As a Reading Specialist this writer spent much of her professional time finding ways to enrich her students’ lives through books, so Monica Wood’s title immediately sparked my curiosity. But this novel is about much more than how simply to read or process a book.
Violet Powell is a twenty-two-year-old who has been released early from prison after serving nearly two years for causing a fatal car crash while driving under the influence. Consumed by guilt for killing another person, Violet is tormented by not having been permitted a final deathbed goodbye to her mother while she was incarcerated. She has lost the support of her family and ex-boyfriend, is alone and must now adjust to her newly found freedom in Portland, Maine. Contributing to her ensuing growth is her continued connection with books, the sense of responsibility and joy she attains from caring for and training amazing African grey parrots in a college research laboratory and the unlikely friendship of people who value her. Wood’s narratives about Violet’s work with her intelligent avians is entertaining, makes for magical reading and captured my heart.
Sixty-four-year-old widow and retired English teacher Harriet Larson volunteers at the local prison to run a weekly book group. By introducing novels and poetry to the inmates, she gives them an opportunity and safe space to share their thoughts on the reading selections and feelings about their own lives. In discussing the novels, she empowers the women to consider hopefulness and “the in-the-meantime.” She now faces an unsettling future and an empty nest since her children and niece are leaving or have already left.
Upon Violet’s release from prison, she runs into Harriet while she is in bookstore looking for a copy of Spoon River Anthology which she started reading in jail. It is in the bookstore that Violet also inadvertently sees Frank Daigle, the husband of the woman who was killed in the car crash. Frank is a sixty-eight-year-old retired machinist working as a handyman in the bookstore. Having sat through Violet’s trial Frank is unnerved to recognize and encounter Violet in person after her release from prison. The chance sighting brings up feelings of loss, reflection, and unpredictability to Frank, and he runs from the store.
As the stories of the three characters merge with each facing their own problems a transformative journey ensues. Through segments about sharing perspectives of books and forging connections through stories, Wood addresses complex human emotions, including the importance of empathy, kindness and being able to start over. What results is a touching story about friendship, found family, self-acceptance, and forgiveness. While this reader didn’t agree with all of Violet’s decisions and thought the novel’s conclusion abrupt, this is a novel that will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned. If you enjoyed Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures or Lynda Rutledge’s West With Giraffes be sure to add Monica Wood’s How to Read a Book on your to-read book list. It has heart.
