A review by escape_through_pages
Violets by Alex Hyde

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.75

📖 REVIEW 📖

Violets is an interesting tale of two young women living in Britain in the closing days of World War Two. The novel opens with one of the women (Violet 1) having just lost her unborn twins. The other woman (Violet 2) finds herself unexpectedly pregnant to an overseas officer, who has already departed by the time she discovers she is carrying his child. This in a time when becoming a mother out of wedlock was heavily frowned upon.

How the lives of the two Violets entwine is fairly obvious from the opening of the book, so the story is focused on their journeys to that point; one coming to terms with unwanted motherhood, the other having to navigate loss and consider unconventional routes to having a family. I believe the inspiration for the novel lies in Alex Hyde’s own family history. 

I found it to be an ok read. It is short and the prose is sparse, it is a quick read. Personally, I like my historical fiction with more detail. This, to me, read like a skeleton without the meat and flesh on the bones. I didn’t get enough of a sense of time or place, such that I missed that feeling of immersion in another life. 

It’s a rare thing for me to say but I would have preferred this book to be longer, it’s a sketch and I want a painting.

To finish on a high note, it is, at the heart, a clear documentation of the inner strength of women and the ability to summon that strength despite being completely alone and in difficult circumstances. We’re pretty amazing. 

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