Tilly Harper takes a job as a housemother at the Training Home for Watercress and Flower Girls in London.  Tilly leaves behind her mother and paralyzed sister in hopes of forgetting the tragedies that she caused in her past.  Immersed in her work with the girls of Violet House, Tilly forms bonds with the orphaned and disabled girls who create beautiful silk flowers at the Shaw's factory.  While at the Violet House Tilly finds a small box with a diary that belonged to one of the previous housemother's, Florrie.  As Tilly reads the journal, she finds an intriguing mystery of Florrie and her lost little sister, Rosie.  Florrie and Rosie grew up as flower girls on the streets of London, Florrie had a crutch from a childhood illness and Rosie was partially blind.  When the girl's mother died, Florrie vowed to protect her little sister and held her hand wherever they went.  One day the sisters were separated, Florrie was found by Mr. Shaw and placed in the Training Home. Florrie never stopped looking for her lost little sister.  Now, Tilly wants to try to solve the mystery and find the lost little sister while repairing her relationship with her own sister.

A heartwarming tale set in Victorian and Edwardian England tells the stories of two sets of sisters trying to find one another. I enjoyed learning about the homes that were created for the many orphaned and crippled girls that lived on the streets at the time, Hazel Gaynor based the Violet House off of the real work of John Groom and his Mission for Flower and Watercress Girls.  The book is written back and forth through time, intertwining the stories of each sister, building the mystery of what happened and allowing the pieces of how their stories fit together to fall into place. I fell for the stories of both sets of sisters that were created.  Florrie and Rosie's story was heartbreaking and endearing.  While Tilly and her sister Esther remain distant for reasons of their own.  I was emotionally invested with each of them and was excited to see how everything came together in the end.  

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

"That's the funny thing about sisters, ain't it," the driver continued. "Some can't stand the sight of each other and some can't bear to be apart."

I really enjoyed reading Hazel Gaynor's previous book, The Girl Who Came Home, so when I saw that this book was available as a Librarything Early Reviewers giveaway I immediately requested it. Hazel Gaynor created yet another hit with this book and she is now on my list of favorite authors.

This book is mainly about two pairs of sisters; Florrie and Rosie, and Tilly and Esther (although Esther herself isn't really prevalent in the story until the last 1/4th of it). The book switches back and forth in time to cover both stories and I found both of the storylines to be interesting. Florrie and Rosie's story will really pull at your heartstrings and Tilly and Esther's story, once it is fully revealed, will leave you shocked. I really loved how the storylines ended up connected towards the end of the book. All four of the girls were such interesting characters that I felt such a connection with each of them (yes even Esther, who wasn't as prevalent in the story as the other girls).

What I really loved about this story was that while some plot twists you could see coming there were also major surprises towards the end of this book. I loved all the twists towards the end of the book and loved how they ended up connecting the two storylines. I also really enjoyed all the emotional scenes towards the end. Yes I was sobbing at the end but I love that this book was able to bring those emotions out in me.

There were a few things that I didn't like about this book (which is why I didn't rate it 5 stars). I wasn't all that sold on the change in Edward's behavior. Yes I did like the man he became but I felt like his transformation was extreme and took place in too short a time period. I also didn't really like the interaction between Tilly and Herbert and didn't feel that those scenes were all that necessary.

It was clear that Hazel Gaynor did her research. These fictional flower girls in this story our based on the real work that John Groom did. After reading this book I am really interested in learning more about John Groom and his work. If you are looking for a really good story that highlights the relationship between sisters and also gives a glimpse into the life of a flower girl than this is a book for you. I can't wait to see what Hazel Gaynor writes next.