READERS GUIDE

The Flower Arrangement

Readers Guide

 

Discussion Questions

   1. Flowers are part of every significant moment in our lives. Of every birth and wedding. Every joyful celebration and heartbreaking funeral. They can shout out our happiness or speak our sympathy softly. Seduce a lover or comfort a friend. Express feelings we cannot put into words. Why do you think that is?
   2. Every story begins with a flower or plant. Ivy for tenacity. Daffodil for new beginnings. Pansy for remembrance. Did the flower meanings add to the stories for you?
   3. Lara lost her mother when she was a child and then loses the baby she longed for. How do you think her losses shaped her as a character?
   4. Lara is intuitive about flowers and people. She seems to understand exactly what every customer needs. Why then is she so blind to her own needs? Do you get the sense that she is using her work to hide from the sadness of her life?
   5. Discuss Michael. Why do you think he married Lara? Do you think he ever really loved her? Was it selfish or selfless of him to try to make the marriage work?
   6. The book deals with loss and grief. Did you feel that the author was writing from her own experience? Did any of the stories bring up a loss you have suffered in your life?
   7. Lara’s family, friends and customers all play a part in the book. They are a mixed bunch. What do you think of the way their stories are interwoven?
   8. Were you surprised that the woman who was visiting Ted was his wife, Margaret? Do you think she was real? Or a hallucination caused by the morphine he was taking?
   9. Katy is ready to start a family with Ben even though she realizes that they are more like flatmates than soul mates. Why do you think she has stayed so long in the relationship when he seems so unwilling to take it to the next level?
   10. Mia has a very clear idea of the kind of man she is looking for, but she ends up falling for his complete opposite. Do you think that’s true to life? Do we really have a choice about the people we fall in love with?
   11. Lara struggles with the fact that she is ten years older than Ben. Do you think it would worry her if the age gap was the other way around? Why do we still have a problem with older women dating younger men?
   12. Lara’s story isn’t tied up in a neat bow at the end. We are left with unanswered questions and unresolved situations. What do you think happens after Lara goes back to Dublin? Do you think that she and Ben will get back together?
   13. Lara expresses her customers’ feelings through flowers. If you were to make a bouquet that expressed who you are, what flowers would you include?