Synopsis:
Rose Daniels saw the single drop of blood on the bed sheet–and knew she must escape from her macabre marriage before it was too late.
But escape was not as easy as fleeing to a new city, picking a new name, finding a new job, lucking out with a new man. Her husband, Norman, was a cop, with a cop’s training, a cop’s technology, a cop’s bloodhound instincts. And even worse, Norman was–well, Norman. Rose knew she had been married to a savage brute. Now she realized she was being tracked down by a terrifying monster–but the only place she found to hide could be the most dangerous one.
I can officially no longer say that I have never read a Stephen King novel. Not that it was ever a conscious decision that I wouldn’t read Stephen King, it was just that I had never specifically sought out his books or had anyone recommend one to me. I’d seen adaptations of his work and what I saw had not made me want to run out and buy the book.
When I started Rose Madder, I had no idea what to expect. The synopsis doesn’t give much away in terms of plot. All I knew was that my roommate thought I would like it so I decided to give it a shot. Boy, am I glad I did!
This book starts off intense and it stays intense! From the very first word, I was drawn into this book. It was hard not to be. It reaches out, grabs your attention and doesn’t let go! Rose Daniels is an abused woman, trapped in a marriage from hell. She has no friends or family to turn to and doesn’t truly know that her situation is wrong. It isn’t until she sees a single drop of blood on her bed sheet that she suddenly wakes up and sees just what kind of life she has been living. She works up the courage to walk out the front door of her house (with her husband’s bank card) and just keep going.
I was really impress with the way King wrote from Rose’s point of view. I really felt like he captured the anxiety, fear and uncertainty that a victim like Rose would be going through as she finally gets to the point of leaving her husband. Her entire journey getting to somewhere safe is almost nail biting. All of her internal dialogue felt real. I went on that emotional rollercoaster ride right along side Rose.
Then there was Norman’s point of view. Seeing the world as Norman sees it and being privy to his internal dialogue could be disturbing at times. Some of the language he uses is down right offensive and his view on people, especially women, is misogynistic at best. The contrast between Rose and Norman is profound!
Rose Madder was written and takes place in the early 1990’s and I really found it interesting to read about Rose’s journey without smart phones constantly at hand. I’m old enough to remember when no one had a cell phone and it was kind of cool looking into the past like this.
I never had any doubt that Stephen King is a good writer. How could he not be with the number of books he’s written and being one of the best selling authors of all time. I’m really happy that I finally got to see just what the fuss is about lol. I hope to read more of his stuff in the future. If you have any recommendations of goods to read, please let me know in the comments.
My rating for Rose Madder is 5 out of 5 stars and I would recommend it to anyone really.
Thanks for reading!