Vanessa Diffenbaugh (born 1978) is the American author of the novel ''
The Language of Flowers'' and the nonfiction ''A Victorian Flower Dictionary''.
Biography
Diffenbaugh was born in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and raised in
Chico, California
Chico ( ; Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,18 ...
. After studying creative writing and education at
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
, she went on to teach art and writing to youth in low-income communities.
During her time at Stanford, she began mentoring two sisters. The sisters were placed into Diffenbaugh's custody at age 23, but unable to care for them surrendered them to the foster care system. The experience inspired Diffenbaugh and her husband to become foster care parents in 2007.
In 2010, she founded of the Camellia Network, a nonprofit organization intended to create a nationwide movement to support youth transitioning from foster care.
In 2015, the network was acquired by the non-profit Youth Villages.
Her 2011 book, ''
The Language of Flowers'', stayed 69 weeks on the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
’'' best-seller list and was translated into 42 languages.
The novel follows the fraught life of Victoria Jones, who by the age of 18, had lived in 32
foster homes
Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...
, and becomes a flower arranger.
The novel was inspired by a flower dictionary, a type of Victorian-era book which defines what different types of flowers mean.
She also published a new non-fiction ''A Victorian Flower Dictionary'' to accompany the novel.
In 2019, it was announced there will be a film adaptation of the novel starring
Nick Robinson Nicholas, Nicky or Nick Robinson may refer to:
* Nick Robinson (journalist) (born 1963), British political journalist
* Nick Robinson (paperfolder) (born 1957), British origami artist
* Nicky Robinson (rugby union) (born 1982), Welsh rugby player ...
and
Kiersey Clemons
Kiersey Nicole Clemons (born December 17, 1993) is an American actress. She is known for her role in the 2015 comedy-drama film '' Dope'', playing Cassandra "Diggy" Andrews. Subsequently, she went on to co-star in '' Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising ...
.
In 2014, Diffenbaugh and her family moved to
Monterey
Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
from
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
,
.
Bibliography
* ''
The Language of Flowers'' (2011)
* ''A Victorian Flower Dictionary: The Language of Flowers Companion'' (2011)
* ''We never asked for Wings'' (2015)
References
External links
Vanessa Diffenbaugh's Official Website
Stanford University alumni
Living people
1978 births
21st-century American novelists
American women novelists
21st-century American women writers
American garden writers
Writers from San Francisco
American women non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
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