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The Story of Violet Lemon
Trigger Warning:
This book contains sensitive material relating to childhood trauma, neglect, domestic violence, abuse, mental illness, poverty, homelessness, substance use disorder, abandonment, and death.
Please be mindful of any possible triggers while reading.
Norah Marler delivers an emotionally gripping story of finding resilience in hardship.
Entangled with a cast of unstable characters that could ruin anyone’s life, Violet Lemon tried her best to overcome the inherited dysfunctions of her family. The Story of Violet Lemon exemplifies how to heal a fractured spirit.
With unerring candor this story takes its time developing in a nature-infused plot that reminds us that resilience requires love to survive. Violet becomes an emblem of perseverance as she fights to thrive in a world that casually overlooks the depth of emotional wounds.
In this deeply moving story, the author uses vibrant imagery to portray the emotional damage that occurs from growing up in an unfit home. The plot intrinsically reveals how poverty and alcoholism intertwines itself within the family and becomes the driving force of their identities.
Throughout a string of vignettes, Violet scarcely breaks free of the family dynamics that diligently work to restrain her from living a good life. Violet travels from town to town with her dysfunctional family until her mother abandons her at age sixteen. Hurled into adulthood too young, Violet ventures out in the world as a naïve woman. A difficult life journey leads Violet through one hardship after another and eventually into depression. When a stray dog helps Violet open her heart to love, an emotional recovery begins and eventually frees Violet from the past traumas that had haunted her for so long.
This book contains sensitive material relating to childhood trauma, neglect, domestic violence, abuse, mental illness, poverty, homelessness, substance use disorder, abandonment, and death.
Please be mindful of any possible triggers while reading.
Norah Marler delivers an emotionally gripping story of finding resilience in hardship.
Entangled with a cast of unstable characters that could ruin anyone’s life, Violet Lemon tried her best to overcome the inherited dysfunctions of her family. The Story of Violet Lemon exemplifies how to heal a fractured spirit.
With unerring candor this story takes its time developing in a nature-infused plot that reminds us that resilience requires love to survive. Violet becomes an emblem of perseverance as she fights to thrive in a world that casually overlooks the depth of emotional wounds.
In this deeply moving story, the author uses vibrant imagery to portray the emotional damage that occurs from growing up in an unfit home. The plot intrinsically reveals how poverty and alcoholism intertwines itself within the family and becomes the driving force of their identities.
Throughout a string of vignettes, Violet scarcely breaks free of the family dynamics that diligently work to restrain her from living a good life. Violet travels from town to town with her dysfunctional family until her mother abandons her at age sixteen. Hurled into adulthood too young, Violet ventures out in the world as a naïve woman. A difficult life journey leads Violet through one hardship after another and eventually into depression. When a stray dog helps Violet open her heart to love, an emotional recovery begins and eventually frees Violet from the past traumas that had haunted her for so long.
222 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 23, 2022
4 people are currently reading
3371 people want to read
About the author
Norah Ann Marler
3 books51 followersNorah Marler is a mental health advocate, writer, and survivor who brings raw honesty and hard-won wisdom to every page she writes. Norah gives voice to the stories too often left untold. Her debut novel is a deeply moving exploration of pain, resilience, and the quiet, transformative power of healing.
With a background in counseling and a lifelong commitment to emotional truth-telling, Norah writes for anyone who has ever felt unseen, unheard, or alone. She believes in the power of storytelling to break cycles, spark empathy, and guide others toward peace.
When she’s not writing, Norah enjoys spending time in nature, connecting with her rescue animals, and helping others navigate their own healing journeys. Violet Lemon is her first novel.
Visit: www.VioletLemon.net
With a background in counseling and a lifelong commitment to emotional truth-telling, Norah writes for anyone who has ever felt unseen, unheard, or alone. She believes in the power of storytelling to break cycles, spark empathy, and guide others toward peace.
When she’s not writing, Norah enjoys spending time in nature, connecting with her rescue animals, and helping others navigate their own healing journeys. Violet Lemon is her first novel.
Visit: www.VioletLemon.net
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 3, 2023
WoW! Simultaneously dark and beautiful! 5-stars, my favorite book so far this year.
So glad my book-group recommended this book. The book starts off a little slow but by the time I got to the second chapter I couldn’t put it down. The book takes you back to the 70s to present day and the setting takes you on a journey to so many cool places from Florida to Alaska; great visual imagery.
The author writes in such an emotive way, this book brought up a lot of intense feelings for me. I strongly recommend reading with a tissue box nearby, I had some good healthy cries and really cleared out so of my own stuff I was carrying. The author does a great job of dealing with triggering topics, it felt therapeutic. The book is about a woman who came from a very dysfunctional family, she had so many obstacles in her life along with never ending betrayal from many of the characters close to her. The book shows a lot about womanhood, motherhood, family relationships between mother/daughter, sisters, brothers, father, stepfather, the whole kitchen sink! I fell deep into this book, I hated a couple of the characters but fell in love with several of the main female characters, my favorite connection to this book was with the dog. I’m a huge animal lover and always a sucker for any book that has a dog at the center of the story.
I think the book was well written, the ending was so impactful for me that I raise a glass to Marler for a book simultaneously dark and beautiful (I hope this becomes available on audio soon).
So glad my book-group recommended this book. The book starts off a little slow but by the time I got to the second chapter I couldn’t put it down. The book takes you back to the 70s to present day and the setting takes you on a journey to so many cool places from Florida to Alaska; great visual imagery.
The author writes in such an emotive way, this book brought up a lot of intense feelings for me. I strongly recommend reading with a tissue box nearby, I had some good healthy cries and really cleared out so of my own stuff I was carrying. The author does a great job of dealing with triggering topics, it felt therapeutic. The book is about a woman who came from a very dysfunctional family, she had so many obstacles in her life along with never ending betrayal from many of the characters close to her. The book shows a lot about womanhood, motherhood, family relationships between mother/daughter, sisters, brothers, father, stepfather, the whole kitchen sink! I fell deep into this book, I hated a couple of the characters but fell in love with several of the main female characters, my favorite connection to this book was with the dog. I’m a huge animal lover and always a sucker for any book that has a dog at the center of the story.
I think the book was well written, the ending was so impactful for me that I raise a glass to Marler for a book simultaneously dark and beautiful (I hope this becomes available on audio soon).
April 7, 2023
It is a real read of real life!!
June 17, 2023
Deep value in the subplot!
This is another women’s fiction book I picked up after my wife finished it. I enjoy any historical read even if it’s women’s fiction. The plot starts in the 1960s which is such an iconic era, so I couldn’t help myself from checking this book out. I’ll start by saying I didn’t feel like this book is women’s fiction, it felt gender neutral to me and really resonated with me. A lot of the characters reminded me of those in my own dysfunctional family. The effects drugs and alcoholism could not be any more realistic and I was routing for this chick Violet Lemon thru each chapter. There were some difficult pages to get thru. Getting to know the perspectives of these strong women was impressive and being a dog lover, the book really touched my soul. What I enjoyed the most about this read was the subplot which was a bit hidden to me until my wife pointed it out (hope you find it too!). Finding the thematic significance in this story was deep for me and hit home big time! Recommend!
This is another women’s fiction book I picked up after my wife finished it. I enjoy any historical read even if it’s women’s fiction. The plot starts in the 1960s which is such an iconic era, so I couldn’t help myself from checking this book out. I’ll start by saying I didn’t feel like this book is women’s fiction, it felt gender neutral to me and really resonated with me. A lot of the characters reminded me of those in my own dysfunctional family. The effects drugs and alcoholism could not be any more realistic and I was routing for this chick Violet Lemon thru each chapter. There were some difficult pages to get thru. Getting to know the perspectives of these strong women was impressive and being a dog lover, the book really touched my soul. What I enjoyed the most about this read was the subplot which was a bit hidden to me until my wife pointed it out (hope you find it too!). Finding the thematic significance in this story was deep for me and hit home big time! Recommend!
September 18, 2023
What I LOVE most about this book was the narration and the dog George. I also liked the pace as it was not to drawn out. What I didn’t love about this book is the character, Hank!
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book. Basically, my therapist handed me this book and said you should read it for trauma processing. When I started reading it, I got a little pissed off a few times because it triggered me a bit with some of the hardships Violet goes through. By the time I got to chapter 5 I had cried a at least a bucket full of tears and again I was getting really angry about some of the real evil people in Violet’s life. Eventually it is just her and her daughter against the world and I start realizing why my therapist gave me this book because I’m also a single mom. By chapter 10 I was still aching for this character but by the end of the book I got my light-bulb moment: I cried for Violet, but I think somehow it was healing experience. The author says we must go through our traumas to get past them and I feel like Violet’s story demonstrates that and helped me to recognize that we can get through our tough times. I don’t know if this book is mostly for women but I strongly recommend for lots of women’s issue.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book. Basically, my therapist handed me this book and said you should read it for trauma processing. When I started reading it, I got a little pissed off a few times because it triggered me a bit with some of the hardships Violet goes through. By the time I got to chapter 5 I had cried a at least a bucket full of tears and again I was getting really angry about some of the real evil people in Violet’s life. Eventually it is just her and her daughter against the world and I start realizing why my therapist gave me this book because I’m also a single mom. By chapter 10 I was still aching for this character but by the end of the book I got my light-bulb moment: I cried for Violet, but I think somehow it was healing experience. The author says we must go through our traumas to get past them and I feel like Violet’s story demonstrates that and helped me to recognize that we can get through our tough times. I don’t know if this book is mostly for women but I strongly recommend for lots of women’s issue.
November 9, 2023
A Slice of Life Book that reminds us not to get bitter from our hardships
Where do I begin? This book was emotionally intense! It was a required read for my psychology course otherwise I would have never found this book. It is a story about the cycle of family dysfunction in families and how it affects family members for life. Violet starts as a young girl that grows up with all kinds of tough traumas in her life. It really made me stop and think about the pain that some people carry in their heart from their losses. She eventually finds a stray dog and it helps her get thru some challenging events in her life. I'm a huge fan of animal support so I really loved this book. I think the book is mostly written for woman as it covers A LOT of women's issues and has some real interesting female characters. There are some real creepy dudes too! I did not like Violet's step-father Hank or his strange friend Lloyd! I loved Violet's brother Brady Lemon and was rooting for them both throughout the book! Violet has a daughter named Annie Vine (love that name!) and they have an incredible bond. The book reminded me of Forrest Gump because there were a lot of little vignettes that built a great story about an amazing woman named Violet Lemon!
The takeaway for me was that even with all of life's hardships we can't get bitter, and we can't lose our zest for life. It's a slice of life book that reminds you that life is precious so live it fully! Glad I found this read!
Where do I begin? This book was emotionally intense! It was a required read for my psychology course otherwise I would have never found this book. It is a story about the cycle of family dysfunction in families and how it affects family members for life. Violet starts as a young girl that grows up with all kinds of tough traumas in her life. It really made me stop and think about the pain that some people carry in their heart from their losses. She eventually finds a stray dog and it helps her get thru some challenging events in her life. I'm a huge fan of animal support so I really loved this book. I think the book is mostly written for woman as it covers A LOT of women's issues and has some real interesting female characters. There are some real creepy dudes too! I did not like Violet's step-father Hank or his strange friend Lloyd! I loved Violet's brother Brady Lemon and was rooting for them both throughout the book! Violet has a daughter named Annie Vine (love that name!) and they have an incredible bond. The book reminded me of Forrest Gump because there were a lot of little vignettes that built a great story about an amazing woman named Violet Lemon!
The takeaway for me was that even with all of life's hardships we can't get bitter, and we can't lose our zest for life. It's a slice of life book that reminds you that life is precious so live it fully! Glad I found this read!
May 13, 2023
I was hesitant about picking up this book because I’m not a big fan of tear-jerkers, but my book club was nuts for this book. Turns out, it really got me too. The plot will really stick in your head for a while and open your mind to the long-term effects of family dysfunction. In short, this is a very touching and engrossing story about a dysfunctional family, with each turn of the page I kept asking myself: Can we ever overcome the emotional scars from our childhood? And if so, how? I was really rallying for this girl Violet!
I did have some ugly cries, but in the end, this read was deep and CLEVER! Also very empowering. It was a bit of a multisensory experience for me because some of the characters that I hated I ended up wanting to care about, even cried for them, it was emotionally intense. I loved being transported to so many places, especially Alberta.
Violet is a relatable lead; I feel like I know her after this read. I enjoyed all the characters in this book, even the ones that I hated!
I did have some ugly cries, but in the end, this read was deep and CLEVER! Also very empowering. It was a bit of a multisensory experience for me because some of the characters that I hated I ended up wanting to care about, even cried for them, it was emotionally intense. I loved being transported to so many places, especially Alberta.
Violet is a relatable lead; I feel like I know her after this read. I enjoyed all the characters in this book, even the ones that I hated!
September 15, 2023
Loved IT!
I don’t usually write many reviews but I want to thank the author for this book. It really touched my heart. Full disclosure, I got this book while I was in rehab for trauma, and depression amongst some other tough things I was going thru and my counselor gave me this book. I held it close to me every day and felt like I was reading my own life story. Warning: this book will make you cry unless you are not human but my group said it was for resilience building and in the end I somehow found strength and resilience from this reading journey. If you like books about strong women that beat the unfair hand they’re dealt in life, this is a good book for you. One of the female characters is in the USCG and that really hit home for me, being a veteran “coastie” myself! I got tons of motivation for my future from this book and I hope there is a sequel coming soon!
I don’t usually write many reviews but I want to thank the author for this book. It really touched my heart. Full disclosure, I got this book while I was in rehab for trauma, and depression amongst some other tough things I was going thru and my counselor gave me this book. I held it close to me every day and felt like I was reading my own life story. Warning: this book will make you cry unless you are not human but my group said it was for resilience building and in the end I somehow found strength and resilience from this reading journey. If you like books about strong women that beat the unfair hand they’re dealt in life, this is a good book for you. One of the female characters is in the USCG and that really hit home for me, being a veteran “coastie” myself! I got tons of motivation for my future from this book and I hope there is a sequel coming soon!
July 18, 2023
INSPIRATIONAL READ!
I knew this was going to be one of those books that hit the heart pretty hard, but I was in need of an ugly cry, so I jumped right in and by chapter two I was bawling my eyes out. A few things I really loved about this book were the realistic characters and animals, the element of nostalgia as you travel back to the 70s and I loved the settings. I felt like I was traveling with Violet in her purple Jeep going from to town. This book covers a lot of mental health issues including depression and traumas. The author did a great job portraying dysfunctional families, especially estranged families. The story goes deep but left me thinking about some of my own issues and how to overcome them. A truly inspirational read!
I knew this was going to be one of those books that hit the heart pretty hard, but I was in need of an ugly cry, so I jumped right in and by chapter two I was bawling my eyes out. A few things I really loved about this book were the realistic characters and animals, the element of nostalgia as you travel back to the 70s and I loved the settings. I felt like I was traveling with Violet in her purple Jeep going from to town. This book covers a lot of mental health issues including depression and traumas. The author did a great job portraying dysfunctional families, especially estranged families. The story goes deep but left me thinking about some of my own issues and how to overcome them. A truly inspirational read!
January 15, 2024
This book was written by someone I admire very much. Having said that, it does not influence my review. It is a raw look at what childhood abuse does to us, and the choices the abuse cause us to make. But more importantly, it shows what we can endure and how we can heal. Even if it is much later in life, healing and wellness can be achieved. It shows how we can live as if all is well when nothing we’ve been through is okay, but we function on autopilot because it’s how we survived. Realization will come and with the proper help, we can rise above all the neglect and atrocities to flourish! Great twist at the end; and I needed tissues several times throughout the book. Great read by a great person who helped me in more ways than she can know. There is always hope for healing.
May 26, 2023
I received this Kindle book via a giveaway. Thank you.
This book revolves around a severely dysfunctional family, mainly a female named Violet. It was heart-breaking with some storylines being quite realistic. However, there were some jumps in the story that were absolutely unbelievable with huge plot holes... (How did she raise the money to start up the ice cream business, where did she get the money to attend Columbia, etc.) I actually thought I was missing pages it was so crazy! (Note: I wasn't missing any pages)
From reading about this author, she sounds like an amazing holistic therapist but I would probably skip any fiction book she writes.
This book revolves around a severely dysfunctional family, mainly a female named Violet. It was heart-breaking with some storylines being quite realistic. However, there were some jumps in the story that were absolutely unbelievable with huge plot holes... (How did she raise the money to start up the ice cream business, where did she get the money to attend Columbia, etc.) I actually thought I was missing pages it was so crazy! (Note: I wasn't missing any pages)
From reading about this author, she sounds like an amazing holistic therapist but I would probably skip any fiction book she writes.
April 29, 2023
I received this book through a goodreads giveaway. I really liked the story, but the pacing felt off. The book was also in need of better editing (angle instead of angel, their instead of there). That kind of irritated me. The character of violet lemon I liked very much and was rooting for her. I did think she seemed a bit naive given her rough childhood where you learn street sense quickly. Overall, it was worth a read.
August 21, 2023
Good find here. I just finished reading this book for a college summer course in psychology. It was a required read for learning about symptoms of depression. This book really helped me understand women's mental health issues and I like the way the author put so many diagnostic hints about the characters throughout the book. I was surprised it is fiction because it felt like I was reading a true story. I especially liked the unexpected plot twist.
May 25, 2023
Thank you Norah Marler for the giveaway.
I really loved this book. The raw emotions were so real that I could feel them as I read. This was by far one of the best depictions of trauma induced depression I’ve read. My only complaint was that there were some repetitive parts, where it almost seemed as though certain sentences were copy and pasted.
I really loved this book. The raw emotions were so real that I could feel them as I read. This was by far one of the best depictions of trauma induced depression I’ve read. My only complaint was that there were some repetitive parts, where it almost seemed as though certain sentences were copy and pasted.
August 10, 2023
Goodreads Giveaway!
The book started off well, and a good plot, unfortunately it was too long winded, too disjointed, Alex became Adam at some stage, money appeared out of nowhere when there was no money! The whole book was too long, did not flow well ended up sounding more like extracts from a diary, and became boring!
A shorter book would have worked well, but needed better editing!
The book started off well, and a good plot, unfortunately it was too long winded, too disjointed, Alex became Adam at some stage, money appeared out of nowhere when there was no money! The whole book was too long, did not flow well ended up sounding more like extracts from a diary, and became boring!
A shorter book would have worked well, but needed better editing!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews