Having been raised in a family of artists, I’ve always been fascinated by how artists live and what drives them to create. In Pale Morning Light With Violet Swan, the reader gets a glimpse of the pain, shame, heartbreak, and all-abiding love that form the psyche of ninety-three-year-old Violet Swan.

Born in Georgia during the Depression, as a teenager, she treks alone across the United States to the Pacific Northwest where she settles into a quiet, peaceful life in Oregon with her beloved spouse, Richard, in a house built for her and her art. She becomes famous for her calm, quiet abstract paintings. After Richard dies, Francisco (their son), along with his wife, Penny, live in Violet’s house and manage the financial aspects of her career. They don’t much like each other any more and argue constantly, the noise traveling through the house’s vents to Violet’s ears. A grandson, Daniel, has moved away to pursue a career in filmmaking.

An earthquake jolts the house and the relationships of its inhabitants. Shortly after the tremor, Daniel returns home, bringing an unknown: a three-year-old grandchild. Daniel’s arrival disrupts the old household dynamic as Violet, Penny, and Francisco fall in love with their new granddaughter and rethink their relationships.

The story is unequally split between Violet’s past and her present as well as among other points of view. Violet’s are written in a splendidly painterly fashion with bits of her past sprinkled in to tantalize the reader. The remaining points of view are those of Francisco and Penny, and in less splendid prose, show their antipathy for each other. One of the loveliest parts of this book is the slow reveal of Violet’s story to the reader to to her grandson as he films a documentary about her, showing how, even though we think we know someone we love, we often don’t know them at all.

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Pale Morning Light With Violet Swan: A Novel of a Life in Art (Mariner Books, October 6, 2020) is available through:

Your local independent bookseller      |     Amazon     |     Barnes & Noble

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