Author: Jenny Valentine
About the book (from Goodreads): Narrated by the most compelling voice since Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, this is a quirky and original voyage of self-discovery triggered by a lost urn of ashes. The mini cab office was up a cobbled mews with little flat houses either side. That's where I first met Violet Park, what was left of her. There was a healing centre next door, a pretty smart name for a place with a battered brown door and no proper door handle and stuck-on wooden numbers in the shape of clowns. The 3 of number 13 was a w stuck on sideways and I thought it was kind of sad and I liked it at the same time. Sixteen-year-old Lucas Swain becomes intrigued by the urn of ashes left in a cab office. Convinced that its occupant -- Violet Park -- is communicating with him, he contrives to gain possession of the urn, little realising that his quest will take him on a voyage of self-discovery and identity, forcing him to finally confront what happened to his absent (and possibly dead) father!
My Thoughts: I requested this book through our library's ILL program. Usually I request a book because I owe a review on Net Galley and no longer have access to the ecopy, or it is on some Best of the Best list, etc - but for the life of me, I do not know why I requested this book! Despite that, it was a quick read.
Lucas discovers this urn with ashes in it at a cab office and feels drawn to it. Thinking about the urn later, he feels that Violet (the woman in it) is trying to communicate with him. He concocts a story with his grandma to get possession of the urn. Once they have it, he starts to run into people and places that Violet has been more often than can be coincidental.
I should tell you that Lucas' father, Pete, disappeared 5 years earlier when he was 11. He has pretty much put his father on a pedestal and thinks he could come back at any day. He often wears some of his father's old clothing as well. Through all of the information that he finds out about Violet Park, he also discovers that his father knew her and had actually interviewed her.
Lucas may have been right when he thought that Violet was trying to communicate with him. Through her, he learns some truths about himself and his parents, and that people are not perfect, even if you want them to be.
