Pale Morning Light With Violet Swan

May 1, 2020
When the earthquake hits, Violet Swan is painting. At 93, the acclaimed, reclusive artist is still creating the abstract artwork that has made her famous. Thrown to the ground by the earth's tremors, she arises to find her grown son, Francisco, downstairs in the house they share on the Oregon coast, a bloody gash on his forehead. Although they survive the quake with minimal damage, it soon becomes apparent that fractures in the carefully constructed life Violet has created are opening wider, threatening to spill secrets that come tumbling out faster and faster as her own time on Earth runs short. When her grandson comes for a visit, carrying a secret of his own, it doesn't take long for her to tell her entire story, from the fatal fire that scarred her when she was seven to her years as a teenage runaway until she would find the man?and the passion for painting?that would change her life. Reed finely balances the cavalcade of revelations with a poised, multilayered portrait of a complex life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)