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A Memory of Violets

A Novel of London's Flower Sellers

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A Memory of Violets

Written by: Hazel Gaynor
Narrated by: Nicola Barber
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About this listen

From the author of the USA Today best-seller The Girl Who Came Home comes an unforgettable historical novel that tells the story of two long-lost sisters - orphaned flower sellers - and a young woman who is transformed by their experiences.

"For little sister...I will never stop looking for you."

1876. Among the filth and depravity of Covent Garden's flower markets, orphaned Irish sisters Flora and Rosie Flynn sell posies of violets and watercress to survive. It is a pitiful existence, made bearable only by each other's presence. When they become separated, the decision of a desperate woman sets their lives on very different paths.

1912. Twenty-one-year-old Tilly Harper leaves the peace and beauty of her native Lake District for London to become assistant housemother at one of Mr. Shaw's Training Homes for Watercress and Flower Girls. For years, the homes have cared for London's orphaned and crippled flower girls, getting them off the streets. For Tilly, the appointment is a fresh start, a chance to leave her troubled past behind.

Soon after she arrives at the home, Tilly finds a notebook belonging to Flora Flynn. Hidden between the pages she finds dried flowers and a heartbreaking tale of loss and separation as Flora's entries reveal how she never stopped looking for her lost sister. Tilly sets out to discover what happened to Rosie - but the search will not be easy. Full of twists and surprises, it leads the caring and determined young woman into unexpected places, including the depths of her own heart.

©2015 Hazel Gaynor (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers
Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction England Heartfelt Young Adult
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Overall an enjoyable storyline, but found it lacked in subtlety. I tend to appreciate narratives a little more when there’s a presumed intelligence of the reader. I enjoyed the flower girl and the orphan home pieces, but having most of the main female characters named after flowers was over the top. The weather was often described in terms of flowers (I.e. the sky was a bright cornflower blue, the sunrise was lavender etc.) and everything was flower-scented, and as such I found it to be a little bit twee.

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