
One day Lucas discovers an urn on a shelf at the taxi office when he goes into request a cab, and it seems so incongruous sitting there amidst the smoke and card playing and grime. At first he doesn't realize what it is, but the Tony Soprano-like cab driver informs him that the urn contains the ashes of an old woman; someone left it in the back of a taxi and never came back for it - it's been sitting there for years. It seems that whoever's ashes are in that urn is begging Lucas to get her out of there, and fast.
His better self, he tells us, would have found a way to rescue the old woman right then and there, but his real self turns and walks out. Still, he can't get the urn and the old woman out of his mind, so he turns to his grandmother, Pansy, for help. Even before the Tony Soprano cab guy tells him the name on the urn, Lucas somehow knows who it is: Violet Park. He feels there is a mysterious connection between himself and Violet Park, and as the story unfolds, he discovers many things about his family, his life and himself because of that connection.
I found the characters in this novel as engaging as Valentina did, and I particularly loved Lucas's voice and the way he described things, which revealed so much about his character. He describes his grandmother:
Pansy is a live wire. She'll talk about anything and has theories about stuff she's hardly heard of, like jungle music, PlayStation and Internet dating. She swears all the time; but she never actually says the word, just mouths it with her face screwed up, her gums and false teeth colliding slightly, the insides of her mouth sticking together and then pulling apart so swearing becomes this strange, spongy, clacking sound. It's quite effective.
Even when Lucas is describe ordinary things, like what he sees on his walk home, made me like him and want to know more about him, good and bad things alike. I may never think of crows the same way again after reading this description of them:
That part of the heath is covered with enormous crows. They've got massive feet and they walk around staring at their massive feet like they can't believe how big they are. They all look like actors with their hands behind their backs, rehearsing the bit in that play when the king says, "now is the winter of our discontent..."
Rescuing Violet sets Lucas on a course of discovery from which there is no turning back. He can't un-know the things he discovers, even if part of himself wishes he'd never learned them. He comes to realize how much his life and his family's lives revolve in a sort of holding pattern around the missing part that is his father, and what that really means. Even though Violet Park is long dead, her presence sure shakes things up! I am so glad I read Valentina's review of this one - this is my third book for the Irresistible Review Challenge, which runs through the end of August, so it's not too late to join!
Me, the Missing, and the Dead (UK title: Finding Violet Park) by Jenny Valentine (HarperTeen, 2007)
Also reviewed at:
A Rainbow of Books
Three Legged Cat
Vulpe Libris
Well, this time I don't have to run to Amazon to add yet another book to my wishlist, because thanks to Valentina this one's already there :P
ReplyDeleteI knew I couldn't be the only one unable to resist her review! :-)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you and a few other people really liked it!
ReplyDeleteWe did! I hope Valentine writes more books, because I'll definitely be reading them.
ReplyDeleteShe has, it's called "Broken Soup" and came out in the UK at the beginning of the year.
ReplyDeleteInteresting...
ReplyDeleteHey did you read Twilight, the Vampire series??
Thanks for the tip, Library Mice! I will be on the lookout for it.
ReplyDeleteVA Gal - I read the first two, but honestly had some trouble with the 2nd one and haven't felt much like continuing with the series. It's probably just me, though - everyone else seems crazy about it!
whoo hoo! I'm so happy you read it and liked it!! I too can't wait to read her second one "broken soup". Hopefully it'll be soon and I will all let you know what I think of it:)
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the recommendation, Valentina - I'm so glad I read it. And I'll be looking forward to hearing about Broken Soup!
ReplyDeleteI love the book cover for this one. I've never heard of it but I'm adding it to my TBR. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'll be looking forward to hearing what you think about it!
ReplyDeleteI also loved this book. The copy I read had the first few pages of Broken Soup included at the back of the book, so obviously I'm now very keen to read that as well!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading that, too! I'm glad you liked this as well. :-)
ReplyDelete