What do you think?
Rosie's Umbrella
Rosie’s Umbrella is about love and loss, forgetting and remembering, losing one’s self and becoming someone you never knew or imagined being.
We meet 14-year-old Rosie Llywelyn in Boston in 1995 at the moment her life is changed forever by a tragedy that occurred in a coalmining village in Wales in 1955.
From the very first page the reader experiences the emotional turmoil Rosie feels as she tries to find out what has happened to her Aunt Sarah and why her parents won’t tell her why they have had Sarah committed to a psychiatric unit in a nearby hospital.
As Taylor engages the reader in Rosie’s tragic family story of guilt and forgiveness, she falls into her own family history, and the reader falls with her – as she exposes the cruelty of governments, the wounds of being lumpen, the exploitation of poor families and children, and the trauma of the forced migration of hundreds of thousands of miners and their families from the Welsh coalmining valleys in the first half of the twentieth century.
As Rosie struggles to find her own truth with the support of her teacher and friends in school, she realizes another family tragedy is about to happen. Falling faster now through the pages, Taylor makes sure readers stays on the page with Rosie and her friends through their political awakening to the devastation that power and privilege has on poor people, and to their own vision for the future. Until, filled with love, laughter, and the will to survive, they are ready for the struggle that they know lies ahead.
We meet 14-year-old Rosie Llywelyn in Boston in 1995 at the moment her life is changed forever by a tragedy that occurred in a coalmining village in Wales in 1955.
From the very first page the reader experiences the emotional turmoil Rosie feels as she tries to find out what has happened to her Aunt Sarah and why her parents won’t tell her why they have had Sarah committed to a psychiatric unit in a nearby hospital.
As Taylor engages the reader in Rosie’s tragic family story of guilt and forgiveness, she falls into her own family history, and the reader falls with her – as she exposes the cruelty of governments, the wounds of being lumpen, the exploitation of poor families and children, and the trauma of the forced migration of hundreds of thousands of miners and their families from the Welsh coalmining valleys in the first half of the twentieth century.
As Rosie struggles to find her own truth with the support of her teacher and friends in school, she realizes another family tragedy is about to happen. Falling faster now through the pages, Taylor makes sure readers stays on the page with Rosie and her friends through their political awakening to the devastation that power and privilege has on poor people, and to their own vision for the future. Until, filled with love, laughter, and the will to survive, they are ready for the struggle that they know lies ahead.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
About the author
Denny Taylor
31 books70 followersDenny Taylor is a researcher and novelist who regards art, literature, and science inseparable. She is a lifelong activist and scholar committed to nurturing the imagination and human spirit. She has received both national and international awards for her research and scholarship.
She has published thirteen books, is the recipient of the Modern Language of Association of America Mina P. Shaughnessy Award, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2004 she was inducted in the International Reading Association's Reading Hall of Fame.
She is Professor Emeritus of Literacy Studies at Hofstra University, and the founder of Garn Press.
She has published thirteen books, is the recipient of the Modern Language of Association of America Mina P. Shaughnessy Award, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2004 she was inducted in the International Reading Association's Reading Hall of Fame.
She is Professor Emeritus of Literacy Studies at Hofstra University, and the founder of Garn Press.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 19, 2015
Once in a while a novel comes around and not only touches me as a reader but an educator as well. This novel does both. As an educator, I am inspired to be more like Margaret, Rosie’s teacher, committed to helping children develop their voice in telling stories. Taylor weaves together a 21st century family complete with secrets of about their history in 19th century Wales. The vivid accounts of both past and present will resonate with all audiences. A highly readable, enjoyable book deserving of wide circulation.
July 5, 2015
A magical and inspiring book which reaches adolescents and adults alike. This beautifully written book resonates for many as it reminds us of the importance and life changing endeavor of exploring one's history. It also illustrates how compelling fighting for social justice can be for young people- we all have an inner revolutionary inside of us--- it is just a matter of finding what could inspire it!
June 30, 2015
Rosie Llywelyn is the only fictional character that I know that has had a publishing company founded to support her.
March 21, 2015
I LOVED this book!!! It is a powerful and enjoyable read that will leave you wanting more. This novel, although stylistically different from Taylor's other books, is a beautiful integration of story and activism. However, if you're like me, you might need a Kleenex or two at a most unexpected moment! Enjoy!!!
December 26, 2016
Rosie’s Umbrella
There are stories so distinctive and so interwoven that the knitted fabric created by the author is sufficient to envelop the reader and both protect her as well as prevent her from escape. Those are great novels that deserve to be read and reread, for the stories they tell and the truths they reveal. There is yet another level of story that comes along very rarely where the reader begins to experience his own truth as the primary characters of the novel live their own. Rosie’s Umbrella has done that for me. Rosie’s story is powerful on its own terms, but what the book does for me is point me in the direction of my own truth.
Rosie Llywelyn is in 8th grade in a class taught by Margaret, an enlightened teacher who all refer to by her first name. Margaret has assigned a class project for each student to explore her family roots. Rosie discovers her own history in Wales, piecing together a story that surprises her and shocks her. Her story makes me wonder about my story.
Halfway through the book, the narrator describes an interaction in class about the interrelationship of life’s stories. We are in that class. Margaret is speaking to us as much as she is speaking to Rosie’s class when she says “Your stories had many chapters way before you were born.”
**********
from Rosie’s Umbrella, p. 165
At school Margaret had told her class that Martin Luther King said all life is interrelated and that whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly, and Rosie remembered because she had quoted Martin Luther King in her report on Nelson Mandela.
“No one’s story,” Margaret had said, “can stand alone. Every story is part of another.” She’d talked with them about a Russian scholar called Michel Bakhtin. She’d told them that Bakhtin had written that their lives were like novels, that their stories were their own, but that all of their stories were interconnected.
“Living,” Margaret had told them, “is like turning the pages of a book, but there is neither a first nor last word – no beginnings, and no endings.”
“Your stories,” she’d said, “had many chapters way before you were born.”
Everyone in Rosie’s class was used to the way Margaret talked to them. They’d learned to take the ideas she shared with them and puzzle over them for future conversations – which they knew would take place at some unexpected moment – possibly in the middle of a science experiment or when they were painting a mural or in comedy hour when they wrote jokes and skits and were expected to perform them. They wanted to be ready. It was a mind game they played with Margaret, and with each other. They wanted to outsmart her, and score points – imaginary ones – against each other.
“This is my page,” Rosie had said on one such occasion. “There might be others on this page, but it’s not the same for them as it is for me.”
“And why do you think that is so?” Margaret had asked, smiling at Rosie.
“Because each person on my page will see it differently to me,” Rosie had said, without a moment’s hesitation. She’d thought about it and spoke as if she was sure of what she’d said.
**********
Will Rosie’s Umbrella grab you as tightly as it grabbed me? Perhaps. The bigger question is how will Rosie’s Umbrella prompt you to start reviewing your own chapters?
There are stories so distinctive and so interwoven that the knitted fabric created by the author is sufficient to envelop the reader and both protect her as well as prevent her from escape. Those are great novels that deserve to be read and reread, for the stories they tell and the truths they reveal. There is yet another level of story that comes along very rarely where the reader begins to experience his own truth as the primary characters of the novel live their own. Rosie’s Umbrella has done that for me. Rosie’s story is powerful on its own terms, but what the book does for me is point me in the direction of my own truth.
Rosie Llywelyn is in 8th grade in a class taught by Margaret, an enlightened teacher who all refer to by her first name. Margaret has assigned a class project for each student to explore her family roots. Rosie discovers her own history in Wales, piecing together a story that surprises her and shocks her. Her story makes me wonder about my story.
Halfway through the book, the narrator describes an interaction in class about the interrelationship of life’s stories. We are in that class. Margaret is speaking to us as much as she is speaking to Rosie’s class when she says “Your stories had many chapters way before you were born.”
**********
from Rosie’s Umbrella, p. 165
At school Margaret had told her class that Martin Luther King said all life is interrelated and that whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly, and Rosie remembered because she had quoted Martin Luther King in her report on Nelson Mandela.
“No one’s story,” Margaret had said, “can stand alone. Every story is part of another.” She’d talked with them about a Russian scholar called Michel Bakhtin. She’d told them that Bakhtin had written that their lives were like novels, that their stories were their own, but that all of their stories were interconnected.
“Living,” Margaret had told them, “is like turning the pages of a book, but there is neither a first nor last word – no beginnings, and no endings.”
“Your stories,” she’d said, “had many chapters way before you were born.”
Everyone in Rosie’s class was used to the way Margaret talked to them. They’d learned to take the ideas she shared with them and puzzle over them for future conversations – which they knew would take place at some unexpected moment – possibly in the middle of a science experiment or when they were painting a mural or in comedy hour when they wrote jokes and skits and were expected to perform them. They wanted to be ready. It was a mind game they played with Margaret, and with each other. They wanted to outsmart her, and score points – imaginary ones – against each other.
“This is my page,” Rosie had said on one such occasion. “There might be others on this page, but it’s not the same for them as it is for me.”
“And why do you think that is so?” Margaret had asked, smiling at Rosie.
“Because each person on my page will see it differently to me,” Rosie had said, without a moment’s hesitation. She’d thought about it and spoke as if she was sure of what she’d said.
**********
Will Rosie’s Umbrella grab you as tightly as it grabbed me? Perhaps. The bigger question is how will Rosie’s Umbrella prompt you to start reviewing your own chapters?
June 26, 2015
As I read Rosie's Umbrella, I had felt as though I was joining Rosie Llewelyn on her search to find her own truth. Feeling wave after wave of suspense, frustration, historical memories and haunting apparitions, I felt I was making the same connections that both Rosie and Aunt Sarah formed on their journey. Rosie, our determined heroine, shows much emotional and mental strength for a 14 year old girl. The personal stories and struggles of the Welsh coal miners and their families brought to life is one description that you cannot help but be captivated and changed by. A past filled with sadness and strength is one that the other characters of Rosie's Umbrella, of different cultural backgrounds connected with, encouraging a sense of camaraderie and support. This translates beautifully to readers who can connect with the underlying message of hope, love and a drive to find ones own truth. I highly recommend this novel to young adult readers, readers interested in the personal story of Welsh coal miners, readers interested in suspense and/or readers interested in tale of reflection and courage.
October 9, 2015
I thought this book was pretty good. It seemed to me almost psychological thriller-like. I definitely enjoyed the mysteries in the story. See my full review here.
June 22, 2017
Fourteen-year-old Rosie is griefstricken when her beloved aunt Sarah loses her mind and is admitted to a mental institution. She rails against her parents for sectioning her aunt and in her grief, finds it increasingly difficult to hold on to her own sanity. Rosie’s Umbrella by Denny Taylor weaves a multi-layered tale of how Rosie finds focus and direction when a school project to investigate the history and origins of her family leads her to discover a long-buried family secret, originating in the Welsh coal mines. She learns how the British government mercilessly transported her grandfathers from their Welsh homes to other parts of the world when the local coal mines started to close; how the distraught and penniless families were considered worthless ‘lumpen proletariat’ and encouraged to emigrate. Communicating with her incarcerated aunt by email, she starts to piece together her family history and the little Welsh mining village where her father and aunt spent their summers, and slowly the dark secret which has weighed down her parents and brought her treasured aunt to the brink of insanity starts to emerge. Could this distraught young woman have the strength to resolve the awful blight and bring some equilibrium back to her family?
I have to say right away that I found it difficult to empathise with young Rosie - her brattish behaviour seemed at times a little overblown, and I found myself sympathising with her parents who appeared to be under a great deal of strain. That having been said, I found the book deeply thought provoking; the shabby treatment of workers is distressingly common throughout history and is not constrained to coal miners. One need only think of cotton mills and asbestos plants before going further back to the slave labour that built most of Europe. However, I can also recall that British miners became one of the most belligerent workforces in the world, regularly calling strikes and holding the country to ransom by preventing coal going to power stations. I lived through a time when due to strike action, England had electricity on only three days per week, and the consequent chaos brought about the fall of the incumbent government. I sometimes wonder why we spend so much of our time looking back to past injustices. Authors have documented them since humans developed writing and probably before - the Bible is full of them but over the millennia the practice doesn’t seem to have done much good. To this day I live in a country, the seventh largest economy in the world, where millions struggle to make ends meet on paltry wages and have to resort to charity food banks to feed their families. Apologies for the digression - I do not want to give the impression that I did not enjoy Rosie’s Umbrella; Denny Taylor has written an important book, and whether it does any good or not, I sincerely hope that authors of her calibre will continue to produce such sterling work. I urge you to read this excellent book.
I have to say right away that I found it difficult to empathise with young Rosie - her brattish behaviour seemed at times a little overblown, and I found myself sympathising with her parents who appeared to be under a great deal of strain. That having been said, I found the book deeply thought provoking; the shabby treatment of workers is distressingly common throughout history and is not constrained to coal miners. One need only think of cotton mills and asbestos plants before going further back to the slave labour that built most of Europe. However, I can also recall that British miners became one of the most belligerent workforces in the world, regularly calling strikes and holding the country to ransom by preventing coal going to power stations. I lived through a time when due to strike action, England had electricity on only three days per week, and the consequent chaos brought about the fall of the incumbent government. I sometimes wonder why we spend so much of our time looking back to past injustices. Authors have documented them since humans developed writing and probably before - the Bible is full of them but over the millennia the practice doesn’t seem to have done much good. To this day I live in a country, the seventh largest economy in the world, where millions struggle to make ends meet on paltry wages and have to resort to charity food banks to feed their families. Apologies for the digression - I do not want to give the impression that I did not enjoy Rosie’s Umbrella; Denny Taylor has written an important book, and whether it does any good or not, I sincerely hope that authors of her calibre will continue to produce such sterling work. I urge you to read this excellent book.
December 3, 2021
[edit]
I have read only good reviews about this book and I almost feel guilty at not feeling the high level of satisfaction that most readers felt ,but honesty compels me to put forward my view in this review. The first paragraph of the book is so exquisite, it is breath taking .I remain disappointed that for me ,the rest of the book did not live up to that first divine moment I experienced upon reading the first chapter.
I did enjoy some parts of the book immensely ,but some parts were irritatingly contrived and towards the very end the book lost its flow and floundered . I really enjoyed the richly woven and interesting historical accounts of the Welsh Mining village so integral to the book, but in my opinion much of the last parts of the book could have been removed almost entirely , leaving a poignant, sharp and shocking ,yet fitting end ....instead it dragged on , losing its spark and cohesion and my interest along with it.I absolutely respect the fact that many readers would not agree with me. In my opinion ,the magnificent tragic twist that was eventually revealed should have drawn the book to a swift close, leaving the reader in a state of awe ! Instead I felt burdened (and to be honest a bit bored) by obvious and rather plodding explanations that followed and the overly forced nature of the loose ends in the tale being tied up all too neatly ,well after the reader had understood the secrets in Rosie's story. The mystery that had been so beautiful throughout the book had its veil roughly ripped aside, trampled and then wrung dry and the book lost something with it !
My experience in reading this book is akin to the initial delight you might feel at biting into a particularly rich chocolate at Christmas and in the midst of pondering the flavour ,realize at the moment of swallowing ,that it is all too sickly sweet and cloying and not the delight you had hoped for .....In particular the character Margaret, Rosie’s teacher seemed overly 'ideal' , artificial, without flaw and quite frankly irritatingly perfect (Although the writer clearly meant to set an example to the reader of just how splendid an educator can be ). For me the book appeared over-worked and over thought (and possibly over written), ruining the initial first impression of something remarkable, fresh and unique. As I am a highly visual reader it might be best explained in these terms - In my opinion it went from cinematic beauty to soap opera !
September 5, 2015
This is a wonderful book, beautifully written.. It says so much about how we are all interrelated while telling a fascinating story. The tales within the story are just as compelling as Rosie's search to find her true self. The author makes a compelling case for the heroism of the common person struggling to survive in a world where in many places the privileged few regard all the rest of us as "lumpen"--disposable creatures here for their benefit.
November 11, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and found it hard to put down.
It is well written and I like the way the author added the narrative of emails. It was interesting to read of those whose lives are so different from our own.
I would highly recommend this book, but beware you may lose some sleep. I planed to just read an hour or so and ended up staying awake all night and finishing it the early morning hours.
It is well written and I like the way the author added the narrative of emails. It was interesting to read of those whose lives are so different from our own.
I would highly recommend this book, but beware you may lose some sleep. I planed to just read an hour or so and ended up staying awake all night and finishing it the early morning hours.
September 5, 2015
Received my copy of Rosie s Umbrella today with a special note from the author. Cant wait to start reading. Thank you Denny for the extra attention. Won this on goodreads and finally received. I must admit it was worth the wait. I could go into many details as to why this book was so good, but it can all be said in one word. EXCELLANT.
September 2, 2015
I really enjoyed this book! I was amazed at the writing and it was winning here for!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews