When village life turns nasty: An author reveals the dark heart of the English countryside

My sister and I pored over the book.
"Never give marigolds," it said, "for this means a desire for riches. And that flowers could mean anything from "don't tell" to "a deadly foe is near" and should always be understood before being made a gift. "
Arts + Ents News in Pictures
It told us the peony (one of our mother's favourites) had recently been appointed the official flower for the state of Indiana in the United States; before that it had been a zinnia. Or else only God knew what you might start.

To my young eyes it was a true bouquet that you might only get from a proper shop and then walk along with people casting admiring glances at it and wishing they were giving it (or receiving it). The nicest bunch of flowers ever arrived just a week or two after Jim and the jack-knifed trailer. They were multi-headed white daisies with yellow middles, foliage all around and wrapped in doily paper.

* * *
Pay day lender The Money Shop has been fined