The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

By: Holly Ringland

Narrated by: Louise Crawford

Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of the 2019 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year Award.

The international best seller, now sold to more than 24 territories internationally, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart tells the enchanting and compelling story of a young girl, daughter of an abusive father, who has to learn the hard way that she can break the patterns of the past, live on her own terms, and find her own strength.

"Lush, powerful...an engrossing novel of female survival." (Bookseller + Publisher)

A young girl loses both her parents in a tragic event and is taken to live with her grandmother on a flower farm. Growing up, Alice learns the language of Australian native flowers as a way to say the things that are too hard to speak. But she also learns that there are secrets within secrets about her past. An unexpected betrayal leaves her reeling, and she escapes to try to make her own—sometimes painful—way through the world and to find her story.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is a story about stories: those we inherit, those we select to define us, and those we decide to hide. It is a novel about the secrets we keep and how they haunt us and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive.

Spanning 20 years and set between sugarcane fields by the sea, a native Australian flower farm, and a celestial crater in the central desert, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart follows the life of Alice as she discovers that the most powerful story she will ever possess is her own.

©2018 HarperCollins Publishers Australia pty Ltd (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Australia pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"Lush, powerful... This is an engrossing novel imbued with passion and reverence for the Australian natural world, with a cast of characters that inspire affection in the reader even as they make mistakes. Those who couldn't put down The Natural Way of Things will find a gentler but no less compelling journey of female survival in this novel." (Bookseller + Publisher)

"There's an aching heart beating through Holly Ringland's narrative that although at times seems almost broken, is stitched back together with shards of optimism that offer constant hope. These are characters we love, care about and want to nurture... A vivid and brave tale of love, loss and inner power." (Australian Women's Weekly)

"A beautifully written, hopeful and enthralling tale...an enchanting read." (Herald Sun)

I struggled to get to the end

I waded through some of the flowers and mythology, rather than enjoying them and feeling they added to the story.
I was at times pained by the characters who found it hard to be true to themselves and others, couldn't reveal truths and repeated mistakes.
I wished the narrator handled men's voices better.
As an Australian, I wished I could better share the travel with real cues as to where the story was based. (That's part of the fun of reading a book set in your own country).

Enjoyable

I liked this book mostly but the ending was rushed and I had questions. Just need a little more refinement with the end.