- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: Macmillan; 1st Edition 1st Printing edition (10 May 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0333632923
- ISBN-13: 978-0333632925
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.6 x 4.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 915,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Jonathan Blair is an adventurer cast adrift in Victorian England, who is traumatized by the terrifying brutality he encounters. He must travel north to solve the mysterious disappearance of a young cleric, but everyone treats him as an outcast, everyone, that is, except Rose.
Book Description
He opened his eyes as she stepped into the bath. She had lit a lamp but turned the wick low. She was black with silvery glints of mica, and her hair was twisted up and pinned. She washed with a sponge and cloth, watching in a full-length mirror not in admiration but because fine coal dust had insinuated itself completely into the pores of her skin. As she washed she progressed from ebony to blue, and from blue to olive, like a watercolour turning to a lighter colour. . . Rose said, 'What's your name? You know mine, I don't know yours.' 'Blair.' 'You're a bastard, Mr Blair.' ROSE is a searing love story, a gripping adventure - and a haunting mystery. It is the story of Jonathan Blair, an American adventurer cast adrift in Victorian England who must travel north to solve the mysterious disappearance of a young cleric. . . and confront his own heart of darkness... 'Cruz Smith excels' Guardian
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Six Stars!
Martin Cruz Smith proves his mettle as a novelist in this unusual outing. If you are like me, you are probably expecting another novel along the lines of Gorky Park, Polar Star, and Red Square. And one in sense you would be right, and in another sense, wrong. The skills and qualities of those books are present here, but the setting isn't.
Instead of the Soviet state, you are transported to a sooty coal mining community in 1872 where you get to meet a cross section of characters from those times. In some ways, this books reminds one of Germinal, except the core here is the solution of a mystery about the disappearance of a cleric who was engaged to the owner's daughter.
The mystery is not the reason to read this book. So if you want the best mystery you could ever hope to find, go read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. The mystery's okay here, but just barely.
The really interesting aspect of the book is the view of how a class structure can be harmful to everyone in a society. Although some are rich and comfortable, they are hardly leading exemplary lives. The poor are really down-trodden. The working conditions are appalling.
At the core of this story is an examination of love, something that can and should bind us together. Smith lets that magic emotion work its power over the characters and us. The results are irresistible and unforgettable.
This book has the potential to become a classic, quite an accomplishment for a writer of detective-like fiction. Have a great time in nineteenth century Wigan! You'll be the only one who does!
Martin Cruz Smith proves his mettle as a novelist in this unusual outing. If you are like me, you are probably expecting another novel along the lines of Gorky Park, Polar Star, and Red Square. And one in sense you would be right, and in another sense, wrong. The skills and qualities of those books are present here, but the setting isn't.
Instead of the Soviet state, you are transported to a sooty coal mining community in 1872 where you get to meet a cross section of characters from those times. In some ways, this books reminds one of Germinal, except the core here is the solution of a mystery about the disappearance of a cleric who was engaged to the owner's daughter.
The mystery is not the reason to read this book. So if you want the best mystery you could ever hope to find, go read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. The mystery's okay here, but just barely.
The really interesting aspect of the book is the view of how a class structure can be harmful to everyone in a society. Although some are rich and comfortable, they are hardly leading exemplary lives. The poor are really down-trodden. The working conditions are appalling.
At the core of this story is an examination of love, something that can and should bind us together. Smith lets that magic emotion work its power over the characters and us. The results are irresistible and unforgettable.
This book has the potential to become a classic, quite an accomplishment for a writer of detective-like fiction. Have a great time in nineteenth century Wigan! You'll be the only one who does!
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The typical gold-lettered best seller cover put me off, as did the blurb on the back, which states that the book is a love story, but that is only one vein of the plot. It was a mystery and an adventure, and gave a very interesting insight into the workings of a Victorian coal mine. So if you see this book, don't just go by what is written on the back, it really is a superb read, both exciting and full of adventure.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I had seen a recommendation for this book in a newspaper, and bought a copy via Amazon. It tok a little while to get used to the switch from the author's usual territory to Victorian England, and the clogs and dirt of a mining town in Lancashire. The rather unlikely hero is a mining engineer, with a rather chequered past in Africa, who is asked to find a missing clergyman, who was the fiance of a bishop's daughter, and who had vanished from the northern mining town. Once I was into the story though, it really zipped along, and became a full-blown mystery thriller, full of romance, brutal violence and strange twists. The characters are full-blooded, the plotting excellent, and I really enjoyed it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
"You are the most anonymous man I've ever known."
A complete change of focus from the gritty Arkady Renko mysteries set in Russia, this Martin Cruz Smith novel takes place in Wigam, a mining village in Victorian England. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2009 by Mary Whipple
I had this book on the shelf for 10 years...
...it seemed like an odd departure for Mr Smith after the Renko novels but, having read Wolves Eat Dogs and Stalin's Ghost over a couple of weeks, I was hungry for more. Read more
Published on 18 Feb 2008 by Clive Morley
"You are the most anonymous man I've ever known."
A complete change of focus from the gritty Arkady Renko mysteries set in Russia, this Martin Cruz Smith novel takes place in Wigam, a mining village in Victorian England. Read more
Published on 21 Oct 2007 by Mary Whipple
Location and plot twist rescue a lackluster storyline
In ROSE, it 's 1872. Jonathan Blair, a down-on-his-luck explorer/mining engineer/surveyor, is sick with malaria in miasmic, damp London. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2002 by Joseph Haschka
An orphan child to take your breath away ...
Forget Arkady Renko and the Smith masterpieces that character has appeared in. "Rose" harks back to a Victorian time, that is not as innocent as we were led to believe. Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2001
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