Tatiana de Rosnay is a master of the historical novel and has certainly gone down a very different path with Flowers of Darkness. Instead of looking back in history, the book looks forward - setting the story in a Paris some undetermined years in the future.
Even as the book opens, it’s clear it’s taking place at a different time. There had been significant explosions in Paris, the UK and other parts of Europe, resulting in major destruction and deaths. Fresh fruit and flowers were no longer readily available, there’s terrible climate/pollution issues, and computers/social media/bots have taken over way too many aspects of regular life. It’s a frightening setting.
Clarissa, a writer who’s a huge fan of Virginia Woolf and Romain Gary (found the ties here very interesting), has just left her second husband and needs a place to live. She moves very quickly into CASA, a special apartment building for artists which seems too good to be true (reduced price, beautiful apartment), but with some downsides (all that automation would be enough to scare me away).
I’m not a fan of dystopian fiction but did end up getting quickly drawn into the story (both Clarissa’s present and her past), until about 3/4 of the way through the book. The rest was just too much for me. Loved the character development of Clarissa and her family (Toby and their daughter and granddaughter, her father, and even her brother and his daughters), and would have really liked some resolution about Jim Perrier and Mia White.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read Flowers of Darkness in exchange for an honest review.

*3.5 stars, rounded up. I always enjoy this author's superb writing. Her latest novel is a bit of a departure, branching a bit into fantasy and futuristic speculation. It is set in Paris in the near future with electric cars and A.I., but many catastrophic things have shaped their world--terrorist attacks, severe climate change that has brought intense heat waves, killing off forests, flowers, gardens, insects. And as the story begins, we learn that the main character's personal life has also been shaken up when she discovers her husband's secret passion and leaves him.

Her name is Clarissa Katsef, the bilingual daughter of a French mother and an English father who retains a dual citizenship. In the past she worked as a property examiner and was fascinated by dwellings and their effect on people. In her 50s, she began writing and published a well-received book about Virginia Woolf and Romain Gary, favorite authors who both committed suicide. Clarissa herself has a darkness within her, has suffered bouts of depression, the most-prolonged one after her son was stillborn many years ago.

Now, with latest her marriage in shambles, she seeks to start a new life and is thrilled to be granted living space in a new high-rise that is exclusively for artists. The place is high tech, run by an artificial intelligence she has nicknamed Mrs Dalloway. But it isn't long before she starts to feel watched and has trouble sleeping. If 'they' are spying on her, to what purpose? Is she being paranoid? Delusional? Or is she deliberately being driven crazy?

Meanwhile, what she learned about her husband is slowly revealed to the reader in excerpts from her notebook. She has told no one, not even her adult daughter or friends. They assume he must have been having an affair...

"Moments like this are buds on the tree of life. Flowers of darkness they are..." growing inside her head.

(Virginia Woolf, from Mrs Dalloway, 1925)

This is very much a character-driven novel. Being of a similar age as Clarissa, I could relate to many of her emotions and reactions--how she related to her elderly father, adult daughter, teenaged granddaughter. The way de Rosnay writes about Europe in the near future is fascinating and all too believable if our planet-destroying ways of living aren't halted soon.

In the story, Clarissa says readers occasionally ask her to explain the endings of her books. One might wish to do that with this novel but as Clarissa thinks to herself, 'She wrote to make others think, not to give them answers.' Enjoy!

I received an arc of this book from one of my favorite authors and her publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Many thanks for the opportunity.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Tatiana de Rosnay for allowing me to read the ARC of Flowers of Darkness in exchange for an honest review.
Clarissa, published author, seeks a quiet place where she can escape a bad break up and a tragedy in her past which haunts her. When she visits CASA, she feels like she has found the perfect place to write. Although her dwelling appears to be a safe haven, she soon realizes someone is watching her every move, tenants are disappearing without a trace, and she feels drugged all the time. The mystery around CASA is exciting, but the subplot of her estranged husband does not seem to add quality or intrigue to the plot. The ending is fast and incomplete, leaving the reader wondering about the future.

Flowers of Darkness seems to be two stories rolled into one, with both centering around grief and devastating life changes.

Clarissa, a writer and grandmother, has left her second husband rather abruptly and goes in search of a safe haven in which to live and do her writing. One of Clarissa’s fascinations is places and their influence on people, so when she discovers CASA, a new apartment building exclusively for creative types, such as writers, artists and the like, she feels as if she may have found the perfect place.

Against her better judgment, she rushes to sign up and ignores some red flags along the way. The apartment furnishes her with vitamins and does a weekly health scan. They also film the residents. It’s a bit futuristic, but this is set in the future after Paris was hit with some drone strikes. After a few weeks of this, Clarissa is feeling creeped out about the place. That feeling is exacerbated when one of her new resident friends suddenly disappears.

While all this is going on, readers are let into the personal background of Clarissa, which centers on the loss of a child and her recent marital separation. The loss of the child was a situation that we’ve know through the ages, but the details centering around her recent separation was definitely one that belongs to the futuristic world.

I really liked the story, but would have liked to have seen some things resolved prior to the ending. I also felt as if the apartment community atmosphere would have made a great story on it’s own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy. I’m happy to give my honest review.

Flowers of Darkness is a creepy suspense thriller with a futuristic, science-fiction touch that I did not want to end.

There are so many moments that stood out in the story. Firstly, I adored how passionate Clarissa is about Romain Gary and Virginia Woolf. Reading these passages made me want to read their works and biography. The story is also very futuristic yet realistic and paints a grim picture of what could happen. The author also writes the suspense very well! I was at the edge of my seat when Clarissa notices something strange about the apartment, especially with the voice assistant and powders. Moreover, I enjoyed the style in which the author wrote the story. We get notebook entries at the end of each chapter that flashbacks to her relationship with François.

I also enjoyed Clarissa as the main character. Everyone perceives her as a sad and lonely older woman. Nevertheless, she stands up for herself and does her best to fight the system. I adored her relationship with Andy and thought their scenes were terrific. I loved the part where they investigate Jim’s apartment to find out what happened.

My only criticism of the story is the ending. The story ended in an abrupt and lackluster manner, with quite a lot of questions unanswered. I wish the author had provided some closure to a few of the topics like Jim, C.A.S.A and Mia. The book would have been excellent if the author ended the story with these details.

Apart from that, I did enjoy the book for the most part. Overall, “Flowers of Darkness” is still a gripping, suspense thriller that is worth reading.

Flowers of Darkness by Tatiana de Rosnay is the fifth book I have read by this author. Flowers of Darkness takes the reader about 15-20 years into the future in Paris, France.

It is a future world where an unnamed catastrophic event has destroyed the city, as well as, other places in the world. This catastrophic event has also destroyed the climate of Earth and shows the world in full blown global warming.

Yet, the main part of the story centers around a mystery for the reader, as to why main character Clarissa recently left her husband of 20 years, along with an added mystery that Clarissa is trying to solve for herself. There is a common thread through much of the story which focuses on artificial intelligence – think of Alexa in your worst nightmare.

Tatiana de Rosnay is an excellent novelist, who pens intricate and intriguing novels. This is the first time that I didn’t feel wrapped up in one of her stories. It is a slow story, there is no action. There is a sense of rising expectations and dread when Clarissa gets closer to her mystery unravelling. If you are one of those readers who like your endings neatly tied up in a bow this is not for you, it will leave you oddly dissatisfied. However if you enjoy a bit of suspense, artificial intelligence and a post apocalyptic future this book will capture your attention.

I would like to thank the author, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Flowers of Darkness is the story of Clarissa, an elderly bilingual (English and French) writer who ives in Paris of the future. After Clarissa finds out that her husband has had an extramarital affair, she moves out and applies to live at C.A.S.A (An apartment complex for artists). At first Clarissa is delighted that she has been accepted to live here. She even has a personal assistant in the form of artificial intelligence who she names Mrs. Dalloway, after a book by one of her favorite author's Virginia Wolff. Clarissa finds out very quickly, however that things are very strange at C.A.S.A, for example, she can't shake the feeling that she is being watched. In addition to her current situation, Clarissa can not seem to forget a past tragedy. Is it time to move on or revisit her past?

I really wanted to like this book, and there were parts of it that really stick with me. I did feel however, that the end was rather disjointed. I really wanted to know if Clarissa was correct about C.A.S.A or if she was just imagining everything that went on. I felt like I was left hanging, and I missed an entire chapter at the end. On a positive note, the writing was beautiful and I felt very connected to Clarissa.

I really enjoyed this book about futuristic Paris! Some of the concepts I have read about in other novels so wasn’t weirded out by it. It’s a shorter novel so a quick read. Also, it really captured my attention and interest in finding out what happens next. Highly recommend this book! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you, NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Tatiana de Rosnay for this eARC!

I've read other books by Tatiana de Rosnay, and in traditional fashion, this story centered around secrets and family. In a lot of ways, this book was quite unnerving simply because of how plausible the scenario was. In fact, I felt silly that I didn't even realize for the entire first third of the book that this took place in the near future. The conspiracy theories, environmental impacts, influence of technology, and development of sophisticated artificial intelligence really made me think about what ifs.

I did feel like for a shorter book it moved fairly slowly. There were many instances where memories were explored in far too many irrelevant details. And, there were many relationships and events that could have been delved into much more.

All-in-all, I enjoyed the read, but it wasn't necessarily one of my favorites this year.

Trigger Warnings: terrorism, adultery, & miscarriage

*Review will be posted to reviewer's Instagram within the next couple of days and is already posted on Goodreads.

Flowers of Darkness, by Tatiana de Rosnay, is a complicated novel that blends elements of a love story, thriller, mystery, a dystopian Paris, and science fiction. Rosnay’s protagonist, Clarissa, is one of the more intriguing heroines I’ve encountered in a long time. I loved that she is a writer and grandmother, active and rebellious, often depressed, and smart enough to solve the puzzle that imprisons her. The plot moved slowly at times and at breakneck speed at others. Not all of my questions about plot points were resolved, and I wish I had more time to go back and reread.

Be forewarned that if you have read her previous books, this is very different but very worthwhile. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Flowers of Darkness.. I did enjoy the story including a grandmother, a writer, and her daughter, only second in her mothers eyes, and a granddaughter, who is loved immensely. I enjoyed the plot including the grandmother living in a high tech building in France, even more than high tech, AI and this was very intriguing - what do "they" know and how much do they know, most importantly can they outwit you? Clarissa, Jordan and Andy were very enjoyable characters. I enjoyed the story overall, Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Tatiana de Rosnay

The start was really strong and pulled me right in. It has a sci-fi feel to it which is not usually a preference for me. But the ending ruined it for me it just drops off

This was definitely not a book for me. The story did not flow well and when it seemed to be going in one direction, it would veer off in another direction. So much was left unresolved but not in a good way. It’s difficult to even say what this book was about really. It kept teasing us with mysteries and then only some were revealed but none of it was very satisfying. This one was just kind of odd to me. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for granting access to this book in exchange for an honest review. I will post this review tomorrow to my Bookstagram and companion Facebook page @thatreadingrealtor.

I thought the cover of the book was beautiful. It really drew me in.
I have not read any of this Author's books. I have a blog that features books written by 'older' Authors, or a storyline that features an aging character. I thought this would be an interesting take on an aging artist moving up and out from a bad marriage into a Bohemian Artist community.
I struggled with this book. I enjoyed the beginning and I wish the Author had stayed with the original premise of an older women moving into an artists colony.
It was all just too weird for me-mind control and the X husband sex with a robot? There was no character development.
There were many, many tangent storylines-the grandaughter, the father, the daughter, the neighbors, but it lacked cohesiveness and depth of story. I didn't care about any of these people.
I liked the idea of how the environment-surroundings influence your life. But, I the Author took it way-WAY to far.
Thank you St Martins Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.
jb/
https://seniorbooklounge.blogspot.com/

I assumed that this book would be one that I really went deep into and got lost in but I couldn't really get into it at all. I think it was more literary than I expected and that just isn't my speed. The writing was beautiful but just not for me.

WOW! WOW! I literally JUST finished reading this and am wide eyed and shaking my head in astonishment, with a big smile on my face! This was such a fantastic book! It was so clever and brilliant and entirely different than I expected, or from anything I have ever read. I do believe that though most of this may seem farfetched and unlikely to some, or even most, I truly believe it is the future. I do not want to give away ANYTHING, as that is how I ventured in and I want others to be as unbiased and unknowing as I was, in hopes that they will be as blown away as I was. As I AM. It was compelling, fascinating, exciting! I took so many notes and highlighted so many quotes that I loved as I was reading, with intent to share on my review, but have decided not to for the reasons listed above. Read this book, please! I can’t wait to hear what others say about it!

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

De Rosnay has a history of creating emotion in her writing and atmospheric settings that suck you into her stories. This book was no different. The mystery and paranoia Clarissa felt were palpable on the other side of the page and I was engrossed from the start to see how it would end. I didn’t love it as much as her other works but I did enjoy the book and would recommend it to friends. I look forward to more from her..

A very entertaining thriller, much like de Rosnay's other novels. The plot was compelling and she wrote very strong characters, however it felt too along the lines of her other thrillers.

This is a new novel by one of my favorite authors, Tatiana de Rosnay, and it did not disappoint. I read Flowers of Darkness with no preconceived notions of exactly what to expect, but knowing ahead of time that it was going to be a very different type of book than her renowned novel Sarah's Key. With that in mind, I let the characters develop slowly and gradually grow on me. Clarissa is not the most likable literary character I have ever encountered, but she had a depth of character that I found both refreshing and admirable.
Flowers of Darkness takes place in Paris, France sometime in the future. A time when computers and robots do more than they should, a time when our impact on the planet has definitely taken its toll. I found the post apocalyptic future intriguing and also terrifying. The only reason I gave this 4 stars was that it was a little slow going for me at the beginning.

Clarissa left her husband and moved into a secret housing complex where you had to be interviewed before you could live there.

You had to be an artist or writer or any type of creative person.

Are they really looking for talented folks or looking for someone who won’t suspect the reason for the security and scrutiny of your life as you live there?

Clarissa definitely felt as though someone was watching her besides her virtual personal assistant. Her cat seemed to feel the same way.

Something was going on in this extremely secured building with cameras in every room. It is a futuristic building where your every move was watched.

I don’t know why Clarissa didn’t move out of the building.

The writing is excellent as always, but FLOWERS OF DARKNESS was a slow read for me even though it wasn’t very long and had a bit of a mystery.

The futuristic things which were the major gist of the book are not something I read so this book wasn't as enjoyable as I would have liked. 3/5

This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.