Reader's Ink discussion
Violets of March
>
Violets of March
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Nancy
(new)
Feb 01, 2012 05:07PM
Question #2: How well do you think the long lost diary aspect worked in this novel. Why?
reply
|
flag
Mod
Emily, like most of us in our thirties, feels lost…or at least she feels that way. The decisions, the compromises she made in her twenties did not pan out the way she thought they would. She put her “stock” in the wrong things. Simply put, she needs to regroup.
Sarah Jio makes Emily not a victim, but a researcher. And as she researches her own past, and uncovers where she comes from.(Side note-this novel made me start on a family genealogy. Turns out loudness and a love of reading are hereditary!)
Violets, at its core, is about truth, and some truths (maybe the best ones) can only come from those who love us and those we came from. The Violets of March is an astounding debut novel that I tore threw and am passing along to everyone I know! The diary us such an important part of the book. Even more interesting when we find out who delivered it, why, and the purpose it served. Emily was a character I could relate with, and was so pleased that she has some love opportunities so early in the book. Her own history created a foundation in which she could build upon. Didn't you just love Aunt Bee. She was one of my most favorite characters, I like a lovely tough old broad that creates a lot of love and respect. The two of them seem to that that respect for each other.
I definitely found the long lost diary aspect interesting although the names being different was really hard to stay with at the end. It just seemed like a forced mystery...After reading this I am very much interested in reading Years of Grace which was mentioned. Maybe after reading that book this one will have more depth.
Mod
Carol, I agree that Emily needed to regroup, but I think most people actually find their thirties way better than their twenties. And least that's what I've heard. I'm only 1 year into my thirties, so the jury is still on out that one! :)
As for the diary, my biggest beef was that it had the exact same tone and voice as the rest of the diary. Granted, Emily's voice is pretty bland (definitely not strong enough for first-person narration), and the diary exactly the same. I didn't get a sense of time period or anything from the diary.
The diary aspect just didn't work for me. I think Sybil's phrase of "forced mystery" nails it!
I'm with Ashley and Sybil - the mystery didn't make sense and the "changed" names didn't work at all.Ignoring the poor writing, I had three problems with the diary scenes:
1. I didn't understand how not a single man seemed to be away in the war (except for Elliott, briefly). It was so counter to everything I've heard about that time period. My grandmother attended a small college during WWII, and she still laughs about how easy it was to mistake the campus as being women only during stretches of the war.
2. I assume Jan / Janice was a widow due to her husband dying in the war. My grandmother was actually engaged to a man who was shot down over Europe (she met my grandfather when he returned from the war to finish up his degree), and while she doesn't talk much about that fiance, I've always gotten the impression that people treated her with a tremendous amount of respect. It bothered me how callous Esther was about Janice.
3. All of my grandparents had lifelong friends, and the majority of those friends had nicknames - to this day, I can't tell you the real name of my maternal grandmother's best friend. Changing names but remaining in the same area with the same people - it really, really bothered me, because it was so opposed to everything I know about long-term friendships.
As far as Emily, I found her an entitled, pessimistic whiner. Jack's a complete idiot if he stays with her. On the plus side, it was easy to see how she was related to Esther. They were both self centered narcissists who would hurt whomever got in the way of what they wanted.
