Tales About Flowers

Every flower has a story.Why does the water lily float upon the surface of the lake? How did the gladiolus get its sword-like leaves? Why does the bleeding heart bloom with tiny broken hearts, and what gave the magnolia its magnificent flowers?In Tales About Flowers, Latvian writer Anna Sakse transforms familiar blossoms into the keepers of stories about love and betrayal, kindness and greed, courage and sacrifice, vanity, jealousy, and hope. Drawing on the traditions and folklore of many cultures, these fairy tales travel from humble cottages and enchanted gardens to distant kingdoms and foreign shores.By turns whimsical, romantic, funny, haunting, and tragic, Sakse's tales reveal a world in which flowers remember the joys and sorrows of the people who came before them—and every blossom has a secret waiting to be told.