A Bouquet of Thorns

December 1, 2008
Crosse follows Cherrybrook Rose (2008) with more on the life of compelling heroine Rose Maddiford Chadwick. Its1877 in desolate Dartmoor, near Princeton Prison, where her former-prison-warden father lies buriedand Seth, wrongly convicted, enduressadistic torture. Rosessnobbish, hard-hearted husband, Charles, tricks her into believing he will help the convict, whose medical treatment she had secretly arranged, but instead he locks her in her room. Headstrongand heavily pregnantRose yearns to resist Charles. When Florrie, her widowed nanny from years gone by, appears to care for the baby, Crosse takesthe opportunity to provide the backstory needed by Florrieand readers new to this absorbing historical series and its strong themes of romance and feminist equality. The heroine sinks into a postpartum consuming deliriumafter Charles sells her horseand ignores their infant, Alice, who is not the son he wanted.As Rose slowly recuperates, her thoughts return to Seth. Hopefully more titles will follow in this engrossing, cinematicallyrealizedsaga.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)