Roses

Summary (from the publisher): Spanning the 20th century, the story of Roses takes place in a small East Texas town against the backdrop of the powerful timber and cotton industries, industries controlled by the scions of the town's founding families. Cotton tycoon Mary Toliver and timber magnate Percy Warwick should have married but unwisely did not, and now must deal with the deceit, secrets, and tragedies of their choice and the loss of what might have been - not just for themselves but for their children, and children's children. With expert, unabashed, big-canvas storytelling, Roses covers a hundred years, three generations of Texans and the explosive combination of passion for work and longing for love.

Review: Although this is unlikely to be called high literature, and its comparison to Gone with the Wind is questionable, this family saga was entertaining and a surprisingly fast read for a book that holds over 600 pages.

This novel opens in 1985 with the elderly Mary Toliver making a last minute codicil to her will that alters the future of her supposed heir, Rachel Toliver. The novel than travels to 1916 to tell Mary's life story. The Tolivers own a substantial cotton plantation in Howbutker, Texas, where for generations they have maintained tacit civility with the Warwicks and the DuMonts, who all settled in the area around the same time. Although Mary and Percy Warwick love one another their whole life, they never marry, which shapes the tragedy of both of their lives. Mary and Percy's relationship never thrives because Percy demands that she give up her devotion to her plantation in favor of being a wife and mother; "What about...all the things you said you needed in a wife? Someone who'll put you and the children first?" (210). Although it seems as if Percy will get over his (sexist) demands in favor of his love for Mary, time and fate intervene. By the end of her life, Mary recognizes that she always chose the land over those in her life, and she intends to end this pattern with her, and save Rachel from making the same mistakes in her life that Mary feels she has made in hers.

This novel spans several generations and is largely carried along by the unrequited love affair that threatens to be repeated in Rachel's generation and the battle to maintain Somerset, the Toliver plantation, which is constantly at risk of having to be sold or seized by the bank. Told in three sections, it transitions from Mary's story to Percy's perspective and finally Rachel's. I found the first two sections the most compelling. This may have been because Rachel's story felt like a very close duplication of Mary's story with just alternate results.

I like that none of these characters are perfect, and make many mistakes, yet I was frustrated by Mary's last minute will change, because as Rachel argues, those are her mistakes to make. "I am Somerset, Percy,' she said. 'I can't help it. That who I am. That's the woman you love. To separate me from the plantation is to have half of me. To separate me from the plantation is to have half of me. I would not be the same. I'm convinced of that now. Share me, and you will have me whole" (236). For Rachel, who is Mary's younger double in every way from appearances to passions, it seems unforgivable that her great aunt would rob her of her legacy.

I was slightly put off by the cover and title of this book which seemed corny, although it made more sense once the reason was uncovered. "The Warwicks, descended from the House of York, grew only white roses in their gardens, while the Tolivers cultivated exclusively red roses, the symbol of the House of Lancaster" (17). Originally both from England and embroiled in the infamous War of the Roses, the families have kept up the symbolic meaning of their varying rose colors and are used throughout the book as a symbol for forgiveness. I do wish more of the family history could have been embedded in the characters and story line beyond the roses, yet it was an interesting spin-off of two warring English families.

The unrequited love story of Mary and Percy was the great tragedy of this novel. "He wanted her no more than a heartbeat away in his bed, a hand across his table, a chair's distance from him in the evening. He could learn to play second fiddle. The idea was to be in the band" (278). Although the reader learns in the first chapter that Mary and Percy never end up together, the promise of the next generation with Matthew and Rachel getting it right proves enticing and pushes the novel's action along.

Stars: 3