The Language of Flowers (novel) language of flowers—a long-forgotten and mysterious way of communication—with her firsthand knowledge of the travails of the foster-care system." For Weeks, the "novel is both enchanting and cruel, full of beauty and anger." "The New York Times" compared the novel to something "Dickens might have come up with, had Dickens been deeply interested in flower arranging." SFGate called the novel "an unexpectedly beautiful book about an ugly subject: children who grow up without families, and what becomes of them in the absence of unconditional love." Waltrous compares the novel to "Jane Eyre", identifying the novel as part of the "story
Jane Eyre (2011 film) news of which has so shocked his mother, Sarah Reed, that it has brought on a stroke. Apparently, Mrs. Reed has been asking to see Jane. Jane returns to Gateshead, where her dying aunt shows her a letter from Jane's paternal uncle, John Eyre, asking for her to go to live with him in Madeira. He wants to adopt Jane and make her a beneficiary in his will. Jane notices that the letter was dated three years ago. Mrs. Reed admits to telling John Eyre that Jane had died of typhus at Lowood School. Mrs. Reed tells Jane that she