He reads Karoline the beginning of a story – never completed – that contains the image of the blue flower of the novel’s title. While staying in the Just household Fritz develops a touching friendship with his tutor’s niece Karoline with whom he later confides many of his thoughts and feelings. Fritz’s education takes him to Jena and Leipzig, and then finally his father arranges for him to go to study under magistrate Kreisamtmann Coelestin Just, of Tennstedt to learn office management and administration. The eldest son of a large noble family – there are only certain occupations open to Fritz because of his nobility – and Fritz’s father has firm ideas on what will be his future. Set in the late eighteenth century Germany, The Blue Flower is based upon the life of Friedrich Von Hardenberg (Fritz) in the years before he became the famous romantic poet and philosopher Novalis. I think that I rather like the unexpectedness of much of Penelope Fitzgerald’s writing, although that doesn’t always make it easy reading. It is – typically for Fitzgerald – quite unusual although enormously readable and brilliantly written, I certainly did enjoy it. The Blue Flower I believe is considered by many to be her most accomplished novel. Her Booker winning novel Offshore which I read last year I loved – and it remains my favourite Fitzgerald to date. I remember enjoying The Bookshop, The Golden Child I found odd but loved, The Gate of Angels – was enjoyable but also rather odd, Innocence I think I enjoyed but wasn’t certain I totally “got it” I had in fact forgotten all about that novel, until I came to think about my review of The Blue Flower and glanced through the list of Fitzgerald’s other books. Previously I have read five of Fitzgerald’s novels – finding them very readable and quite fascinating, yet difficult to fully get a handle on. Her novels have been received to huge acclaim, being nominated for and then winning The Booker prize, later winning the National Book Critics Circle award for this novel. Penelope Fitzgerald only began her very successful writing career when in her late 50’s. The Blue Flower was the last novel of author Penelope Fitzgerald who died in 2000 aged 83.

The blue flower book