Fresh Water for Flowers

Violette Toussaint is the caretaker at a cemetery in a small town in Bourgogne. Casual mourners, regular visitors, and sundry colleagues — gravediggers, groundskeepers, and a priest — visit her to warm themselves in her lodge, where laughter, companionship, and occasional tears mix with the coffee she offers them. Her life is lived to the rhythms of their funny, moving confidences.

Violette's routine is disrupted one day by the arrival of Julien Sole — the local police chief — who insists on scattering the ashes of his recently deceased mother on the gravesite of a complete stranger. It soon becomes clear that Julien's inexplicable gesture is intertwined with Violette's own difficult past.

With Fresh Water for Flowers, Valérie Perrin has given readers an intimately told story that tugs at the heartstrings about a woman who believes obstinately in happiness, despite it all.

A heartwarming and tender story that will stay with readers for years after the final page is turned.