A Memory of Violets

This is a very sweet historical mystery novel, and quite a good read. It's the story of Tilly Harper, who in 1912 leaves her home in the lake country of England to take a job as housemother in one of London's Flower Houses, where former flower girls live while working in a factory making realistic flowers out of fabric. In her room at Violet House, Tilly finds a keepsake box containing a journal written by Flora Flynn, one-time resident of the the room and a former flower girl who had been saved from the streets of London in the 1880's.

The novel goes back and forth between Tilly's 1912 and Florie's 1880's, chronicling Florie and her baby sister Rosie as they sell flowers with their mother until they are separated on busy Westminster Bridge. From there their lives take two very different paths, but Florie never forgets Rosie or stops trying to find her. And Tilly has some personal issues of her own, that her experiences at the Flower Houses help her come to terms with.

There are a couple mysteries in the story (that I figured out pretty quickly), and this is a really enjoyable story with interesting characters and an intriguing story line. I highly recommend it.

A Memory of Violets