Sarah Jio’s “The Last Camellia”. A Mixed Bouquet of Flowers, Murder and Mystery

Reviewed by Sarah Bura

The New York Times Bestselling author, Sarah Jio has picked up her pen and written another page turner in “The Last Camellia”.  This novel exposes the secrets that surround the Middlebury Pink, a rare camellia, long forgotten which blooms mystery in every petal.  The two heroines, Flora and Addison are living in two distinct decade Yet both attempt to discover the secret location of the Middle bury Pink as they strive to hide damaging secrets from the men they love.  The story is set in a grand, manor in England that once was full of servants and the Livingston family.  Now sixty years later is purchased in disrepair and shows no sign of it’s glory days except for the persistent beauty of the flower garden.  The story is intriguing with few predictable plot twists and turns and is genuinely a pleasurable quick read.

This story is almost like two stories in one book.  Each individual chapter focuses on advancing the story of either Flora or Addison and the two linked together tell the story of the Middlebury Pink.  The ladies have many commonalities.  Addison has a deep secret from her past that continues to haunt her present with her husband.  Here secret taunts her and follows her  as she  vacations at her husband family manor in England.  Flora is hired as a nanny by a flower thief to locate a prize flower which is complicated as she falls in love with the oldest son of the manor.  Each woman is linked to murder in some way as either the accomplice or the one being sought after.  As the reader shifts from the two generations the writing style is clear and descriptive.   Sarah Jio has decided to tell the stories of each woman in the first person. This stylistic device   allows the story to feel more like a personal memory than a third party retelling. The writing style is full of vivid imagery allowing the reader to see the scene clearly in their mind.” The clouds had parted to reveal a stream of moonlight that filtered through the trees, just enough to illuminate the spiderweb pattern of the cracked windshield and the spot where my head had made impact earlier”( Jio 273).  This describing her feelings after her car had been run of the road by Addison’s attacker. Her vocabulary selection is simple enough for  the  young reader to read easily but also keep the interest of the more advanced reader with a larger vocabulary. 

The ending of the story links the passage of time from the distant past over 100 years ago to the hope of the future.  The seed of the Middlebury Pink had survived through much and so had Flora and Addison. “As I lay there, I closed my eyes, envisioning the camellia tree the seed would grow into, the beautiful blossoms it would sprout.  Its journey, like mine, had been a harrowing one, fraught with uncertainty. With pain. But now it would put down roots and thrive. It would live with dignity, peace, and forgiveness. I would too”(Jio 299).