The Last Camellia

April 29, 2013
In her fourth novel, Jio (The Violets of Summer) relies on her tried-and-true, and generally successful, formula of basing the novel on a present-day protagonist unraveling mysteries from the life of a woman in the early decades of the 20th century. In 2000, landscape designer Addison flees her New York City home (and secret past) with her English husband, Rex, for Livingston Manor, his parents' new country estate outside London. But she soon finds that Livingston Manor has secrets of its own that relate to a woman who, 60 years before, underwent the same journey. In 1940 amateur botanist Flora, at the behest of an international flower thief, leaves New York behind to work as a nanny for the estate's owners, a wealthy family who may have been harboring a rare camellia species on their property. She discovers, however, something far more sinister going on, involving women who have been disappearing from a nearby town. In 2000, Addison gradually realizes that the same danger Flora once faced may be closing in on her as well. Jio, who has proven herself a solid crafter of suspense and intrigue, stumbles a bit in her latest effort but not enough to deter her many fans. Agent: Elisabeth Weed, Weed Literary.

March 1, 2013
A historical mystery that spans over 60 years, told from the alternating perspectives of two young women: Flora in 1940 and Addison in 2000. The setting is an old English manor with a very special garden and orchard. The camellia of the title is a rare and valuable botanic specimen which flower thieves desire to steal and sell, but there are far more sinister stories hidden in the closed-off rooms of the historic manor house. Jio opens the story with a prologue written at the English cottage in 1803 to establish the significance of the special flower, then moves to New York in 2000, where Addison, formerly Amanda, is being spied on and stalked by a sinister villain named Sean who threatens to expose some past transgressions to her new husband. Her husband, Rex, is a sweet young man from England whose family has recently purchased the estate and asked him to come out and help plan renovations. She decides that trip to England might be the best way to escape the spooky attentions of Sean. Then the narrative flashes back to Flora's story in 1940. Flora also travels from New York to the manor, where she will work as a nanny to the children of the strange, strict and touchy widower who lives there while she conducts an undercover search for that valuable plant for another sinister stalker who recruited her with the promise to pay off her parents' debt (the "or else" being what usually happens to poor folks who find themselves in debt to bad guys). Questions are continually raised, and most are ultimately answered, in this collection of intersecting stories. The images of the flowers, the landscape and the manor house are vivid and make for a tantalizing read.

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May 15, 2013
It's April 1940, and young Flora Lewis has traveled to England under false pretenses. Her parents believe she has an internship at the famed London Conservatory. In reality, she will be working for flower thief Philip Price, who is looking to steal a rare camellia, the last remaining specimen of which is located at the remote Livingston Manor estate. Flora will act as nanny to Lord Livingston's four children and locate the camellia. In return, Price will give her enough money to pay off her parents' debts. Meanwhile, in modern-day New York, Addison and Rex Sinclair have decided to spend the summer in England, where Rex's parents own the now-crumbling Livingston Manor. Addison is desperate to escape a blackmailer who is threatening to divulge a long-held secret. Jio's (Blackberry Winter, 2012) well-paced novel brings these two worlds neatly together in an engaging story of two generations trying to move forward despite the powerful pull of the past. A thoughtful examination of history's ability to haunt the present and the power of forgiveness to set things right.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)