Arlene's Book Club

The Secret Life of Violet Grant: Book Review by Arlene

The Secret Life of Violet Grant Review

The Secret Life of Violet Grant is a romp alternating through time, witty and well-written. This novel, steeped in history and familial intrigue will keep you turning the pages and wanting more.

This novel parallels the lives of the two protagonists.

As the story unfolds it is 1964 and we meet Vivian Schuyler, a Bryn Mawr graduate, the daughter of a wealthy Fifth Avenue family who works at the Metropolitan Magazine trying to find her place as a journalist and is willing to put her career on the line to achieve her goals.

The novel then turns back to 1914 where we meet Vivian’s great aunt Violet Schuyler. Violet is a scientist of atomic physics, smart beyond her years, intelligent, brave, although naive in the ways of the heart.

We then go to 1911 and Violet, at age 19, meets Oxford professor Walter Grant, the noted physical chemist who gives her a job at his institute after she has been before rejected. Walter is smitten by her beauty, intelligence and innocence.

Professor Walter Grant and Violet become lovers, involved in a sexual romantic relationship and eventually get married.  Here is where the real Walter comes to the surface…how far he is willing to go to get everything he wants and needs. Violet soon finds herself trapped in an unhappy marriage. Continue reading “The Secret Life of Violet Grant Book Review” →

All The Light We Cannot See: Book Review by Dinh.

All The Light We Cannot See Review

This historical fiction novel is about two main characters; Marie-Laure, a young French girl and Werner an orphan German boy.

Marie-Laure LeBlanc lives with her father Daniel, in Paris, near to his place of work.  Her father works for the Natural History Museum and is a master locksmith.

Marie-Laure goes blind because of congenital cataracts when she is 6 years old. Her father helps her with her blindness by building a miniature replica of their neighborhood in wood so she can learn to navigate around the city. The Jardin des Plantes is where she starts to learn how to navigate home by counting drains, the intersections and the smell of the plants. Continue reading “All The Light We Cannot See Book Review” →