Brooklyn Rose
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
In this novel set at the beginning of the twentieth century, a fifteen-year-old Southern girl marries and moves to the unfamiliar world of Brooklyn.
It's 1900, the dawn of a new century, and fifteen-year-old Rose Frampton is beginning a new life. She's left her family in South Carolina to live with her handsome and wealthy husband in Brooklyn, New York—a move that is both scary and exciting. As mistress of the large Victorian estate on Dorchester Road, she must learn to make decisions, establish her independence, and run an efficient household. These tasks are difficult enough without the added complication of barely knowing her husband. As romance blossoms and Rose begins to find her place, she discovers that strength of character does not come easily—but is essential for happiness.
Writing in diary form, Ann Rinaldi paints a sensual picture of time and place—and gives readers an intimate glimpse into the heart of a child as she becomes a woman.
"Rinaldi describes the teen's first year of marriage with grace, tact, and sensitivity." —School Library Journal
"Fans of romance will be swept up in the subtleties of her courtship by Rene, and readers will likely identify with Rose as she balances the natural impulses of a teenager with her new role as mistress of the house." —Publishers Weekly
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rinaldi's novel set at the turn of the 20th century imagines her grandparents' romance in diary format through the eyes of her grandmother, a then 15-year-old Rose. Rose loves her home on Saint Helena's Island, off the coast of South Carolina, but her father's financial difficulties, her sister's betrothal and the arrival of a wealthy, attractive French silk importer named Rene Dumarest slowly nudge Rose out of childhood, toward womanhood. ("It pleases my family to treat me like a woman, it seems, when they want me to act like one. But otherwise I'm still considered a child.") Fans of romance will be swept up in the subtleties of her courtship by Rene, and readers will likely identify with Rose as she balances the natural impulses of a teenager with her new role as mistress of the house after she marries Rene and moves with him to Brooklyn. Unfortunately, some of the more intriguing threads remain superficially developed or relegated to the sidelines, such as the hints at more mercenary reasons behind Rose's marriage, Rene's painful past and brewing racial tensions in Brooklyn. An unsatisfying ending contradicts Rinaldi's characterization of Rose as a bold spirit. Still, Rinaldi's fans will likely find this a well-paced, lighter offering. Ages 10-up.
