♥ The Flower Arrangement || Ella Griffin Book Tour ♥

Every flower tells a story . . .

From the window of her shop, Blossom & Grow,
Lara watches those who’ve bought her flowers head
off to face all manner of life-changing occasions.

Bridal posies, anniversary bouquets, surprise deliveries
from secret admirers, new-baby bunches – Lara arranges
them all. And then there are the sadder occasions – the
memorial wreaths, the ‘I’m sorry’ flowers.

No stranger to heartbreak herself, Lara knows that
flowers can say more than words ever can. Beneath the
twinkly fairylights, surrounded by buckets filled with
cooling water and heaving with flowers, customers spill
their secrets, the things they want to say, the things
they wished they’d said. Lara can always find a way
to bring their message to life.

Perfect for fans of Marian Keyes and Maeve Binchy,
Ella brings her warmth, wit and wisdom to the comings
and goings of a little Irish florist.

How are you finding being on a blog tour?

This is my first blog tour so I wasn’t sure what to expect but I’m absolutely loving it! Bloggers are hugely important to writers because reading is their passion and their reviews carry extra weight with readers! So far, they’ve been very positive, so it feels as if ‘The Flower Arrangement’ is getting a lovely send-off as it goes out into the world!

What are your favourite flowers and do they have a meaning to you?

Sweet Peas remind me of my mother, who loved them. And Montbretia, a variety of wild iris that grows in the hedgerows in the west of Ireland, reminds me of my father.

But if I had to pick just one flower, it would be jasmine. I met my husband on a writing course on a remote Greek Island.  If you are going to fall madly in love with a complete stranger, a whitewashed village on a hilltop under a sky full of constellations is a pretty good place to do it. Especially if he shows up at your door for the first date with a bowl of tiny, star shaped blossoms floating in water.  Every time I smell jasmine I get a flashback to the moment I saw those flowers.

Where do you find inspiration for writing and the characters you create?

I love writing about family and relationships and, though I do like to write with humour, I nearly always find myself writing about loss as well. Inspiration can come from anywhere. From an anecdote that I hear.  (The most romantic proposal story in the book belongs to my friend Una). From a conversation I overhear in a restaurant. Or just from the face of a passerby in the street. Fragments of dialogue often come into my head when I’m doing other things like swimming or cooking or driving. I have to pull over to jot them down.

Tea or Coffee?

Mint tea! In vast quantities. If I could hook myself up to an IV of it, I would!

Have you always wanted to write?

Always. I am the youngest of six and my siblings are much older so I spent a lot of time playing alone as a little girl. I was always off in a corner making up stories or writing poems about my real pets and my imaginary ones!

What is your favourite book?

Noooooo! Don't do that to me!  I couldn’t pick just one!  The novel I’ve loved most in the last three months is ‘Us’ by David Nicholls. It made me laugh and cry, which is what all the best books do!

Step into Blossom & Grow, a wonderful little flower shop that knows what you need before you do, and thats all down to one lady - Lara, some people have a gift for flowers, and people - Lara is one of them. She never planned to run a little flower shop, when her heart breaks after she loses her baby six months into her pregnancy she throws herself into work and surrounding herself with flowers avoiding the one topic her and her husband need to actually talk about. Then, when her father passes on and everything falls apart - she can't head back, she cant face the people at blossom and grow. 
When a tradgey strikes one of her customers, she is called back to work, and realises - that is where she should be..When her story begins to change, has her heart healed enough?

The flower arrangment is one of the most beautifully written books i have read in a long time, as someone who spent the majority of their childhood in a flower shop, the descriptions take me right back. The writing is elegant and stunning and you can feel the love in the shop every time you set foot in it, i could not reccomend this book more, it was - well it has my heart.

Ella Griffin was born in Dublin. She is an award-winning advertising copywriter and travel writer. She lives in County Wicklow with her husband Neil and their deerhound Haggis.