Winter Flowers
11 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by 
Fifna
from Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Fifna from Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Translated from the French by Adriana Hunter
"It's October 1918 and the war is drawing to a close. Toussaint Caillet returns home to his wife, Jeanne, and their young daughter. He is not returning from the front line, but from the department for facial injuries at Val-de-Grâce military hospital. For Jeanne, who has endured his absence, this marks the beginning of a new battle: with the promise of peace now in sight, the family must try to stitch together a new life from the tatters of what they once had."
"It's October 1918 and the war is drawing to a close. Toussaint Caillet returns home to his wife, Jeanne, and their young daughter. He is not returning from the front line, but from the department for facial injuries at Val-de-Grâce military hospital. For Jeanne, who has endured his absence, this marks the beginning of a new battle: with the promise of peace now in sight, the family must try to stitch together a new life from the tatters of what they once had."
This is my choice for the 2022 Favourite Roundabout. I hope you'll enjoy this beautifully translated story.
Shipping order:
Andrasthe
Sonkku
Icila
mathgirl40
mcsar [skip, not participating]
valpete
echode
Cross-patch
greenbadger
Poodlesister
estelle1806
Shipping order:
Andrasthe
Sonkku
Icila
mathgirl40
mcsar [skip, not participating]
valpete
echode
Cross-patch
greenbadger
Poodlesister
estelle1806
On its way to Andrasthe to start its roundabout travels!
Arrived today. Thx!
Fits perfectly into my topical reading and Screening of Amsterdam and Peaky Blinders ;)
I have now read the first book come from this roundabout. It is a slow, gentile book full of sadness and calm tragedy. As a reader one can understand Jeanne's frustration and her yearning for Toussaint as he was. The misery of war is told only at the fringes of "Les fleurs d'hiver", but in raw and honest tones. The main attraction is the returning, the after... The bleakness of what happens to Sidonie got to me. Not even the tender moments later could make up for this utter defeat.
I very much enjoyed all the bits and pieces about the life they led, the food and customs, the professions and shortages. I thought it was very well woven into the narrative and well researched.
Thank you for including this book that so strangely fit my current reading. A worthy choice in my opinion.
Fits perfectly into my topical reading and Screening of Amsterdam and Peaky Blinders ;)
I have now read the first book come from this roundabout. It is a slow, gentile book full of sadness and calm tragedy. As a reader one can understand Jeanne's frustration and her yearning for Toussaint as he was. The misery of war is told only at the fringes of "Les fleurs d'hiver", but in raw and honest tones. The main attraction is the returning, the after... The bleakness of what happens to Sidonie got to me. Not even the tender moments later could make up for this utter defeat.
I very much enjoyed all the bits and pieces about the life they led, the food and customs, the professions and shortages. I thought it was very well woven into the narrative and well researched.
Thank you for including this book that so strangely fit my current reading. A worthy choice in my opinion.
I received book today. Thank you!
Interesting book. A bit different what I was expecting before starting to read the book. I liked this one.
Released 1 yr ago (2/12/2023 UTC) at Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
I will send the book to next reader.
Arrived safely, just in time before the great France-shutdown (or not).
I'm destined to read this book. I didn't choose another copy from a VBB because it's translated from the French but so be it...
I'm destined to read this book. I didn't choose another copy from a VBB because it's translated from the French but so be it...
What a marvelous little book. Thank you for your choice. It was likely that I never would have had the opportunity to read it in French.
Beautiful delicate cover by Caroline McArthur.
Beautifully written and/or translated. I know very well the Paris of Jeanne. All my grandparents lived there during the Great War (guerre de 14) but nobody spoke. We all know about the facial injuries (the men were named "les gueules cassées" and given jobs as sellers of Lottery tickets, specially created for them.
We were told that these injuries gave opportunity for the surgeons to improve the tools which are the foundation of modern plastic surgery for the best and the worst....
Beautiful delicate cover by Caroline McArthur.
Beautifully written and/or translated. I know very well the Paris of Jeanne. All my grandparents lived there during the Great War (guerre de 14) but nobody spoke. We all know about the facial injuries (the men were named "les gueules cassées" and given jobs as sellers of Lottery tickets, specially created for them.
We were told that these injuries gave opportunity for the surgeons to improve the tools which are the foundation of modern plastic surgery for the best and the worst....
In the care of La Poste to be delivered to mathgirl40 in Ontario.
This book is now with me.
I liked very much this sad and beautiful story. I've been trying to read more historical fiction this year, set in different locations and countries, and this fits the bill perfectly. It was interesting to me to learn more about life in Paris at the end of WWI. Thank you, Fifna, for contributing this book to the roundabout.
This book is now on its way to valpete.
It's arrived! This is a beautifully written book...in some ways so sad to learn of invisible wounds of war...however, hopeful in how Jeanne and Toussaint ultimately reconnect.
Off to the next reader.
Arrived safely. As is the case with all Peirene Press books, I find the cover beautiful!
Apologies for hanging onto this so long. For such a small book, it was personally a very emotional read. All you may have wanted was a quiet life, but outside forces will always detonate your best laid plans, forcing you to scramble to try to find your way back to what once was. And then you have the Sidonies as an example that it could always be worse.
This is one of those works of art that I'll recommend, and am grateful to have experienced, but won't repeat.
Equally beautiful and devastating.
An apt description on the front cover, calling it a "slow-burn of a novel".
This is one of those works of art that I'll recommend, and am grateful to have experienced, but won't repeat.
Equally beautiful and devastating.
An apt description on the front cover, calling it a "slow-burn of a novel".
Journal Entry 18 by 
echode
at London - Heathrow, -- Airports & Planes -- United Kingdom on Wednesday, June 28, 2023
echode at London - Heathrow, -- Airports & Planes -- United Kingdom on Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Released 10 mos ago (6/27/2023 UTC) at London - Heathrow, -- Airports & Planes -- United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
This book was a companion during my 2.5 weeks holiday in the UK, where we hit Edinburgh, Falkirk, the Highlands, took a ferry to Belfast, explored the Giants Causeway and the Dark Hedges, before it was mailed off to Cross-patch at Heathrow Terminal 3.
Journal Entry 19 by 
Cross-patch
at Leicester, Leicestershire United Kingdom on Friday, June 30, 2023
Cross-patch at Leicester, Leicestershire United Kingdom on Friday, June 30, 2023
Thank you echode. Arrived safely. I’m so glad you didn’t have to pay such high postage fees for this one, not counting your travelling costs to get to the UK of course.
Journal Entry 20 by Cross-patch at Leicester, Leicestershire United Kingdom on Monday, July 24, 2023
Cross-patch at Leicester, Leicestershire United Kingdom on Monday, July 24, 2023
Truly beautiful: the prose, the cover with its charming French flaps and stunning illustrations, and even the paper on the pages. It has been a pleasure.
Journal Entry 21 by Cross-patch at -- By Post or by Hand--, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom on Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Cross-patch at -- By Post or by Hand--, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom on Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Released 9 mos ago (7/25/2023 UTC) at -- By Post or by Hand--, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Travelling to the next participant.
Journal Entry 22 by 
greenbadger
at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Thursday, July 27, 2023
greenbadger at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Thursday, July 27, 2023
Arrived with me, thank you!
Journal Entry 23 by greenbadger at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Monday, August 7, 2023
greenbadger at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Monday, August 7, 2023
Jeanne has spent the war years making artificial flowers, working long hours every day to get a few meagre scraps of food to support herself and her child, while around her women in similar difficulties face their own struggles. When her husband Toussaint returns, it's because he's been invalided with severe facial injuries, silent and distant, and it's down to Jeanne to try to rebuild her family. This is a really beautiful and touching book, very well written.
Journal Entry 24 by greenbadger at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Friday, August 18, 2023
greenbadger at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom on Friday, August 18, 2023
Released 8 mos ago (8/18/2023 UTC) at St Albans, Hertfordshire United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
On its way to Poodlesister.
Journal Entry 25 by Poodlesister at Walthamstow, Greater London United Kingdom on Monday, August 21, 2023
Poodlesister at Walthamstow, Greater London United Kingdom on Monday, August 21, 2023
With me. Thanks for the card greenbadger.
Journal Entry 26 by Poodlesister at Walthamstow, Greater London United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Poodlesister at Walthamstow, Greater London United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 13, 2023
A lovely book, very moving.
Journal Entry 27 by Poodlesister at -- By Post or by Hand--, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Poodlesister at -- By Post or by Hand--, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Released 7 mos ago (9/15/2023 UTC) at -- By Post or by Hand--, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
This will travel to estelle1806 in the next couple of days.
Arrived quickly, thank you.
Not sure if the translation was as good as it could have been...
But I found the story very well researched. Although it is a very sad story, it held some hope for some of the characters.
Thanks for sharing, Fifna.
But I found the story very well researched. Although it is a very sad story, it held some hope for some of the characters.
Thanks for sharing, Fifna.
Journal Entry 30 by 
estelle1806
at Voorburg, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Tuesday, September 26, 2023
estelle1806 at Voorburg, Zuid-Holland Netherlands on Tuesday, September 26, 2023
This is returning to Fifna, after having completed the 2022 Favourite Book Roundabout, safe home!
Please let us know when you release it again...
Please let us know when you release it again...
Arrived home today, thanks estelle1806! And thank you to everyone for sharing your thoughts on the book.
