Today I'm linking up with Carole from Carole's Random Life of Books for Books from the Backlog. I really enjoy the chance to feature a book that's been hiding in the piles of books for far too long!
Goodreads: The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams
Blurb: Manhattan, 1964. Vivian Schuyler, newly graduated from Bryn Mawr College, has recently defied the privilege of her storied old Fifth Avenue family to do the unthinkable for a budding Kennedy-era socialite: break into the Mad Men world of razor-stylish Metropolitan magazine. But when she receives a bulky overseas parcel in the mail, the unexpected contents draw her inexorably back into her family’s past, and the hushed-over crime passionnel of an aunt she never knew, whose existence has been wiped from the record of history.
Berlin, 1914. Violet Schuyler Grant endures her marriage to the philandering and decades-older scientist Dr. Walter Grant for one reason: for all his faults, he provides the necessary support to her liminal position as a young American female physicist in prewar Germany. The arrival of Dr. Grant’s magnetic former student at the beginning of Europe’s fateful summer interrupts this delicate détente. Lionel Richardson, a captain in the British Army, challenges Violet to escape her husband’s perverse hold, and as the world edges into war and Lionel’s shocking true motives become evident, Violet is tempted to take the ultimate step to set herself free and seek a life of her own conviction with a man whose cause is as audacious as her own.
As the iridescent and fractured Vivian digs deeper into her aunt’s past and the mystery of her ultimate fate, Violet’s story of determination and desire unfolds, shedding light on the darkness of her years abroad . . . and teaching Vivian to reach forward with grace for the ambitious future––and the love––she wants most.
Why It Needs to Come Off the Shelf: I've really enjoyed other books by Beatriz Williams and this was the book of hers that first caught my eye but somehow I've never read it even though I've owned a copy for over a year.
Besides those she's written with others, I've never read a Beatriz Williams book. They sound excellent, so I definitely need to give her a go sooner rather than later!
ReplyDeleteI love the look of this one! Thanks for sharing, and for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteI have heard great things about Beatriz Williams and this book sounds great. I hope you enjoy this one.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, I recognise this one! I too have it sitting up on my print TBR shelf! If you do I will!!
ReplyDeleteI had to check my Goodreads shelf because I read it years ago. I liked it - gave it 3.5 stars.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of her books on my TBR shelf I need to read still. This one sounds good as well! I hope you enjoy it when you read it!
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