The Violets of March by Sarah Jio: book review

The Violets of March (2011) is set on Bainbridge Island near Seattle in Washington State in 2005.

Eight years earlier Emily Wilson was in her twenties, had a best-selling novel that was made into a movie, and an attorney husband, Joel, a previous top-10 CQ bachelor. But on February 28, 2005, she signed their divorce papers. Her great-aunt Bee invites her to Bainbridge Island for a month to take stock of her life.

In March Emily, from New York, visits her unconventional 85-year-old great aunt, Bee Larson. Even in Emily’s childhood Bee had some rooms in her house locked, and she still does. But one room, the pink room, she opens for Emily to use. In this room Emily finds a red velvet diary, dated 1943.

At first it looks like a diary, but maybe it is a fictional story – someone’s attempt at writing a novel. The author is anonymous. It is a tragic love story about Esther and Elliot. Esther Johnson marries Bobby Littleton, but she loves Elliot Hartley – and is having his child, although he does not know this. Emily tries to piece together whether this is fact or fiction.

She meets two childhood friends – one is Jack Evanston, an artist, and the other is Greg Attwood, a grocery store clerk. She also meets Bee’s elderly neighbour, Henry, and Bee’s best friend Evelyn. The violets (of the title) are rare wood violets blossoming out of season in Henry’s garden. Bee has not seen violets like this since___ well, for a very long time.

As Emily reads the diary she learns more about Esther, Elliot, Bobby, Frances and Rose. It is an entanglement of love interests. Just as Emily’s life is, when Jack and Greg take an interest in her, and her ex-husband Joel has regrets and wants to return.

During Emily’s research on Esther Johnson, the woman in the local library once danced with Elliot Hartley – so he is real. Emily sets out to find him. What she finds is so much more. After 65 years, Esther Johnson’s secret is revealed.

The two storylines of 2005 and 1943 run in parallel and eventually intermingle in events that affect Emily’s life. Sometimes this works and other times it is rather contrived and formulaic, as readers try to guess the connections. Characters lack some depth, but nevertheless this novel has been popular for its intrigue and cross-generational relationships.

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

The Beggars' Strike by Aminata Sow Fall: book review

The Beggar’sStrike (1979 in French and 1981 in English) is set in an unstated country in West Africa in a city known only as The Capital. Undoubtedly, Senegalese author Sow Fall writes of her own experiences. It was also encapsulated in the 2000 film, Battu , directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko from Mali. Mour Ndiaye is the Director of the Department of Public Health and Hygiene, with the opportunity of a distinguished and coveted promotion to Vice-President of the Republic. Tourism has declined and the government blames the local beggars in The Capital. Ndiaye must rid the streets of beggars, according to a decree from the Minister. Ndiaye instructs his department to carry out weekly raids. One of the raids leads to the death of lame beggar, Madiabel, who ran into an oncoming vehicle as he tried to escape, leaving two wives and eight children. Soon after, another raid resulted in the death of the old well-loved, comic beggar Papa Gorgui Diop. Enough is enou

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog