The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

Content Warning: This section of the guide references family trauma and grief, child abuse, domestic violence, and suicidal ideation.

This novel relies heavily on Australia’s natural setting as a symbolic place that mirrors the characters’ feelings. This theme is fundamental to the use of floriography, setting as character, Ringland’s language choices, and Alice’s growth.

The author highlights the relationship between the natural world and the novel’s characters by naming each chapter for a specific plant whose meaning matches the content and setting of the chapter. For instance, the chapter in which Alice meets Dylan is named for spinifex: “Spinifex. Meaning: Dangerous pleasures. [...] Tjanpi is a tough, spiky grass dominating much of Australia’s interior red sand country, thriving on the poorest, most arid soils the desert has to offer” (261). Spinifex relates to Alice’s initial feelings for Dylan, and the plant’s description foreshadows that Dylan will take deep root in her life and become a “dangerous pleasure.” When Alice befriends Oggi and develops her crush, the chapter’s flower is River Lily, which means “love concealed” (120). Because she’s experiencing her first secret, romantic feelings for a boy within that section, the flower’s meaning coordinates with the conflicts and feelings she’s facing.