I've always been fascinated by language.A method developed by humans as a means to express ourselves. And despite our many cultural and geographic differences, language gives all us the facility to voice our needs, feelings, our hopes, ideas and dreams.But what happens when language fails us? When our voices are silenced? When trauma, violence or suppression robs us of our ability to express ourselves?This is a dilemma Holly Ringland explores in her stunning debut novel "The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart" (HarperCollins Publishers, 2018). When a terrible tragedy changes nine-year-old Alice Hart's life forever, she goes to live on a flower farm with the grandmother she never knew and learns the language of flowers to help her say things she cannot speak of. The idea that flowers can offer an alternate method of communication is not new. But it is an idea that is explored with heartbreaking courage in this remarkable book. Beautiful, vivid and compelling, this is a book that should be on everyone's reading list.