Book of the Week: Roses

Lately I've been alternating between breezy chick lit and unsettling mysteries, so when I got a review copy of Leila Meacham's Roses it seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. The novel is a good old fashioned saga about three Southern families, the bonds that bind them and the secrets that threaten to tear them apart. The Tolivers, Warwicks and DuMonts found the East Texas town of Howbutker in the late 1800s and the story follows subsequent generations all the way to the 1980s when Toliver matriarch Mary, in the twilight of her life, is trying to make amends and right past wrongs. A common theme in the novel is the asking for and granting of forgiveness, which is alluded to in the title. The Tolivers and Warwicks are said to descend from the warring English houses of York and Lancaster, who are represented by white and red roses, respectively. It comes to pass that between the leading families of Howbutker a red rose is given to ask for forgiveness, a white rose sent back to signify forgiveness has been granted. And a pink rose? That means someone is holding a grudge, to say the least.

When Mary Toliver inherits the family cotton plantation from her father as a young girl--an event that costs her dearly in terms of the relatives she has left--she is resolute in devoting herself to the estate, Somerset, despite the whisper of a curse that is said to rest with the land. And when I say resolute I mean absolutely, completely, infuriatingly stubborn when it comes to putting Somerset first above all else, including her own happiness. For Mary is in love with her brother's friend, Percy Warwick, a golden boy heir to a timber fortune who refuses to be second to a plot of soil. I was drawn into the Mary-Percy love story, but their drama and near misses made me want to shake them at certain points. Perhaps it is difficult for a modern woman to understand what it must have been like for a Mary Toliver in those days, running her own business and insisting on independence, but I found it very hard to grasp just how Mary could be so devoted to her land above all else.

As we learn of Mary's past, including her dealings with Percy and Ollie DuMont, we are also introduced to the new generation of Tolivers and Warwicks--Mary's grand niece Rachel (quite a chip off the old block) and Percy's handsome grandson Matt. While Rachel and Matt are drawn to one another, mirroring the blossoming love of Mary and Percy in their youth, they have to deal with the secrets and sins of their families and the sirens song of Somerset, all of which threaten to tear them apart.

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This book is pretty hefty, over 600 pages, but it was an easy read. I found myself wanting to know what happened, hoping against hope that these stubborn and self-sabotaging characters would finally find happiness at last. Overall I thought this was an entertaining story, but there were some parts I had trouble with. Yes, the ending wraps everything up a bit too neatly, but I was okay with it and it wasn't the main stumbling block for me. Instead it was hard for me to put myself in Mary and Rachel's shoes, to try to understand their intense love for their land, a love that would shape their lives, and the lives of the men that love them, for generations.

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