Violets
As the Second World War draws to a close, a woman lies in a Birmingham hospital bed, traumatised at having miscarried twins. It has led to a hysterectomy, and all her and her husband’s dreams of a family sluiced away in an enamel bucket. Over the border in Wales, a single woman is coming to terms with the fact that she is pregnant after a brief relationship with a Polish soldier who had been lodging with her family. Both are called Violet.
The Birmingham Violet tries to cope with her loss while her husband is serving in Burma. In Pontypridd, pregnant Violet decides to have her child. She thinks the best way to escape prying village eyes and disgrace is to sign up. She joins the ATS and is soon shipped out to Naples into a vivid, hot Mediterranean world she has never known before.
The story of the women’s war is told in taut, alternating chapters, interspersed with poetry dedicated to “Pram Boy”, the one Violet’s child who will come to mean a lot to the other.
Alex Hyde’s slim, debut novel is a fictional re-imagining of her father’s story. Like many dual storylines, there was one Violet’s tale I found stronger than the other. But the book is still a powerful take on motherhood, loss and love.
