Review: The Violets of March by Sarah Jio

THE VIOLETS OF MARCH is my second Sarah Jio novel, although it was actually her debut. The first one I read, BLACKBERRY WINTER, completely won me over so it wasn't a hard decision to read this one next.

About the Book:

After having a such a successful life in her twenties, both professionally and personally, now in her thirties Emily has found herself in a much different place.  Her career as a best-selling author seems to be at a standstill and her marriage to Jake, the seemingly perfect husband, is now over. Her best friend is worried about her so when Emily's elder great-aunt Bea invites her to Bainbridge Island for a long overdue visit, she encourages Emily to go hoping it will give her some clarity and closure and help her to move forward with her life.

Once she arrives at the Island, many old memories rush to her of summers spent there as a child. She doesn't know why her family stopped going there when she was a teenager and she is met only with silence and evasiveness when she tries to find out.

When she discovers a red velvet diary in the room she is staying in at Bea's house, she is at first reluctant to read it for fear of intruding on someone's privacy, but her curiosity gets the better of her and she begins to read. The diary is dated 1943 and although the names are different, the people are amazingly familiar to her. It is impossible for her to stop reading, especially when the person who left it for her urges her to read it completely.

Emily settles into life on the island and runs into people from her past life that she hasn't seen in years. Though she feels excited and surprised, it is also a bit overwhelming. When she meets Jack, the grandson of a neighbor who lives down the beach, Emily is overcome with confusion. Why does she feel she is betraying a marriage that is already broken?

Eventually, the diary takes on a life of its own and the lines between Emily's life and the diary are blurred and impossible to separate.  The secrets of her family's past, and the story written in the diary are heading right into Emily's life and she rushes to figure it all out so that she can make the decisions for her own future.

My Thoughts:

There are a couple things right off the bat that I liked about this book even before I read it: The beautiful cover! The story within a story concept and the location of Bainbridge Island, near Seattle. As a Seattlean, Jio incorporates so much of the city into her books that it actually becomes a its own character.  She is turning me into a Seattle-lover! I would love to visit there one day to see for myself how beautiful it is.

As for the book, I really liked Emily right away. All of the characters were original and very believable to me. Bea was a prickly character but I liked her and it was obvious she only wanted the best for Emily. In my opinion, the story-telling in this debut was done well and kept moving at a good pace that kept my attention and even had me guessing.  The diary story was fascinating and I liked the way Jio weaved it into the present. It felt like I was in the room with Emily as she read it. I love stories taking place during that era so its easy for me to tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed THE VIOLETS OF MARCH. My only problem is to figure out which Sarah Jio book to read next.

THE VIOLETS OF MARCH
Author: Sarah Jio
Publisher: Plume
Published:  April 2011
Length: 304 pp
Source: Purchased

Review: Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio

BLACKBERRY WINTER, Sarah Jio's third novel is my first, but it will not be my last. This book actually tells two stories in one and takes place in a city that I, personally, have never visited, but has always intrigued me: Seattle.  The main story, taking place in present day drives the second story, which takes place in 1933 during a very tumultuous time.

In present day we meet Claire, a journalist at a large, local newspaper, owned by her husband's family. It becomes obvious early on that Claire and her husband  heve been through something traumatic in the last year and the strain of that trauma is beginning to put cracks in  their marriage. During a rare  late season snowstorm, Claire is assigned to write an article about the odd weather phenomenon.  At first, she is less than thrilled with her assignment but while researching the archives she stumbles across a most unusual story from 1933.  The fact that a similar snow-storm occurred on the exact same day in 1933 was to be the focal point of the story, however, what really caught Claire's attention was the disappearance of a three-year-old little boy in the middle of that storm and the subsequent murder of his mother, a worker in one of Seattle's poshest hotels at that time. A local townsman had been convicted of the crime but very little was done to locate the boy.

The mysterious disappearance of that child and the complete lack of information in the files is just what Claire needsedto get her spark back.  Against her supervisor's wishes, she turned this simple story about the weather into something much more. Soon she is consumed with finding out who the little boy is and if he was ever found. The trail she set out on took her places she never dreamed and  to people she couldn't have imagined.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit that I saw this book making it's way around the blogs after it's release and saw it mentioned on Twitter a lot but I just never picked it up. I don't know what I was waiting on. To be honest, I remember reading a few reviews that indicated it may be a little predictable and that is something I hate in books. But this was a good lesson for me to learn because I didn't find it predictable at all. Sure, I had my moments of 'I knew it!!' but overall, I was completely caught off guard by the final outcome. And I loved it.

Another aspect I appreciated was that Sarah Jio successfully wrote a book of mystery with some romance thrown in.  Typically, I'm not a big romance novel reader, but this had just the right amount that didn't overtake the story but added to it. I thought it was well done.

The characters are strong, in both storylines and though I enjoyed Claire's story, I was always anxious to get back to Vera Ray and her lost son in 1933. It was fascinating to me. The city, itself, became a character in this book and I really enjoyed that as well.  I felt the chapters alternating between the stories fit very well and moved it along and kept me wanting more from both. As I read on, the stories began to intertwine, which drew me in even more.. I honestly had a hard time putting this one down.

As I said earlier, having the backdrop of Seattle only added to the goodness of this novel. There is such a rich history in that city and I found it very endearing in the way Sarah Jio used it to her advantage. I've since learned that she lives in Seattle, which explains her obvious admiration for the city.

I'm very anxious for her fourth book, THE LAST CAMELLIA to be released on May 28th by Penguin (Plume). I've read that it's her 'darkest and most mysterious novel to date'. Hmm, dark and mysterious - I'm in! I also have made a promise to myself to go back and read her first two books as well. BLACKBERRY WINTER is one of my most enjoyable reads so far this year. If you've read it, I'd love to know your thoughts..

BLACKBERRY WINTER
Author:  Sarah Jio
Publisher: Penguin (Plume)
Pubilshed: September 2012
Source: Purchased
Recommend? Absolutely!

The Sunday Salon: Bookish Priorities

Happy Sunday everyone! I haven't posted a Sunday Salon post in so long and I thought it was time. Speaking of time, I just don't know it all goes! February is already bearing down on us, even though down here in Florida its been feeling more like Spring time. The weather has been crazy - highs in the 70's and 80's, then it will drop down into the 40's at night again. I'm so glad I got my flu shot a few months ago or I'd be in trouble. One day I'm in a t-shirt and flip-flops and then it goes back to jeans and sweater weather! My azalea bushes already bloomed at the end of January, which is just nuts! So when Spring actually gets here, I won't have any blooms at all because they're already gone!

On thereading front, I've read some really great books lately. In January I became a member of the She Reads Book Club and so far the book selections have been fantastic. I'm actually reading BLACKBERRY WINTER by Sarah Jio right now that was one of they're selections last year. I'm late to the party, but I'm really enjoying it. Our February selection is CALLING ME HOME by Julie Kibler. It was an emotional and heartbreaking story that really grabbed my attention right away. If you'd like to read my review, you can find it here. Our March selection is THE SILENCE OF BONAVENTURE ARROW by Rita Leganski. I plan to start it today and I'm very excited about it.

I've decided that this year I'm focusing more on books that I've had in my library that I've never gotten around to reading, more than accepting review copies. I'm not saying I won't do any ARC's but I have some really great books that need to be read. For example, I've had THE BOOK THIEF starring up at me from my coffee table for so long and I feel guilty every time I pass it up. I've also wanted to read SHADOW OF THE WIND for two years, when I got the book! The other day I finally started reading ANNA KARENINA. I'll be reading that in between other books, so that will be a slow mover.  I'm planning to read a chapter or two each night before bed, the way I did with JANE EYRE. There are others too, like THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN and THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE. These are all books that I OWN! No more excuses, I have to read these books!

All that being said, Beth Hoffman just emailed me and asked if I'd be interested in reading her new book coming out in May, LOOKING FOR ME!. And of course, I said YES!!! Thanks Beth, you just made my day! Now you see why some of the books on my shelves get pushed to the side! Let's face it, its a good problem to have!

Aside from reading, there are also my television shows I like that take up my time. All I can say is: Thank God For My DVR and OnDemand! Every year I say I'm not going to get involved in anymore series, but every year I do! A few of the new shows I like are NASHVILLE and CHICAGO FIRE. Then there are my older favorites: TOP CHEF, SUITS, DOWNTON ABBEY, THE GOOD WIFE and of course SURVIVOR, which starts up again this week! One new show that just started a few weeks ago is THE FOLLOWING with Kevin Bacon. That is one crazy, twisted show! And I LOVE it!! Wow, I never realized how much of a TV watcher I was until I started naming all of my shows! So you see, it's a miracle I get any reading done at all!

I've had to cut back on my audio books for now because my iPod is so old, many of the newer releases aren't compatible with it anymore. (Thanks to the iBook format). Or so I'm told.  I'm not the most tech savvy person when it comes to my iPod so I could be wrong about that, but I simply don't want to waste anymore time messing around with it. Hopefully a new iPod will cure the problem.

Well, that is what is going on with me. What books are you looking forward to in the months to come? And, does television get in your way too or are you able to walk away from it? I hope everyone has a great Sunday and to my friends up in the New England area: I'm thinking of you and praying that you all stay safe and warm! The weather up there looks absolutely frightening! I haven't lived up north for 30 years, but looking at the news reports brings it all back in a rush!

So, I'm haaving dinner at my friend, Brenda's house, so I need to get moving and get some things done first. Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you'll come back soon! Happy Reading!