A Memory of Violets

From the Irish Times and New York Times bestselling author comes a historical novel about an orphaned Victorian flower seller, a lost sister and a hidden diary…

1876. Among the depravity of Covent Garden's flower markets, orphaned Irish sisters Flora and Rosie Flynn sell posies of violets and watercress to survive. When they become separated, their lives are set on very different paths…

1912. Twenty-one-year-old Tilly Harper leaves her native Lake District to work at one of London’s homes for orphaned and crippled flower girls. It’s a fresh start for her, a chance to leave her troubled past behind.

And there, hidden between the pages of a lost notebook, she finds a heartbreaking tale of loss and separation, of a woman desperate to find her long lost sister. And when she sets out to discover what happened, she is lead into unexpected places, including the depths of her own heart…

Reviews

‘A beautifully imagined novel rich in historic detail and with authentic, engaging characters – I loved this book’ Kate Kerrigan

'Hazel Gaynor's tale of divided sisters conjures a bygone era with a poignancy so exquisite one can almost smell the violets' Kate Beaufoy

About the author

Hazel Gaynor is an award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, and Irish Times, bestselling author of historical fiction, including her debut THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME, for which she received the 2015 RNA Historical Novel of the Year award. THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER'S DAUGHTER was shortlisted for the 2019 HWA Gold Crown award. She is published in thirteen languages and nineteen countries. Hazel lives in Ireland with her family.