. There are lots of strong, independent women fighting for Suffrage and greater rights in the book and I loved how the story emphasizes the power of forgiveness and small acts of kindness during tough times. Sprinkled throughout the novel is knowledge about the various meanings of different plants and flowers (Jim and Ivy send each other seeds and flowers in their letters as expressions of their love and devotion, which was really cute). Highly, highly recommend this well-researched and feel-good WWI historical novel that celebrates the power of nature to calm one's spirits during troubled times.

My favorite flower meanings included:
Carnations = I'll never forget you
Lilies = symbol of mother's love
Daffodils = the sun is always shining when I'm with you

CW: miscarriage, domestic violence