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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
I have just recently read Dame Fiona's latest novel 'All Day at the Movies'. Loved it, loved it, loved it. It would seem that it had its roots in this novel, published 15 years earlier. Jessie Sandler is a major character in the earlier novel, not so much in the latter, although her presence is there, lingering in the background. An integral part without integral action.
In this novel, Jessie is in her teens, running away from home - her mother, stepfather and three step/half siblings. The family structure is slightly different in the later novel, but it has no bearing on Jessie's life or how either novel pans out. How clever is that - I wonder if 15 years ago the author knew this character would be resurrected into a slightly different form.
Digressing..... The Violet Cafe is run by Violet Trench, a middle aged woman with a hidden shadowy past. It is the early 1960s, the cafe helmed with steely hands by Violet, is on the shores of Lake Rotorua, or an anonymous town remarkably similar. It would seem her cafe is very popular, a 'pot of tea' being a most popular drink of choice in these hard to come by liquor serving establishments! Violet's employees are young people she has taken under her wing, not necessarily damaged young people, but we do know that attractive young employees attract the most desirable customer base. On running away from her home in Wellington, Jessie turns up at the cafe, promptly taken in by Violet, and so drawn into the lives of those who work there. Violet certainly has her work cut out for her, managing the young women and men who are in her employ. And then there are her patrons, also a diverse and interesting bunch, the small town nature of the community making many of these connections very fraught and ticking time bombs.
Violet is the pivotal character in this novel, right from the very start when some 20 years earlier, in 1943, she rows across the lake said town is sited on, a small Chinese child with her, that she leaves with Hugo, an old family friend and his Chinese wife. Is the child Violet's? Or is it Hugo's? There is something unsettling about this arrival, this transfer of the child, and sudden departure of Violet into the mists of the lake. And ultimately it is this one event that down the years, brings us to the slow rumbling volcano about to blow one night in the cafe.
In a story within the main story, Jessie's story continues with her now a journalist working in Communist controlled Phnom Penh, living in a tiny room at the Foreign Correspondents' Club, seeking out stories, helping refugees, risking her life every day. What happened in 1964 continues to haunt her, and unexpected meetings with some of those from that time, plus her decision to adopt an orphaned girl, force her to make some very tough decisions, and revisit that time in her life.
This is a great read, evenly paced, never slackens. All the characters are interesting, well drawn and multi dimensional, and believable. All of the characters are introduced very early in the story, and all at once, all with a bit of back story, which does mean there is a lot to take in over the first 70 pages. Small town New Zealand of the 1960s is captured beautifully, although I think this story, with these characters and events could actually be set anywhere, with a few tweaks for advancements in communication and possibly medical technology. Which means that it is a novel primarily about people and their relationships with each other, rather than its historical or physical location.
In this novel, Jessie is in her teens, running away from home - her mother, stepfather and three step/half siblings. The family structure is slightly different in the later novel, but it has no bearing on Jessie's life or how either novel pans out. How clever is that - I wonder if 15 years ago the author knew this character would be resurrected into a slightly different form.
Digressing..... The Violet Cafe is run by Violet Trench, a middle aged woman with a hidden shadowy past. It is the early 1960s, the cafe helmed with steely hands by Violet, is on the shores of Lake Rotorua, or an anonymous town remarkably similar. It would seem her cafe is very popular, a 'pot of tea' being a most popular drink of choice in these hard to come by liquor serving establishments! Violet's employees are young people she has taken under her wing, not necessarily damaged young people, but we do know that attractive young employees attract the most desirable customer base. On running away from her home in Wellington, Jessie turns up at the cafe, promptly taken in by Violet, and so drawn into the lives of those who work there. Violet certainly has her work cut out for her, managing the young women and men who are in her employ. And then there are her patrons, also a diverse and interesting bunch, the small town nature of the community making many of these connections very fraught and ticking time bombs.
Violet is the pivotal character in this novel, right from the very start when some 20 years earlier, in 1943, she rows across the lake said town is sited on, a small Chinese child with her, that she leaves with Hugo, an old family friend and his Chinese wife. Is the child Violet's? Or is it Hugo's? There is something unsettling about this arrival, this transfer of the child, and sudden departure of Violet into the mists of the lake. And ultimately it is this one event that down the years, brings us to the slow rumbling volcano about to blow one night in the cafe.
In a story within the main story, Jessie's story continues with her now a journalist working in Communist controlled Phnom Penh, living in a tiny room at the Foreign Correspondents' Club, seeking out stories, helping refugees, risking her life every day. What happened in 1964 continues to haunt her, and unexpected meetings with some of those from that time, plus her decision to adopt an orphaned girl, force her to make some very tough decisions, and revisit that time in her life.
This is a great read, evenly paced, never slackens. All the characters are interesting, well drawn and multi dimensional, and believable. All of the characters are introduced very early in the story, and all at once, all with a bit of back story, which does mean there is a lot to take in over the first 70 pages. Small town New Zealand of the 1960s is captured beautifully, although I think this story, with these characters and events could actually be set anywhere, with a few tweaks for advancements in communication and possibly medical technology. Which means that it is a novel primarily about people and their relationships with each other, rather than its historical or physical location.
I enjoyed this one more then "A night at the Movies" which seems to be the first story with a title that had little to do with the story. Mystery and a story that takes a surprising turn.
Spanning 60 years, though with the largest portion in 1963 and '64, this novel tells the story of a group of people working at the Violet Café in Rotorua (the town not named, but known to anybody in New Zealand) and at its periphery. Violet - 'Mrs Trench' to her workers - is coming up 60, has blue swept-up hair, and has lived overseas. Her café is a restaurant with a French menu (unlike the vast majority of provincial cafés of the time), and her workers are frequently 'complicated'. But she knows how to handle people.
I really enjoyed the interweaving of everybody's lives, the unexpected, and the move to this century and the very skillful answers to "whatever happened to ...?"
I really enjoyed the interweaving of everybody's lives, the unexpected, and the move to this century and the very skillful answers to "whatever happened to ...?"
The story of a group of young women, all from troubled families, who come under the wing of Violet Trench, who employs them at the Violet Cafe in Post-War New Zealand for a while before tragedy strikes and the survivors are scattered across the world.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Death of parent
The start of this story was confusing and disjointed, there were too many characters to get my head around. Not one of Kidman's best.
I enjoyed this one more then "A night at the Movies" which seems to be the first story with a title that had little to do with the story. Mystery and a story that takes a surprising turn.
The book starts out with what seem like a bunch of little short stories, but I soon saw that they were all connected to the girls who work at the Violet Cafe, and the owner Violet herself. It was a bit rough for me at first, describing the tragedies in these girl's young lives and the men who believe women need to be “put in their place”. As the story went on and got more into the interactions of the people at the cafe, it became apparent that it was necessary to explain each back story. The book continues through the lives of these girls and what they make of it.
I couldn't find myself feeling anything but neutral about this story. Their lives were believable, and filled with some scandal and harsh reality. While I think it's important for there to be books about reality and realistic characters and not only unrealistic fantasies, there are going to be some that enjoy this kind of read and others that don't enjoy it as much. I see plenty of harsh reality in my day to day life, and so don't typically look for it in my reading journeys. It was not a bad read by any means. I still felt myself wanting to read it to its completion, but there are going to be people that this book is for and people that it is not.
Rating
I would give this book a 3 out of 5, and I would recommend it to people who enjoy reading about realistic, and sometimes hard, lives of characters that could have been real people. If that is not you, then I would skip it.
I couldn't find myself feeling anything but neutral about this story. Their lives were believable, and filled with some scandal and harsh reality. While I think it's important for there to be books about reality and realistic characters and not only unrealistic fantasies, there are going to be some that enjoy this kind of read and others that don't enjoy it as much. I see plenty of harsh reality in my day to day life, and so don't typically look for it in my reading journeys. It was not a bad read by any means. I still felt myself wanting to read it to its completion, but there are going to be people that this book is for and people that it is not.
Rating
I would give this book a 3 out of 5, and I would recommend it to people who enjoy reading about realistic, and sometimes hard, lives of characters that could have been real people. If that is not you, then I would skip it.
The novel begins and ends with chapters set in 2002, with events that take place on the same night, near each other, in Part One, an old boat is laden with items, private notes and other paraphernalia before being set alight and pushed out on the lake, providing a spectacle for the family and their friends gathered for the occasion.
The last Part sees nearly all the characters who worked in the Violet Café during 1963-64 on the same shores of that stretch of water, Lake Rotorua in New Zealand, come together again, all these years later, to commemorate the life of their patron, Violet Trench, owner.
In Part Two, it is 1943 and a boat rows across the lake with a woman and a young child. The woman is Violet and she is bringing a young boy across to her first employer Hugo, a man whose wife she helped nurse in her last days before death. Now Hugo is married to Ming, a Chinese immigrant who also lost her husband, who has helped her raise her two sons and the one they have together.
In Part Three we meet all the girls who will come under Violet's wing, it's 1963 and we meet the girls through their mother's beginning with Jessie's, at the point where Jessie is about to turn eighteen, living in Wellington with her mother, stepfather and half-siblings, the day before she is about to leave her law studies and family behind, boarding a bus for a random northern destination, which happened to be Rotorua. Searching for food she will stumble across the café and be taken in by Violet.
We meet Sybil and her daughter Marianne, whom Jessie shares a room with at a boarding house for a while, discovering the strange relationship this pair have, the mother sabotaging her daughter's attempt to create a stable life for herself. Marianne also works at the café.
We meet Belle, a pastor's daughter, who is to be married to Wallace. He's saving for a deposit on their house and he and Belle's father decide Belle needs a job to contribute to household expenses.
There's Ruth and Hester, the daughter she had at forty-six years of age.
Part Four are the years they all work in the café, where the lives of these young women under the tutelage of Violet come together, where friendships are forged, romances flourish and temptations indulged. Their relations and futures culminate in one eventful night, which will change the trajectory for nearly all of them, their coming-of-age period reaches a climatic point, from which they each will embark on the adult lives that will claim them.
By Part Six it is 1980 and Jessie is in Phnom Penh working as a foreign correspondent. She has left New Zealand and is based in London, but spends most of time working in conflict zones, travelling from place to place following the scent of a story. She has left her past behind her, but will cross paths with some of those people she knew from the days at the Violet Café, learning more about what happened on that last night. The shadow of Violet still hangs over her and she find herself drawn once more into her realm, under her instruction.
It is an evocative novel, which brings that era of a small lakeside NZ town alive, showing how the young women of the time were almost stifled under the expectations of their mothers, and founda place of respite in the café run by the unorthodox matriarch Violet. For some, even that wasn't enough to rid themselves of guilt, some would leave, going far from home, far from their cultures, creating new personas to remove all trace of the past, one that despite their attempts, never really leaves them.
One puts in a bundle of letters; her sly smile and the nod of apprecition from the other women tell him that they are love letters. Another adds a calendar for what she says was a very bad year, someone else a stained quilt, another some yellowed school books. HIs wife's best frioend whispers to her son that that it's his last year's school reports and he need never see them again.
The last Part sees nearly all the characters who worked in the Violet Café during 1963-64 on the same shores of that stretch of water, Lake Rotorua in New Zealand, come together again, all these years later, to commemorate the life of their patron, Violet Trench, owner.
In Part Two, it is 1943 and a boat rows across the lake with a woman and a young child. The woman is Violet and she is bringing a young boy across to her first employer Hugo, a man whose wife she helped nurse in her last days before death. Now Hugo is married to Ming, a Chinese immigrant who also lost her husband, who has helped her raise her two sons and the one they have together.
'Tell her,' said Ming through her, 'that children are without price here. They are not for trade. ' She took the money Violet had given her earlier, and laid it on the table beside the unwashed plates.
The woman's hand flew to her mouth. 'I can't take him back.' she said.
The two little boys had thrown their arms around each other, nuzzling with tender blind-eyed butting as they shifted in their sleep.
'The boy stays,' Ming said, 'but we do not buy.'
In Part Three we meet all the girls who will come under Violet's wing, it's 1963 and we meet the girls through their mother's beginning with Jessie's, at the point where Jessie is about to turn eighteen, living in Wellington with her mother, stepfather and half-siblings, the day before she is about to leave her law studies and family behind, boarding a bus for a random northern destination, which happened to be Rotorua. Searching for food she will stumble across the café and be taken in by Violet.
Everything her mother did had a cost. Jessie didn't know why she hadn't seen this before. But now she understood in an instant that this was how it had always been, ever since her mother married Jock. If it hadn't been for her, perhaps her mother might have married better the second time around. Jock, she could see, was the price her mother paid for being alone and having a child, for not always living as a war widow.
We meet Sybil and her daughter Marianne, whom Jessie shares a room with at a boarding house for a while, discovering the strange relationship this pair have, the mother sabotaging her daughter's attempt to create a stable life for herself. Marianne also works at the café.
We meet Belle, a pastor's daughter, who is to be married to Wallace. He's saving for a deposit on their house and he and Belle's father decide Belle needs a job to contribute to household expenses.
Hal and Wallace went to see the woman who ran the café. The woman was all lip and very impudent in Hal's opinion, although Wallace rather liked her. I make the rules, she told them, and Belle will obey obey what I say when she comes to work at the Violet Café; she could worry about their rules when she went home. They waited for her to show them around but she didn't, just waiting for their answer with a take it or leave it look in her eye.
There's Ruth and Hester, the daughter she had at forty-six years of age.
A girl of quality, her mother believed. She expected her to go far. Hester would win scholarships and go to university, she too would stay clear-skinned and virginal. Instead, Hester grew more quiet and shy as one year followed another. When she was fifteen her frothy brown hair became mysteriously streaked with grey, as if she was already old.
Part Four are the years they all work in the café, where the lives of these young women under the tutelage of Violet come together, where friendships are forged, romances flourish and temptations indulged. Their relations and futures culminate in one eventful night, which will change the trajectory for nearly all of them, their coming-of-age period reaches a climatic point, from which they each will embark on the adult lives that will claim them.
Nobody called out or said goodnight or goodbye. Inside the café the phone was ringing but nobody answered it.
By Part Six it is 1980 and Jessie is in Phnom Penh working as a foreign correspondent. She has left New Zealand and is based in London, but spends most of time working in conflict zones, travelling from place to place following the scent of a story. She has left her past behind her, but will cross paths with some of those people she knew from the days at the Violet Café, learning more about what happened on that last night. The shadow of Violet still hangs over her and she find herself drawn once more into her realm, under her instruction.
It is an evocative novel, which brings that era of a small lakeside NZ town alive, showing how the young women of the time were almost stifled under the expectations of their mothers, and founda place of respite in the café run by the unorthodox matriarch Violet. For some, even that wasn't enough to rid themselves of guilt, some would leave, going far from home, far from their cultures, creating new personas to remove all trace of the past, one that despite their attempts, never really leaves them.
I read the first chapter of Songs from the Violet Cafe, but it simply did not grip me. I found it a bit fluffy, if I'm honest, and since it wasn't a book which I felt would drastically improve as it went on, I decided not to read it in its entirety.