The Violets of March by Sarah Jio
3 words: quietly dramatic, romantic, family secrets
First, a few observations:
- Sarah Jio. Why had everyone else on earth heard of her, while I remained oblivious?
- It occurred to me that the alternate title could be The Clue in the Diary.*
- Apparently I’ve become one of those readers who yells, “Don’t do it!!” at characters in books.**
Here’s how the book got on my radar:
Sarah Jio’s name came up at BEA during a conversation about women’s fiction. So I asked Katie of Words for Worms, who was all knowledgeable and helpful and modest about it, and she told me everything I needed to know about Jio.
Then I did the Good Reads “Want to Read” thing.
And a couple of weeks later… I’d been casting about for a good Beach Read for Book Bingo, and I realized this book fit the bill.
There were even beaches in it!
And a woman reinventing herself after a horrible experience, and family secrets from the past, and an old diary with mysterious clues, and an island setting, and budding romance, and a marvelous great-aunt.
I like all of these things.
And Jio weaves them together into a story that had me paying close attention to my eAudiobook, even while sorting the laundry. (Sometimes my mind really wanders while I’m doing that. I really like doing the laundry. [I know: Sick.])
I’m notoriously picky about reading more than one book by an author, so this is a big statement, even though I’m using careful language so as not to over-commit:
I might listen to another Sarah Jio book one day.So… wanna spill? What author did you discover late in the game?
*Nancy Drew mystery. You knew that though, right?
**Woman! When the lying, cheating ex-husband calls, you don’t consider a reconciliation even for a split second!