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Timber Rose
1907. Women climbing mountains in skirts. Loggers fighting for the eight hour day. The forests are alive with progress but not everyone is on board. Mountain climbing Caroline Symington comes from a prominent family. When she elopes with an enterprising, working class man bound for the new Forest Service, her father disowns her. Seeking meaning in her new life amidst nature, she’s ushered along by a group of like-minded women and a mysterious mountain man with a tragic past.. When her ruthless uncle muscles his way into the national forest, Caroline must take a stand and defend the man and place she loves.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
481 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 19, 2013
About the author
J.L. Oakley
13 books77 followersBIOGRAPHY
Award-winning author J.L. Oakley writes historical fiction that spans the mid-19th century to WW II with characters standing up for something in their own time and place. Her writing has been recognized with a 2006 Surrey International Writer's Non-fiction award. 2013 Bellingham Mayor’s Arts Award, the 2013 Chanticleer Grand Prize, the 2014 First Place Chaucer Award, the 2015 WILLA Silver Award for Timber Rose and the 2016 Goethe Grand Prize for The Jøssing Affair. When not writing, she demonstrates 19th century folkways.
Her other writings appear in various magazines, anthologies, and other media including the Cup of Comfort series and Historylink.org, a “cyperpedia of Washington State history.”
Award-winning author J.L. Oakley writes historical fiction that spans the mid-19th century to WW II with characters standing up for something in their own time and place. Her writing has been recognized with a 2006 Surrey International Writer's Non-fiction award. 2013 Bellingham Mayor’s Arts Award, the 2013 Chanticleer Grand Prize, the 2014 First Place Chaucer Award, the 2015 WILLA Silver Award for Timber Rose and the 2016 Goethe Grand Prize for The Jøssing Affair. When not writing, she demonstrates 19th century folkways.
Her other writings appear in various magazines, anthologies, and other media including the Cup of Comfort series and Historylink.org, a “cyperpedia of Washington State history.”
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 16, 2014
We are proud to announce that TIMBER ROSE by J.L. Oakley is a B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree. This tells a reader that this book is well worth their time and money!
September 27, 2014
J. L. Oakley is an excellent writer. She's quite adept at constructing a world from the past and taking us there. This story of a privileged woman determined to claim her autonomy, to be a modern woman and live on equal footing in a world still dominated by men, has many high points. The prose, for the most part, is engaging and smart. The story is populated with an interesting blend of characters that span many social strata and many of those characters are well formed. Oakley quickly earns our respect and sympathy with Caroline and shortly thereafter with her incidental suitor Alford. But throughout this meaty tome, I kept saying to myself, "This woman needs an editor. And if she has an editor, she needs a better one."
To explain, the book is a CreateSpace production and the author receives no editorial support from the publisher. It shows. Glaringly. In the story's opening, a mountaineering scene, we're bombarded with bits and pieces of personalities. Names fly left and right. All that mixed in with the logistics of a climb gone wrong because one outsider in seeming pursuit of the protagonist is out of his depth on the climb. If I hadn't been so determined to read the book, if Ms. Oakley's prose hadn't been so competent, I would have quickly abandoned it. A good editor would have provided some good advice about the scene. There are numerous other places in the story that suddenly come off the rails or get bogged down because of fuzzy prose, incomplete ideas, or both. All writers have those problems in their early drafts and a good editor fixes them.
As frustrating as the editing issues were at times, I still have to recommend this book. It's a good story. Just realize you'll have to make some concessions along the way. And I hope that Ms. Oakley finds a good editor for her next story. She's too good of a writer to have her reputation marred by work that is still a little rough around the edges.
To explain, the book is a CreateSpace production and the author receives no editorial support from the publisher. It shows. Glaringly. In the story's opening, a mountaineering scene, we're bombarded with bits and pieces of personalities. Names fly left and right. All that mixed in with the logistics of a climb gone wrong because one outsider in seeming pursuit of the protagonist is out of his depth on the climb. If I hadn't been so determined to read the book, if Ms. Oakley's prose hadn't been so competent, I would have quickly abandoned it. A good editor would have provided some good advice about the scene. There are numerous other places in the story that suddenly come off the rails or get bogged down because of fuzzy prose, incomplete ideas, or both. All writers have those problems in their early drafts and a good editor fixes them.
As frustrating as the editing issues were at times, I still have to recommend this book. It's a good story. Just realize you'll have to make some concessions along the way. And I hope that Ms. Oakley finds a good editor for her next story. She's too good of a writer to have her reputation marred by work that is still a little rough around the edges.
October 5, 2019
This book has been sitting next to my bed for too long, and I finally picked it up to read. I'm glad I did. I enjoyed the story from the first pages and got involved with the well defined characters. I loved the sense of place as it is the Northwest where I live. Oakley has beautifully captured another era and the spirit of those pioneer women who blazed the way for the rest of us. She also wove in social and political situations making her story complex and suspenseful. Nicely done!
September 16, 2019
Great story
At first it was hard to get into the story. As it progressed i got deeply involved in the plot. This is not the usual kind of story i read. Now that I'm done , I wonder what's going to happen next. If this was a series I'd would get the next book..
At first it was hard to get into the story. As it progressed i got deeply involved in the plot. This is not the usual kind of story i read. Now that I'm done , I wonder what's going to happen next. If this was a series I'd would get the next book..
April 26, 2018
Timber Rose
This book is very well written. The drama was sprinkled through the book keeping things interesting from beginning to end. A great read.
This book is very well written. The drama was sprinkled through the book keeping things interesting from beginning to end. A great read.
April 21, 2018
Beautifully Written
The settings and characters are incredibly filled out in this story of the Pacific Northwest of the early 1900s. Highly recommend.
The settings and characters are incredibly filled out in this story of the Pacific Northwest of the early 1900s. Highly recommend.
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July 19, 2018Excellent book.
Full disclosure: I assisted J.L. Oakley with editing.
Full disclosure: I assisted J.L. Oakley with editing.
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October 21, 2016A gorgeous story set in historic Washington State logging in the early years.
Timber Rose is the story of Caroline, a free-thinking New Woman in 1907 who defies her parents' wishes and marries, not only for love, but for lifestyle. Caroline is a hiker, a tramper, a woman who loves to get into the forest or on the mountain and enjoy herself, something that is just not done in polite society in that time for the upper class woman. She leaves her roots to pursue the life of a New Woman, championing for the vote, the right to wear hiking pants, planned parenting and most other rights that women now have and take for granted.
Oakley writes with an accomplished pen, her painstaking research not overwhelming but evident in the story line, giving the reader some insight to the early logging industry in Washington State. It's fascinating and highly readable, even if you don't usually find yourself in the middle of an historical novel. Caroline and Bob's love story is beautiful, the journey through their lives is poignant, rich with passages about loving the outdoors and it's easy to see why this novel has won awards.
This is a love story, a suspense, a women's story and an historical. Highly recommended to all women who have forgotten it wasn't that long ago that women did not have rights.
Timber Rose is the story of Caroline, a free-thinking New Woman in 1907 who defies her parents' wishes and marries, not only for love, but for lifestyle. Caroline is a hiker, a tramper, a woman who loves to get into the forest or on the mountain and enjoy herself, something that is just not done in polite society in that time for the upper class woman. She leaves her roots to pursue the life of a New Woman, championing for the vote, the right to wear hiking pants, planned parenting and most other rights that women now have and take for granted.
Oakley writes with an accomplished pen, her painstaking research not overwhelming but evident in the story line, giving the reader some insight to the early logging industry in Washington State. It's fascinating and highly readable, even if you don't usually find yourself in the middle of an historical novel. Caroline and Bob's love story is beautiful, the journey through their lives is poignant, rich with passages about loving the outdoors and it's easy to see why this novel has won awards.
This is a love story, a suspense, a women's story and an historical. Highly recommended to all women who have forgotten it wasn't that long ago that women did not have rights.
October 21, 2016
This is a love story, more than historical fiction. That made for an interesting story, but not quite the telling of the formation of the Forest Service in Washington State that I had expected. I did get caught up in the ups and downs of Caroline and Bob, and enjoyed the setting of the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the last century. The rich and powerful families that invested resources into the timber industry did not respect the hard, dangerous work of the loggers and mill workers and that story played in the background. There was a feminist element as well which was subtle, but well told through Caroline's friends as well as the choices she made for herself. I was glad that her family FINALLY started to accept Bob. This was a good airplane read.
October 24, 2016
This novel was really a love story, as opposed to a historical fiction novel. The novel was very engaging. It described the sort of woman who liked and took up mountaineering. Fun to read as it took place in the Northwest. Some nice descriptions of the area throughout the book. Good preview into what companies like Simpson Lumber developed during early times. The characters, Bob and Caroline developed well. I enjoyed this book.
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July 10, 2015This is another winner from Janet Oakley! I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It is well-written and researched, it is fast-paced, has the essential elements of romance, conflict, and history. I recommend this book, along with Tree Soldier.
June 13, 2016
Sweet pre-quel to Tree Soldier. Marvelous details about the dress, customs, social mores, and 'timber roses' of the early Pacific NW, set against a riveting backdrop of passion, intrigue and redemption.
June 29, 2015
Absolutely amazing book!!! Thank you Janet Oakley...loved this look back into the Pacific Northwest of the very early twentieth century. I wish I could beam myself back there for just a few days.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews