Old Rose and Silver

The last chord fades, and Rose stands at the winter window with crushed rose petals slipping through her fingers. On her fortieth birthday, she admits to Aunt Francesca that she has been alive—but has she ever really lived?

In a warm room lit by firelight, with snow and distant mountains beyond the window, Rose has every comfort: beauty, friends, music, books, and an income of her own. What she lacks, she begins to suspect, is love—or even the longing that might lead her to it. Aunt Francesca answers her wistfulness with teasing wisdom, while the arrival of young cousin Isabel promises new company and fresh complications. Rose has been loved before, but never cared for anyone “like that.” Is forty too late for her to find out what she wants?

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