The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh and Calling All Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray

I finally had time to catch up on my reading over Thanksgiving weekend. First, I finished The Language of Flowers. Victoria is a child bouncing around the foster care system. She finally is placed with Elizabeth, who wants to keep her, and teaches her all about flowers and their meanings. The chapters about her childhood alternate with chapters about her adult life, when she realizes she has a special gift when it comes to flowers,
and helps people change their lives with special arrangements. But when she comes across a handsome stranger at the flower market--who turns out to be someone from her past--the delicate equilibrium she has managed to establish in her life is thrown off kilter.

The other book I read was Calling All Invisible Women. Clover is a middle-aged woman married to a doctor. One day she realizes she has turned invisible. And that no one seems to have noticed. (And yes, it is partially a metaphor for the way middle-aged women are often treated.)

She soon discovers that she is not alone. And she and her fellow invisible women decide to use their unexpected power to change the world. Parts of the story are very funny and parts are kind of sad (i.e., when Clover's husband (who actually really loves her) goes months without noticing her invisibility). Despite kind of a slow start, it turned out to be a good story, though Step Ball Change remains my favorite book by Jeanne Ray.