Violette Between
Alison Strobel
Violette Between is the second novel by Alison Strobel, also the author of Worlds Collide. In this novel readers will meet Violette, an artist, who continues to suffer from her husband’s tragic death. After a difficult mourning period, Violette has returned back to her passion, painting murals. Tentatively she approaches a new relationship with a man named Christian.
As a psychologist, Christian understands Violette’s pain from a professional point of view. Through his own experiences he also understands how devastating her loss has been due to his own personal experiences. He too has lost a spouse, but is ready to move forward with his life, hoping Violette will desire to do the same.
As Violette and Christian’s relationship blossoms, tragedy strikes leaving them both in a state of limbo. Can these two hurt people finally find happiness again?
Violette Between offers the reader an extraordinary reading experience skillfully told in the first person. Strobel does a wonderful job developing the current storyline and bringing readers up-to-date on past events. As the odds seem to stack up against this couple, one can’t help but pull for them. This was my first time reading a novel written by this author and I’m looking forward to reading her future work.
Reviewed by Tyora Moody
chbookshelf January 14, 2007
Title: VIOLETTE BETWEEN
Author: Alison Strobel
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
May 2006
ISBN: 1-57856-794-7
Genre: Inspirational/ contemporary women’s fiction
Violette DuMonde is an artist, passionate, emotional, and full of life. When her husband, Saul dies, unexpectedly, a part of Violette dies, too, but her best friend, Alexine, is determined to get Violette back into the land of the living.
When Violette mets Christian for the first time; he hires her to paint a mural in his waiting room. Violette exceeds the expectations he has for the room, and by the time the mural is finished, Violette and Christian are in love.
But then Violette has an accident. She falls from a high ladder and is in a coma. Saul comes to her, and Violette falls in love with her deceased husband all over again. Will Christian be able to complete with Violette’s memories of Saul? Will Violette ever be healed from this trauma?
VIOLETTE BETWEEN is a well-written, intriquing story that caught my interest from the very first page and held it even though I am not a huge fan of stories that apply a huge amount of back story and flashbacks. Written in three points of view, the characters came alive. I did find it a little weird in spots when Violette refers to herself in the third person.
Regardless of the problems I had with VIOLETTE BETWEEN, on the whole, I thought it was a good story and I would recommend it. The faith message is expertly woven in and is not preachy. The ending is not at all what I expected, but I wasn’t disappointed. Alison Strobel’s fans will not want to miss VIOLETTE BETWEEN. $9.99. 272 pages.
Reviewed by Laura V. Hilton