Book Review: Our Sweet Violet by Rosie Goodwin

 

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

WARNING: REVIEW CONTAINS POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD.

TRIGGER WARNING: STORY INCLUDES SCENES OF RAPE AND HARASSMENT

Yet another very compelling, heartwarming and gripping read of historical fiction from Rosie Goodwin that I could simply not put down and finished within a matter of days.

I think out of all the Flower Girls books, this has probably got to be my favourite out of the series. I get the feeling that the author had received feedback about her first flower girl book (Our Fair Lily) about the protagonist being too one-dimensional and too much of a Mary Sue and used that feedback to redeem herself with this book, as I can safely say that Violet was very far from the Mary Sue, perfect protagonist of Our Fair Lily. Instead, she was a very interesting, three-dimensional character, as while she is still lovely and kind, she still has her flaws such as making wrong and unfair judgements of people and being unfairly stand-offish with them, as well as actually complaining at one point about having gone from a pretty (upper?) middle-class background to a rather working-class to the point of coming across as ungrateful to the person who had always loyally stuck by her. Oh and she even complains about having no purpose when she comes into a fortune of inheritance and starts living the life of Riley, and while usually you might complain about a character like this, it actually only made me like her more due to how relatable and three-dimensional she was, rather than having the patience of a saint and being 100% kind and good like Lily in My Fair Lily. This was certainly a major improvement from the one-dimensional, Mary Sue that the titular Lily was in Our Fair Lily, with Violet having therefore been a far more relatable and real character due to how flawed and three-dimensional she actually was, being a lovely and kind person but not simply lovely and kind all the damn time, because let's face it, who is?! I was certainly made up with this improvement, and this is only part of the reason that this most recent entry of the Flower Girls series was my favourite of the series.

I loved the whole scene and setting it set throughout the story, with it having been an overall very bittersweet and complex journey. For instance, despite the fact Violet has had to live with a supposed mother who is cold-hearted and unpleasant to her, she has been fortunate enough to grow up with the love and care from her father and housekeeper, Edie. It was very upsetting when her father, the one parent who was kind to her, died (of course this is not a spoiler since the blurb reveals it which made it less of a horrific shock but was still upsetting nevertheless). However, the shining light and silver lining in it all is that she still has Edie who very lovingly and caringly sticks by her side when her stepmother throws her out, and from then on they stick together as they start a business together. Seeing the kind and loving motherly role that Edie has fulfilled towards Violet throughout her life and how she had always been her loyalest ally and loved one was perhaps the most touching and heartwarming part of the book, as it really makes you feel emotional when seeing the strong love and loyalty they have towards each other as they immediately run to each other's sides and care for each other whenever one of them is in need of support. It really makes you wish you had an Edie in your life I found, and it is not that often that you have characters who aren't an actual relative or nanny even (I think she was just supposed to be the cook/housekeeper originally anyway rather than the nanny), making it all the more beautiful because it's not like she even had a duty of loyalty over Violet anyway yet had the most undying love and loyalty towards her that one could possible have.

I must say that, while I expected Oliver to end up being a trouble maker, who Violet initially idolised and was going to eventually have to see for who he really was, I did not actually expect him to end up becoming as evil and villainous as he ended up being. Basically, he fulfils the exact kind of role that Gilbert fulfilled in the previous flower girls entry, Our Dear Daisy, being an absolute vile, evil scumbag who rapes and harasses the protagonist, and he was also the stepbrother of our flower girl protagonist too! I wouldn't have said he was quite as scummy and evil as Gilbert, but he was definitely not far off, as he definitely got more and more evil throughout the book, as it is after he has already raped Violet that he continues to stalk and harass her frequently, so I was disappointed that he didn't end up getting the death sentence, as he definitely deserved it. Unlike Gilbert though it was more of a shock seeing him turn out to be as much of an evil and vile scumbag as he did, considering that him and Violet apparently used to get on when they were younger, and he starts off at the very beginning being pretty neutral to Violet, showing no real signs that could indicate he could end up turning out the way he does. Fortunately, the rape scene was not quite as graphic and detailed as the one in the previous entry (Our Dear Daisy) but is still very upsetting and distressing nevertheless and still makes you so angry that you just find yourself impatiently waiting for his much deserved death. Another parallel to Our Dear Daisy is that it is another villainous mother and son pairing, with the stepbrothers mum/stepmother also being evil and scheming, with Anna going from being simply cold-hearted and dismissive towards Violet to actually encouraging her son to rape her so that she will have to marry him! Honestly, it was all so twisted and messed up, and much like in Our Dear Daisy, the rape does indeed lead to pregnancy (because of course there prob wouldn't be much point of including a rape scene if it didn't!) but fortunately the consequences aren't anything like as dire and distressing as they are in the previous Our Dear Daisy. Instead, Violet is fortunate enough to have the incredibly strong and loyal support network of Edie and Sally, as she goes away with Sally before she starts showing and fortunately they find a solution as to what to do with the baby so as to avoid the constant stigma of being a mother with a child out of wedlock (can't say too much as might be spoilers!), thankfully avoiding an awful mother daughter home this time because of her strong support network.

Nevertheless, it was still a very tense read that was full of suspense, and I yet again found myself filled with dread, stress and anxiety while Oliver was still around loose on the streets, constantly harassing Violet. That brings me actually to one of the few problems with the book, which is that I did find it really annoying and weird the way Violet continued to frequently walk by herself on the streets, (including at night), even after she had been raped by Oliver that night, with it only to be further proved again and again just how unwise it was as she continues to get followed and harassed and almost attacked again by Oliver many times after the incident of him raping her. It just annoyed me as you'd think it would only be a normal and natural feeling that after somebody had experienced something that traumatic that they would never want to walk alone again on the streets at night or while their rapist is still roaming loose, or at least ride in a carriage. The scenes with Violet encountering Oliver again as he as been stalking her with him to harass her again got too repetitive as well, as I just found myself getting more and more impatient just simply being like "OMG will you just kill him off already?!" which is why I was disappointed he wasn't killed off. Fortunately though he does get sentenced to life in prison, but it still wasn't a comeuppance that was quite fitting enough, as he really did deserve to die. Still, he gets some comeuppance at least. But yeah, I would have said that the scenes with Violet encountering Oliver as he had been stalking her on the streets AFTER he had already raped her did get too repetitive, and in reality a woman would be actively avoiding any more encounters with her rapist by like I say not walking alone on the streets (especially at night). Even one or two more encounters might have not been so bad but there were like at least four or five and it just got far too repetitive. Even if they wanted to have him blackmail her more they could have just had him post notes through the door say. Another con as well is that I'm not sure just how realistic it would have been back then for Oliver got get let off the hook from the death sentence by explaining that it was manslaughter he committed as opposed to actual murder, as what evidence would he have for this being manslaughter, with surely only his word and his gang members who could have easily lied for him for the judge to go by?! Especially as they were particularly strict back then with criminal justice!

The incredibly loyal and strong support network that Violet did have though, including Edie, Sally, Cleggy, Toby and all the servants was really incredibly heartwarming and beautiful to see. I like that her romance with Toby was more complex and conflicting than it simply just being the usual interclass barriers. I mean yes Violet ends up going from rags to riches, or rather riches to rags to riches, but even when she is in a working class position when she first meets Toby it isn't really their class differences that sets them apart, which was a big (and far more predictable and cliched) theme in Our Fair Lily, but rather more intricate things like her feelings towards him being conflicted, feeling that she's not sure she likes him initially but finds herself attracted towards him, and of course the predicament that she finds herself in with the baby further complicates things, similar to the previous entry. Even Toby was more three-dimensional than the previous love interests in these series, as he is a lovely, kind guy, but again not just simply a nice, kind guy and that's it (honestly Louis Bellingham in Our Fair Lily was the very worst in this respect!). For instance, he is clearly attracted to Violet but doesn't just simply admire and idolise Violet, and does actually criticise her for her prejudice and stand-offishness towards him, and of course he too starts off seeming snobby and snarky even though he comes to regret it. The characters were definitely the most complex and three-dimensional in this out of all the flower girls books which I definitely really admired.

It was also interesting realising that unlike the previous two entries, this novel was actually set in the Edwardian era as opposed to Victorian, which there perhaps was not a lot of difference between, but you still notice a few smaller changes. Oh, and I know I said possible spoilers in this anyway but I still won't spoil this one thing because it is too big a spoiler, but I did really enjoy the big twist that occurred nearer the end of the book! Must say I really did not see that coming, though feel maybe I should have? I don't know. Still was very exciting and interesting.

Brilliant book, and almost wishing there were more Flower Girl stories! There are certainly enough flower names left, such as Poppy, Flora, Primrose, Rose, Calla, Jasmine, Iris and Marigold! (yes I am hinting/suggesting!)