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The December Rose
Secrets whispered up a chimney, a golden locket with a broken chain, murder in the streets of London- and suddenly young Barnacle is plunged into terrifying mystery. With the sinister Inspector Creaker on his tail, Barnacle has no choice but to run, and hide, and run again...
The December Rose is a thrilling tale of deceit, intrigue, espionage and murder, set in the teeming, colourful world of Victorian London.
The December Rose is a thrilling tale of deceit, intrigue, espionage and murder, set in the teeming, colourful world of Victorian London.
208 pages, Paperback
First published March 13, 1986
4 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Leon Garfield
121 books50 followersLeon Garfield FRSL (14 July 1921 – 2 June 1996) was a British writer of fiction. He is best known for children's historical novels, though he also wrote for adults. He wrote more than thirty books and scripted Shakespeare: The Animated Tales for television.
Garfield attended Brighton Grammar School (1932-1938) and went on to study art at Regent Street Polytechnic, but his studies were interrupted first by lack of funds for fees, then by the outbreak of World War II. He married Lena Leah Davies in April, 1941, at Golders Green Synagogue but they separated after only a few months. For his service in the war he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. While posted in Belgium he met Vivien Alcock, then an ambulance driver, who would go on to become his second wife (in 1948) and a well-known children's author. She would also greatly influence Garfield's writing, giving him suggestions for his writing, including the original idea for Smith. After the war Garfield worked as a biochemical laboratory technician at the Whittington Hospital in Islington, writing in his spare time until the 1960s, when he was successful enough to write full-time. In 1964, the couple adopted a baby girl, called Jane after Jane Austen, a favourite writer of both parents.
Garfield wrote his first book, the pirate novel Jack Holborn, for adult readers but a Constable & Co. editor saw its potential as a children's novel and persuaded him to adapt it for a younger audience. In that form it was published by Constable in 1964. His second book, Devil-in-the-Fog (1966), won the first annual Guardian Prize and was serialised for television, as were several later works (below). Devil was the first of several historical adventure novels, typically set late in the eighteenth century and featuring a character of humble origins (in this case a boy from a family of traveling actors) pushed into the midst of a threatening intrigue. Another was Smith (1967), with the eponymous hero a young pickpocket accepted into a wealthy household; it won the Phoenix Award in 1987. Yet another was Black Jack (1968), in which a young apprentice is forced by accident and his conscience to accompany a murderous criminal.
In 1970, Garfield's work started to move in new directions with The God Beneath the Sea, a re-telling of numerous Greek myths in one narrative, written by Garfield and Edward Blishen and illustrated by Charles Keeping. It won the annual Carnegie Medal for British children's books. Garfield, Blishen, and Keeping collaborated again on a sequel, The Golden Shadow (1973). The Drummer Boy (1970) was another adventure story, but concerned more with a central moral problem, and apparently aimed at somewhat older readers, a trend continued in The Prisoners of September (1975) republished in 1989 by Lions Tracks, under the title Revolution!, The Pleasure Garden (1976) and The Confidence Man (1978). The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris (1972) was a black comedy in which two boys decide to test the plausibility of Romulus and Remus using one of the boys' baby sister. Most notable at the time was a series of linked long short stories about apprentices, published separately between 1976 and 1978, and then as a collection, The Apprentices. The more adult themed books of the mid-1970s met with a mixed reception and Garfield returned to the model of his earlier books with John Diamond, which won a Whitbread Award in 1980, and The December Rose (1986). In 1980 he also wrote an ending for The Mystery of Edwin Drood, unfinished at the 1870 death of Dickens, an author who had been a major influence on Garfield's own style.
He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1985. On 2 June 1996 he died of cancer at the Whittington Hospital, where he had once worked.
Garfield attended Brighton Grammar School (1932-1938) and went on to study art at Regent Street Polytechnic, but his studies were interrupted first by lack of funds for fees, then by the outbreak of World War II. He married Lena Leah Davies in April, 1941, at Golders Green Synagogue but they separated after only a few months. For his service in the war he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. While posted in Belgium he met Vivien Alcock, then an ambulance driver, who would go on to become his second wife (in 1948) and a well-known children's author. She would also greatly influence Garfield's writing, giving him suggestions for his writing, including the original idea for Smith. After the war Garfield worked as a biochemical laboratory technician at the Whittington Hospital in Islington, writing in his spare time until the 1960s, when he was successful enough to write full-time. In 1964, the couple adopted a baby girl, called Jane after Jane Austen, a favourite writer of both parents.
Garfield wrote his first book, the pirate novel Jack Holborn, for adult readers but a Constable & Co. editor saw its potential as a children's novel and persuaded him to adapt it for a younger audience. In that form it was published by Constable in 1964. His second book, Devil-in-the-Fog (1966), won the first annual Guardian Prize and was serialised for television, as were several later works (below). Devil was the first of several historical adventure novels, typically set late in the eighteenth century and featuring a character of humble origins (in this case a boy from a family of traveling actors) pushed into the midst of a threatening intrigue. Another was Smith (1967), with the eponymous hero a young pickpocket accepted into a wealthy household; it won the Phoenix Award in 1987. Yet another was Black Jack (1968), in which a young apprentice is forced by accident and his conscience to accompany a murderous criminal.
In 1970, Garfield's work started to move in new directions with The God Beneath the Sea, a re-telling of numerous Greek myths in one narrative, written by Garfield and Edward Blishen and illustrated by Charles Keeping. It won the annual Carnegie Medal for British children's books. Garfield, Blishen, and Keeping collaborated again on a sequel, The Golden Shadow (1973). The Drummer Boy (1970) was another adventure story, but concerned more with a central moral problem, and apparently aimed at somewhat older readers, a trend continued in The Prisoners of September (1975) republished in 1989 by Lions Tracks, under the title Revolution!, The Pleasure Garden (1976) and The Confidence Man (1978). The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris (1972) was a black comedy in which two boys decide to test the plausibility of Romulus and Remus using one of the boys' baby sister. Most notable at the time was a series of linked long short stories about apprentices, published separately between 1976 and 1978, and then as a collection, The Apprentices. The more adult themed books of the mid-1970s met with a mixed reception and Garfield returned to the model of his earlier books with John Diamond, which won a Whitbread Award in 1980, and The December Rose (1986). In 1980 he also wrote an ending for The Mystery of Edwin Drood, unfinished at the 1870 death of Dickens, an author who had been a major influence on Garfield's own style.
He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1985. On 2 June 1996 he died of cancer at the Whittington Hospital, where he had once worked.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
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January 8, 2024'The December Rose,' said Whistling Edge. 'We will be waiting'.
'The December Rose!' repeated Fat-guts; and Smooth-and-bony echoed him: 'The December Rose!'; while Laughing Lady chuckled like pebbles in the rain.
Secrets whispered up a chimney, a golden locket with a broken chain, murder in the streets of London - and suddenly young Barnacle is plunged into a terrifying mystery. With the sinister Inspector Creaker on his tail, Barnacle has no choice but to run, and hide, and run again . . .
The December Rose is a thrilling tale of deceit, intrigue, espionage and murder, set in the teeming, colourful world of Victorian London.
'This tale of intrigue, treachery and chilling suspense is a work of story-telling art' - Horn Book (starred review)
Cover illustration by Chris Molan
January 3, 2022
I picked this up on a bookstall somewhere for 10p or something. It was falling apart with a broken spine but still held together enough to read.
A later tale by Garfield, full of the usual humour and detail that brings his historical tales to life.
A runaway chimney sweep gets embroiled in a plot to steal a large amount of money from a Russian spy network operating in London, and chaos ensues!
A later tale by Garfield, full of the usual humour and detail that brings his historical tales to life.
A runaway chimney sweep gets embroiled in a plot to steal a large amount of money from a Russian spy network operating in London, and chaos ensues!
September 16, 2018
This book follows the general formula of Garfield’s novels. A boy of poor means accidentally falls into a larger mystery. As the secretive net tightens, he finds allies, avoids enemies and eventually brings all the secrets into the light. The book also follows Garfield’s interest in morally grey or misguided villains and Inspector Creaker in this book is one of the best.
Barnacle is our young man, he is an animalistic chimney sweep, who overhears a secretive conversation when lurking up a chimney. Falling into the room he grabs at objects to throw and ends up running away with important evidence in his pocket. The book has the interesting (and slightly odd) notion that once he has the property he accidentally steals, he starts to move from animal to human - a function of property itself.
Barnacle bumps into a big man - not big exactly, it’s as if if what you see of him is the visible sign of a much larger person. This is Mr Gosling (again with the bird names) and he is the rentee of a barge. Taking in Barnacle leads him and the other bargees into danger.
The rest of the book is a thrilling affair, delving into the notions of spies and secret policeman. Seemingly innocent actions like peeling an apple or humming a song are imbued with special and eery significance. The thriller element is tighter in this book than most other Garfield works and I was pulled along at a breakneck pace.
The book not only thrills but it makes interesting points about class and the importance of the everyman. A conspiracy of lords and government is infiltrated by chimney-sweeps and people who barge manure down the Thames. There are also points about servants and masters. Creaker and Barnacle are the servants of unfair, weak masters but Barnacle rises above it by running into Gosling - the question is whether Creaker will let morality overcome is own loyalty.
Of course, the writing is always brilliant. There were many examples but I’ve picked out the description of a low-dive pub which ‘poured light into the night like a disease.’
It’s another solid book in Garfield’s work.
Barnacle is our young man, he is an animalistic chimney sweep, who overhears a secretive conversation when lurking up a chimney. Falling into the room he grabs at objects to throw and ends up running away with important evidence in his pocket. The book has the interesting (and slightly odd) notion that once he has the property he accidentally steals, he starts to move from animal to human - a function of property itself.
Barnacle bumps into a big man - not big exactly, it’s as if if what you see of him is the visible sign of a much larger person. This is Mr Gosling (again with the bird names) and he is the rentee of a barge. Taking in Barnacle leads him and the other bargees into danger.
The rest of the book is a thrilling affair, delving into the notions of spies and secret policeman. Seemingly innocent actions like peeling an apple or humming a song are imbued with special and eery significance. The thriller element is tighter in this book than most other Garfield works and I was pulled along at a breakneck pace.
The book not only thrills but it makes interesting points about class and the importance of the everyman. A conspiracy of lords and government is infiltrated by chimney-sweeps and people who barge manure down the Thames. There are also points about servants and masters. Creaker and Barnacle are the servants of unfair, weak masters but Barnacle rises above it by running into Gosling - the question is whether Creaker will let morality overcome is own loyalty.
Of course, the writing is always brilliant. There were many examples but I’ve picked out the description of a low-dive pub which ‘poured light into the night like a disease.’
It’s another solid book in Garfield’s work.
July 21, 2009
For the longest time I kept trying to remember which Philip Pullman book had the chimney sweep character. Both Pullman and Garfield write teen historical fiction set in a similar time period. Enjoyed this very much, even if I did dis-remember the correct author previously!
January 21, 2020
From 1986...another excellent historical novel for children/young adults...without demons, witches, dragons or precocious girls & boys! It's set in mid-Victorian London...its protagonist, a chimney-sweep...who rises as he falls through mystery, intrigue, terrorism & murder...until he scrubs-up as a free spirit amongst friends.
Leon Garfield writes very colourfully & in 204 pages entertains with a nod at the Dickensian...& a salute to the ordinary people of the world's first metropolis. Oh...there's a Russian in it too!
Marvelous stuff!
Leon Garfield writes very colourfully & in 204 pages entertains with a nod at the Dickensian...& a salute to the ordinary people of the world's first metropolis. Oh...there's a Russian in it too!
Marvelous stuff!
March 8, 2025
If you haven't read any books by this author, you are missing out on Dickensian greatness. Though I cannot rank this one on the highest rung, it had hilarious language, comedic characters, thrilling atmosphere, engaging setting, and a twisty plot—all the things I've come to love about Garfield's body of work. There was some serious violence and political machinations which would, I think, best be suited to high schoolers even though the protagonist hovers in his pre-teen years—rather like Oliver Twist. So delighted and surprised to have found this gem after all these years.
September 13, 2025
Really good mystery, unexpected twists, and great capturing of the accents in their dialogue. For a light read, I was pleased.
If reading accents written phonetically bothers you, you may want to skip this novel. (ex: "Hello governor! How's your day?" becomes "ello g'vner! Ow's yer day?")
If reading accents written phonetically bothers you, you may want to skip this novel. (ex: "Hello governor! How's your day?" becomes "ello g'vner! Ow's yer day?")
February 2, 2023
No one knows what lurks!
August 4, 2023
Superbly written. A must read!
February 14, 2011
The December Rose drew me in right away with its exciting beginning. Garfield kept me engrossed in the story with his array of characters with awesome names--Barnacle, Inspector Creaker, Fat-Guts, Smooth-and-Bony. But, as several months passed before I wrote this review, I find that I don't remember much about the plot. Garfield has Dickens' knack for creating memorable characters and setting but not an unforgettable plot. So, perhaps this is unfair, but The December Rose is a mediocre knockoff of Dickens. Not that it's not worth reading. I'm a big believer in mixing my reading up. While I like the challenge of Dickens from time to time, I would feel resentful if I also couldn't indulge in an easy novel for which I had lower expectations! Barnacle is an orphaned chimney sweep who lives in Victorian London. While up a chimney he overhears the discussion of a sinister plot. Knocked off balance he falls right into the room of villains and in his haste to get out of there grabs a prized locket. Barnacle escapes but the villains have memorized his face and the chase is on. He encounters quite the cast of characters--some evil and some who want to help him although it's often hard to tell the difference. So don't read The December Rose for its predictable plot but for Garfield's unique way of telling the story. Any author who can substitute "He was the boy whose birthdays were to be stopped" for "murdered" deserves some credit!
February 3, 2012
The December Rose was a really good book. The beginning captures you and makes you want to read more.After that, there are lots of surprising events taking place that keep you engaged. The December Rose is an African- American boy named Barnacle who lives a chimney and has a master he works for, But one day, he ended up in the wrong chimney and got into trouble which causes him to run away. When he does, Barnacle meets lots of people and eventually ends up on a ship called the December Rose. also, his master is looking for him and is really angry. There are a few slow moments in the book, but overall it was a really good book.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews