The Rose Labyrinth

Forwith, this is my review of The Rose Labyrinth.

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Author Information: (taken from the website)

Titania Hardie is a serious student of esoteria. Creating the riddles for The Rose Labyrinth, she drew on her love of literature, history, music and myth, as well as her far-reaching knowledge of folklore and divination. She has first class honours degrees in psychology and English, and was awarded the Chatterton bursary for post-graduate study at Bristol University, where she is currently completing her MA on the Romantic Poets.
While she has written many non-fiction books and children's stories, The Rose Labyrinth is Titania's first novel, and is a fascinating departure from her previous work. Like Lucy, the novel's hero, she was born and educated in Sydney, Australia, but for many years has lived in Somerset with her husband and two daughters.


Plot Summary: (taken from the website)

Before his death in 1609, the brilliant Elizabethan spy, astrologer and mathematician John Dee hid many of his papers, believing that the world was not prepared for the ideas they held. For seventeen generations, his female descendants have held his most precious secrets, waiting for the right moment to bring them to light.
In spring 2003, Dee's many times great granddaughter, dying of cancer, was forced to pass the enigmatic legacy to one of her two sons. Diana chose her passionate, tempestuous younger boy, leaving a tiny silver key and a piece of parchment with a note: For Will, when he is something, or someone, that he is not now.
Over the long, hot summer of 2003, while seriously ill Lucy King awaits heart surgery in London, Will travels Europe seeking to decipher the clues in the ancient document, and find a lock to fit the key. It is a search that will leave him and Lucy inextricably linked, and lead into a world of extraordinary riddles and dangerous secrets.


Format:

This is a 384-page novel, divided into a prologue, 34 chapters, and an epilogue. Chapter length varies anywhere from 5 to 25 pages each. The narration is third person with the perspective shifting between the multiple characters. The ISBN of this book is 13: 978-1-4165-8460-5 or ISBN 10: 1-4165-8460-9. It is published by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Shuster.

Analysis:

I received this book at the dreary end of January, whilst my mother spent a third week in hospital. It came as a lovely surprise, since I’d forgotten all about it in the throes of dealing with the health issues at hand. And it was lovely.

The book is beautifully presented. It arrived in a hardcover case, complete with riddle cards and a hardcover copy of the novel. The artwork brings to mind medieval manuscripts and alchemical symbolism. Somewhat dreamy and evocative, combined with the plot summary from the book jacket, it provided an allure to any reader looking for mystery and romance.

The story is written in a dreamy, detailed style that is easy to read. The characters are human and easily liked. The settings are romantic and have just enough exoticism to make them extraordinary. But ... and you had to know that was coming ...

The character of Will is larger than life and draws the reader immediately into the quest. He is charming, articulate, and possessed of a joie de vive that makes one smile to read about. He is someone you are anxious to know more about. Such a great beginning.

Thing is, by chapter five, Will is dead. It is tragic, especially for the reader. Everyone, for the rest of the book, talks about Will, how wonderful he was, and how much they miss him. And you know, they’re right. I missed him too. So much so, that I lost complete interest in the rest of the novel.

The details become stultifying. There is no need for me to know what Lucy had for breakfast; it is enough to know she ate. There is also little actual doing in the story. Much of it is the characters reading or dreaming new information to their quest. Even Lucy’s kidnapping early on in the book has a precipitous anti-climatic resolution.

For those who enjoy a slow leisurely stroll in their reads, this is the book for you. The adventure is muted, the plot hinges on mental endeavours, and the romance is predictable. In fact, the major plot twist was somewhat evident to me at about chapter seven.

There is one major quibble I have with this novel, and it has nothing to do with the actual story. It does speak to the kind of read this book is however. The plot summary, as quoted above, is not what this story is really about. That blurb is misleading. Will is dead by chapter five, and although he remains an integral part of the backstory, he is not travelling Europe, looking for clues.

I originally signed on to review this book based on that book description. To find it a falsehood did not endear the story to me. It may well have had a negative impact on my interest in the book from that point onward. This is a marketing ploy and should not reflect on the author or the novel. Yet, of course, it does.


Conclusion:

This is a lovely book, in presentation and in the actual writing. It is a slow soft read, with dreamy overtones. The characters are alive and easily liked. Perhaps this is more an autumn read than a spring novel; a book to curl up with a cold winter’s night. Whatever the case, it is a well-written tale about not much of anything.

And yes, I do still miss Will.