Brooklyn Rose

Ann Rinaldi explores the life of her grandmother. At the dawn of the twentieth century, life is about to change for 15-year-old Rose Frampton. Her family is struggling in South Carolina, a state still suffering the effects of the Civil War. When Rene Dumarest, a wealthy New York businessman, is smitten with Rose, they marry, and she becomes the mistress of a grand estate in New York. Kate Forbes is believable as the young Rose as she navigates the uncharted waters between her childhood and adulthood. Through a fictional diary, Forbes gives voice to a courageous girl who grows into an admirable woman. An author's note shares Rinaldi's motivation for the story and encourages listeners to explore their own family stories. N.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

January 10, 2005
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.

January 1, 2006
Gr 5-7 -It's 1900, and 15-year-old Rose doesn't want to get married for a long time. But believing that Rene Dumarest, twice her age, holds the mortgage on her family plantation, she accepts his marriage proposal. Rose moves from her South Carolina island home to New York City where she must grow into her role of wife. Written as Rose's journal, Ann Rinaldi's story (Harcourt, 2005), a fictionalized account of her own grandparents' lives, chronicles Rose and Rene's courtship and first months of marriage. Finding herself married to a millionaire, directing the hired help, dealing with the snobby neighborhood matrons, and encountering prejudicial attitudes she didn't experience back home all contribute to Rose's maturation. A visit from her domineering mother-in-law, Charlotte, is the final impetus for Rose to grow up. Nothing in the text suggests that Rose is looking back on her journal in later years, so narrator Kate Forbes's mature voice doesn't seem to fit, though she reads clearly at a well-measured pace. Rose does not have a strong Southern accent, and not much differentiates her voice from her mother, sister, or island nemesis, Amelia Caper. French é migré husband, Rene, doesn't have a -slight French accent, - and Charlotte, visiting from France, doesn't always speak with a French accent. Bridget, one of the Irish hired help, has a slight brogue that comes and goes. Purchase where Rinaldi's historical fiction novels are very popular. -"Judy Czarnecki, Chippewa River District Library, Mt. Pleasant, MI"

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