Reviews of Imagining Violet

Excerpts from Reviews – Imagining Violet - 2019

The Strad, “Essential reading for the string music world since 1890: - July 2019

A few years ago, Canadian writer Mary Hughes acquired a copy of the flyleaf of her grandmother Violet Courtenaye's Bible in which had been recorded key moments of her early life. Hughes took these clues, along with the little she knew about her relation, as the starting point to imagine her story.

The resulting work of (mainly) fiction takes the form of letters written by Violet to her family and friends, covering seven years in the 1890s, and beginning when the 16-year-old sets out for Leipzig, aiming to study the violin at the conservatoire there. We hear of her trials in finding a teacher and auditioning for a place and the months of waiting before she is finally allowed to begin her studies.

...Through Hughes's diligent research into the language and preoccupations of the period, we gain a thoroughly credible insight into this 'imagined' life. Violet's streak of independence shines through as she negotiates her way in a Leipzig boarding house, complaining bitterly about her landlady's 'perpetual stew', working hard at her violin lessons, skating with friends on the frozen river and enjoying the city's vibrant music scene. Among the numerous concerts she attends at the famous Gewandhaus are Joseph Joachim playing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and an apparently underappreciated performance of Dvorak's Symphony no 9. 'Audiences don't care for it'.

Violet's musings on topics as the importance of votes for women and the fierce competitiveness of the German nation feel a little clumsy … but the book is not without charm, following Violet through her studies and back home to Edinburgh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Imagining Violet was both surprising and full of incident with a main character who was engaging and beautifully written; a mark of the talented author. Violet’s charming approach to life, together with her undoubted ambition to become a concert violinist, in an age of Victorian expected “proper behaviour” led to this reader rooting for her from the beginning. We see her burgeoning growth from a mild mannered, young English rose into a sophisticated woman.

The author has imagined the late-Victorian life of her own grandmother, with family photographs throughout the book, and with a collection of letters written by Violet to her family and friends. There are charming descriptions of Violet learning to ice skate, and when she plays at her first concert. There is the hoped-for romance, both suspected and real, with holidays filled with friends and acquaintances, and the smells, sights and sounds of Germany before the Weimar Republican era.

G.J. Griffith, UK, author of The Quarry Bank Runaways

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What a beautifully written and clever way of documenting family history through an easy-read fiction story. The author imagines what her grandmother’s life was like and includes old family photos throughout the book. The entire book is compiled of letters that Violet writes to her family and friends. I wondered if the letters would be tedious after a while but they are so well-written that they capture your interest through the entire book. ... I found her life relatable even across generations because she traveled to a different country to study at the age of 16 which is something that I also did.

Brooke Bent, Montana, USA, author of If You Wake with the Stars

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Violet's story fascinated me as it tells of her of her life in Leipsic, Germany, studying at the famous music school called the Conservatorium. Violet's instrument of choice is the violin and I found her descriptions of the hours of practice, music teachers, recitals and concerts interesting and relatable.

At sixteen years old, Violet is a mere girl when she arrives at the school but she matures quickly as she is exposed to a much wider range of experiences and social situations than she would have been had at home where the class structures are much more rigid and inflexible. Violet mixes with students from Canada and America as well as from other parts of Europe and this broadens her mind as well as her artistic abilities. The first half of the book which tells of her life as a music student also explains the emotional adjustment Violet must undergo upon gradually realising that she only has a small talent as a violinist and how she must adjust her aspirations. The second part tells of Violet's return to her home in Edinburgh and how she adjusts back into her life as a regular English girl. She does have the distraction of teaching some music students and writing to her friend, Mr Welsman, who eventually becomes her fiance. The removal of her family from Scotland to London is enjoyable to read and I liked reading about her life in the suburbs of London

Robbie Cheadle, Johannesburg, South Africa, author of While the Bombs Fell

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The story line drew me in…set in the late 1800s, sixteen-year-old Violet leaves her home and her family to move to Germany where she will study at a prestigious music school in hopes of becoming a successful violinist. The sights, sounds, and smells of Leipzig, Germany came alive for me as I read a series of letters from Violet to her family and friends back home. I learned of her struggles and her successes, of her friendships and her frustrations. I was there when she learned to ice skate, when she performed at her first concert, and when she met a man that became more than a friend. I watched Violet grow from a somewhat timid teenager to a confident woman. And when she realized she wasn’t cut out for a life as a performing musician, I watched her return home and forge a new path, all the while hoping her beloved Frank, once he finished with his musical schooling, would ask for her hand in marriage. This was a delightful read and I highly recommend it. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next for Violet. 

Margaret Standafer, Minneapolis, USA, author of The Misty Lake Series

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As an epistolary story it was exceptionally well done. The world may have had a great deal of non-narrative related detail, but it was all vivid and felt incredibly real and authentic. ... The main character feels three-dimensional and her personality leaps off the page.

Cathleen Townsend, California, author of Bellerophon: Son of Poseidon

`````````````````

A charming read I recommend to historical fiction fans and classical musicians.
I've read several books where the story is told via a series of diary entries, but I think this is the first book I've read where the story is told through one character's letters to her family, friends and the man she hopes to marry. The letters felt authentic to the times and although more restrained than private diary entries still gave a great insight into the character's personality, fears and dreams. I started to enjoy spotting the different way Violet writes to her parents and Aunts and her closest friends.
The letters cover Violet's trip to Germany to study the violin as a sixteen-year-old up to her marriage and honeymoon. As well as telling Violet's personal history the letters shine a light on the political and social mores of the day. I especially liked the inclusion of postcard images that accompanied some of the letters.Diana Febry, Bristol, England

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Imagining Violet is the author’s re-creation of the life of her grandmother. Her grandmother was not famous, nor was her life wildly exceptional. She was a talented musician and pursued her talent more assiduously than many girls of her era, but she was not a rebel. So why would anyone be interested in her life?

I enjoyed this book because it such a well done re-creation of an era. The language (the story is told in the form of letters from Violet to various people) is old-fashioned without seeming forced or contrived and consistently maintains the tone of nineteenth century literature. Violet comes across as a wide-eyed and adventurous—within the boundaries of her gender and class. Through her eyes the author provides a time-travel experience to Europe in the days of steam engines, corsets, and top hats. The text is illustrated with period post cards—a lovely touch. All in all, the author has done a marvelous job of recreating the tone and feel of an Edith Wharton novel, though without the angst. It’s a feel good novel and a period piece, written as a labor of love.

Laura Koerber, Puget Sound, Washington, USA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Imagining Violet is an epistolary novel about the life of the author's grandmother Violet Courtenaye, as imagined by her granddaughter. It covers the period from 1891 to 1898, during which Violet studied music at the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany, and then returned to her parents in Scotland and England prior to her marriage. The detail is stunning - Violet's letters to her family and friends don't seem imaginary at all, but as a faithful account of the life of a young woman away from home for the first time. The portrayal of the Leipzig years is particularly vivid - I was actually envious of Violet's opportunities to attend performances by Brahms, Richard Strauss and others conducting their own works. Her frustration with the limited opportunities that women enjoyed in that era was also particularly impactful, as was her gradual acceptance that she was likely to become a wife rather than a concert violinist. The social customs of the times were also fascinating - restrictive, to be sure, but also oddly comforting, as one knew exactly what was expected. Her long-distance relationship with her eventual husband was also poignant, and her simultaneous apprehension and eagerness for her coming marriage. Imagining Violet is not a work meant to be read from cover-to-cover in a single sitting I think, but rather a book to be periodically visited, as one would a journal. It is a book to enjoyed on a rainy day with a cup of tea.

Thomas a. Burns, Jr. Newark, New Jersey

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Imagining Violet Mary E Hughes has set herself a difficult task. This is an historical novel which tells its tale in letter or epistolary form and from the standpoint of a single correspondent – young Violet Courtenaye, the author’s grandmother. In a format of this kind it would be hard enough to create the tension and conflict required to sustain interest in the narrative using a range of contrasting voices, whereas here we are restricted to a single perspective. What is more, Hughes scrupulously presents that one voice in a way that is true to the limiting conventions of late-Victorian polite society. As Violet tells her soon-to-be husband, the expression of her thoughts and feelings have always had to be “carefully composed.” … It is not that Violet is stuffy or prudish. In terms of the manners and mores of her society, she is quite daring and adventurous.

For all that, the novel works remarkably well. We are told that the author knows a “few things about” Violet’s life but had to “imagine the rest.” A great deal of historical research has also gone into the making of this book, into the social norms of the period and its cultural life. We have therefore a portrait of time and place, as seen through the eyes of a young woman who starts out with ambitions of becoming a concert violinist. We track the development of Violet as she learns to trim her dreams to suit the reality of her talent. Her independent student life in Germany is followed by the limitations of family life back in Britain. There are obstacles and frustrations, desires hinted at, to be understood between the lines. There is, in short, a real person to be found in these letters, likeable, pushing gently but firmly against the confines of Victorian society, ready for the new century. The same can be said of the story, which for the most part also moves gently but firmly along. … Imagining Violet is a subtly clever piece of writing.

Gareth Griffith, Sydney Australia, The Story of Glass Island