Books
by Rose Tremain
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Absolutely & Forever |
15-year old Marianne falls in love, absolutely and forever, with 18-year old Simon. Just a crush her mother says. But love, a crush, whatever will haunt her through her teenage years, into her twenties and beyond. Sounds a bit trashy? Think again. This is Rose Tremain and her wit, humour and believable characters carry you through to the end.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 111 Winter 2024) |
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Lily |
Tremain with her consummate skills - without any of some other writer's histrionics - brings vividly to life the story of Lily, abandoned at birth and brought by the young constable who found her to Coram, the Foundling Hospital. At first fostered by a loving family, then returned to the uncaring system of the Hospital, she tries to survive in harsh Victorian London but she hides a terrible secret; does the policeman who found her hold the key to her fate? A wonderful read.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 103 Winter 2022) |
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Lily - A Tale of Revenge |
Thumbs down warning! Maybe I am being crabby. Despite the positive review last time, I found this tale of Victorian orphan Lily strangely unconvincing. From her over-idyllic time fostered in Suffolk to the over-appalling orphanage and her guilt for a murder committed, I could never quite believe in her. Quasi-Gothic melodrama or sob story? Whichever (or both?) Tremain unfortunately seems to me to be dealing in trite stereotypes. Very disappointing compared with her past output.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 104 Spring 2022) |
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Merivel |
A delicious treat for readers of Restoration (bwl 26). If you haven't read it or forgotten the story, never mind, Tremain ingeniously fills in the gaps through the discovery of Merivel's old journal. Scene set, he now records, with Pepysian wit and gusto, a new set of escapades which take him to Versailles, outwardly golden, inwardly squalid, to his Norfolk Estates, a duel in Switzerland and finally to the Court of the ailing Charles II.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 73 Summer 2014) |
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Music & Silence |
Peter Claire, an English lutenist arrives at the court of Christian IV of Denmark and is soon enmeshed in a convoluted tale of light and dark, good and evil which involves the King, his adulterous wife Kirsten, the women who Peter loves and a host of other characters. Quite wonderful.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 2 March 2000) |
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Music and Silence |
An extraordinary novel in which the narrative dances between characters in counterpoint, echoing the music that is such an important theme throughout the book. It is also interesting. Tremain takes characters who already have a history and, musician-like, gives them a new reality. The fact - a lutenist plays in the dark for a lonely king - becomes a key, unlocking the imagination to create relationships that, though fictional, are more real than the fact.
(Ferelith Hordon - bwl 26 October 2004) |
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Music and Silence |
Fiction woven deftly around fact when a young English musician arrives at the court of King Christian IV of Denmark. Told in the voices of the characters it is a tale of love, suspense, intrigue and betrayal. The narrative never flags blending sadness and hilarity in equal measure. A fascinating story which inspired in me further exploration of the life and times. My first but certainly not last Rose Tremain novel.
(Sue Pratt - bwl 90 Autumn 2018) |
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Restoration |
Robert Merival, worldly, overweight and loud is content to play the fool for his adored mentor Charles II even to the extent of becoming a 'paper groom' to the King's young mistress. Then things go wrong and he becomes an outcast, striving to find his way to spiritual and social restoration. Tremain is a master of place, time and atmosphere and portrays hugely satisfying characters. Not a new novel but infinitely worth seeking out.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 26 October 2004) |
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Sacred Country |
Probably no need to recommend anything by Tremain - we all know her - but the subject matter of this one seems noteworthy: the right to pursue one's personal destiny, however unconventional and however great the obstacles. As usual, the development of her theme is beautifully and sensitively handled and provokes thought; but how does she manage to be so different with each book?
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 15 October 2002) |
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The Colour |
Anyone who like me is a fan of Rose Tremain will be as eager as I was to read her latest novel which is set in New Zealand during the mid-nineteenth century gold-rush. Gold is the colour linking the lives of all the characters from Joseph and his wife Harriet, the boy Edwin and his Maori nanny to the Chinese market-gardener, Pao Yi. Luminous writing draws the reader into an unfamiliar but wholly convincing world.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 20 September 2003) |
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The Gustav Sonata |
To have the right kind of life, Mutti tells Gustav, "be like Switzerland . . . hold yourself together . . . be courageous, stay separate and strong". But what is the right kind of life and did his parents follow this maxim? What happened to his father, why is Mutti so bitter and cold, what is the difference between friendship and love? Or between neutrality and commitment? Read it to find out! Another star from Tremain.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 82 Autumn 2016) |
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The Gustav Sonata |
I was captivated by Tremain's Restoration (bwl 16) but have found many of her other books hard-going. This one is a a delight, you have to keep going to see 'what happened next'! WW II is over, Gustav's mother seems strangely cold, his father has mysteriously died, his childhood is a lonely one. Life is transformed when he meets Anton and the ensuing years see his struggle with the hopes, fears and feelings which we all experience. An easy rewarding read.
(Aletha Anne Bloor - bwl 84 Spring 2017) |
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The Road Home |
Lev comes from Eastern Europe to seek work, leaving behind his mother, daughter and Rudi, his crazy friend who lives for his battered Chevrolet. He battles grinding hours in restaurants and on an asparagus farm for small wages, encountering hostility and unexpected kindness in a baffling world of casual sex and an obsession with celebrity, until ultimately discovering that the road he is travelling is leading him home. Absorbing, beautifully written, funny and deeply moving.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 47 September 2008) |
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The Way I Found Her |
Lewis, aged 13, is on the brink of adolescence and in Paris for the summer. He becomes both obsessed by his hostess and aware of the fragility of his parents marriage as he grapples with the complications that arise. It's a charming, perceptive, slowly addictive read, and Lewis's conflicting emotions as he leaves his childhood behind ring very true. I struggled to suspend my disbelief near the end but didn't want the end to come.
(Victoria Grey-Edwards - bwl 4 July 2000) |
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Trespass |
Worlds are breaking apart. Anthony Verey thinks he can rescue his life by moving to France to be near his sister but her lover, Kitty, believes this will threaten their relationship. Verey chooses a 'mas' with a huge crack. It is owned by the alcoholic Aramon Lunel whose sister is condemned to live in an unlovely modern house nearby. The back stories of the protagonists point to disaster. As always Tremain is a good read.
(Christine Miller - bwl 57 Summer 2010) |
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