Must Love Flowers

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This book is part of a series: Stand Alone

Synopsis

Two women at different stages of life find themselves on a journey of renewal after hardship in this uplifting novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.

Joan Sample is not living the life she expected. Now a widow and an empty nester, she has become by her own admission something of a recluse. But after another birthday spent alone, she is finally inclined to listen to her sister, who has been begging Joan to re-engage with the world. With her support, Joan gathers the courage to take some long-awaited steps: hiring someone to tame her overgrown garden, joining a grief support group, and even renting out a room to a local college student. Before long Joan is starting to feel a little like herself again.

Across town, Maggie Herbert works mornings as a barista, tending to impatient customers before rushing to afternoon nursing classes. She’s been living with her alcoholic father, ducking his temperamental outbursts and struggling to pay the household bills. But her circumstances brighten when she finds a room for rent in Joan’s home. In the unexpected warmth of her new situation, Maggie finds a glimmer of hope for a better life. But will Maggie’s budding attraction to one of her favorite customers ruin the harmony she’s only recently found with Joan? Meanwhile, what is Joan to make of the mysterious landscaper who’s been revitalizing her garden – a man who seems to harbor a past loss of his own?

As Maggie and Joan confront unfamiliar life choices, they find themselves leaning on each other in surprising ways – discovering in the process that “family” is often just another word for love in all its forms.

Details

First Published: 2023/07/11
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 9780593600559

Reading Guide:

Download Guide

Must Love Flowers
Discussion Guide

1. What are the themes of Must Love Flowers? How would you describe this novel to a friend?

2. Joan relies on routines each day. In what ways are routines helpful, as well as harmful? What are the benefits of breaking a routine?

3. Joan with her husband. Maggie with her mother. How do these women process their grief differently? Which character resonated with you most, and why?

4. The pandemic hit soon after Joan’s husband Jared passed, adding to the isolation Joan was experiencing. She holed up inside her home like the rest of the world, and continued to stay holed up once things opened again. Did you find the pandemic to be isolating as well? How did it feel once the world began “opening up” again? Did your relationships, and the direction of your life change?

5. How would you describe yourself in the gardening department? If you garden, what’s your favorite part of it? If not, why?

6. Maggie’s relationship with her father is fraught. How much do we owe family? What should the boundaries be and when does one cross the line? Discuss the tensions between being supportive and being independent.

7. What is your favorite kind of flower and why? Joan “adored the calla lilies that sprang up each spring. . . . the scene of fields of blooming tulips had taken her breath away.” If a certain flower brings up a particular memory, please share.

8. How did Joan and Maggie each help the other?

9. Joan takes a major step forward when she attends a grief therapy group. How does engagement with others help relieve suffering? What is the difference between loneliness and being alone?

10. On their first date, Maggie and Joan’s son, Nick, attend a trivia night. How would you describe your trivia skills? Pretend you’re on Team Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow: What was the title of Bruce Springsteen’s memoir? Where was Catherine the Great born?

11. How do you think Joan handled her relationship with her son, Steve?

12. Which scenes stood out to you, and why?

13. At the end of the novel, Phil tells Joan that his heart knew from the moment she said her landscaper must love flowers. “I had no idea if you were young or old, married or single, and yet I knew I was going to fall in love with you.” When do you think Joan started to fall in love with Phil?

14. If you could ask the Debbie Macomber anything, what would it be?

15. If you the book were being made into a movie and TV series, who would you cast in the roles?

Praise

"With skillful plotting and believable characters who tug at the heartstrings, Macomber’s latest does not disappoint. Her vast and loyal readership will eat this up." -Publishers Weekly