The Printed Page

Title: Roses
Author/website(s): Leila Meacham
609 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication date: January ’10
Genre: Fiction; family saga
Review book or pleasure reading: Review book
New-to-me author: Yes
Would I recommend this book: Definitely
Would I read more from this author: Yes
Journal notes: Loved it! Absolutely loved it. I love big, soaring family sagas and Ms. Meacham has written a winner. Roses has been hailed by others as the next Gone With The Wind. Now GWTW is my all time favorite book so its hard for me say that Roses is another GWTW. I can see the comparisons and understand why they both would be mentioned in the same breath but for me it wasn’t quite there. Almost but not quite. Its missing the ‘wow’ factor of Scarlett and Rhett. Percy and Mary’s doomed love doesn’t quite reach the heights of Scarlett and Rhett for me but Roses is still one of the best family sagas I’ve read in years. I devoured its 609 pages two days reading every spare minute I could find. It is another of my favorite books this month and will definitely be on my favorites list for 2010.

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.

(Roses was provided to me by Miriam at Hachette Book Group. I was not paid and this book is being passed along to the another book blogger through Read It Forward )

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