violet

Janey June Jamieson grew up with her parents and younger sister, Ellie, on the idyllic Shag Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia. When the girls are sent to the mainland to finish high school, they find themselves in the centre of a social web they were not prepared for.

Janey is reserved and a bit of a people pleaser. Ellie is her opposite: an enthusiastic prankster. But to those in Wood Point, they are the Island Girls. This makes them a source of fascination, particularly for two WWII veterans, Stuart and Ronnie. Stuart outwardly pursues Janey while Ronnie remains in his shadow, always leering at Ellie. Janey agrees to a date with Stuart; Ellie bluntly rejects her pursuer, preferring the gentler Tim.

Janey does not want to offend Stuart, but she knows she does not like him. This is reinforced as Stuart antagonizes all around her. Then, shortly after Janey returns to Shag Island for the summer, a young man, Henry, arrives. Janey and Henry fall instantly in love, but Henry is hiding a secret that keeps them apart. Life becomes even more complicated once Janey visits with Sally, a local “witch” who provides Janey with a mysterious riddle to guide her heart.

Torn between a man she does not want and a man she cannot have, Janey must learn to trust her instincts and find her way through the untamed wilderness of adulthood. Meanwhile, around her, love blooms and love dies as the sometimes-unforgiving maritime seasons pass by.

Violet is the second book in The Lighthouse Collection, following Turquoise, published in 2025.