‘An Unofficial
Rose’ is a family story- a very dysfunctional family. The matriarch has just
died, and the day of her funeral starts the book. With Fanny dead, Hugh
Peronett is now free to rekindle an old relationship with Emma. His son,
Randall, wants to be free of his wife, Ann, so that he can pursue Emma’s
companion, Lindsey. Hugh’s grandson by his absent daughter, Penn, is visiting
for the summer, and he pursues Randall and Ann’s daughter, Miranda-and he is in
turn pursued by another character.
Meanwhile, members of another family also pursue various members of the
Peronett family. Everyone wants someone else and there is not one simple
relationship in the whole thing. This is a very flawed cast of characters; only
Ann and Penn seem to be unafflicted with the urge to manipulate people that the
others seem to have so strongly.
The book,
written in 1962, is of course a product of its time. Ann is encouraged by the
priest to stay married to Randall, even though he has deserted her for another
woman, because marriage is forever and she can help Randall-even if he never
comes back- by forgiving him and praying for him. A straight woman and a gay
man stay together in an open marriage of convenience. It’s all right to have
Randall, when asked by Lindsey what he would do if she changed her mind about
having sex with him that night, say “I shall probably beat you and certainly
rape you” and she accepts that rather than run screaming into the night.
In the end, the
identity of the prime manipulator is a surprise. While there are some clues
throughout the book, it’s still not what
you expect; it must have been a bit shocking in 1962.
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The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something, Amazon will give me a few cents. This in no way affected my review.
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