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Titanic: Rose Walsh McLean's Story
Molly Brown's sixteenth birthday party for Rose Walsh McLean in May of 1911 takes place at what is now the Molly Brown House Museum in Denver, Colorado. Rose meets Cad Carnegie in the foyer and he asks her to marry him. Their engagement lasts until April of 1912 when the wedding party is returning from Europe on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. A handsome steerage passenger named Jake Lawnsan persuades Rose to leave her world of high society. Rose decides to stay with Jake while the ship is sinking into the freezing water of the North Atlantic. She assumes the name Rose Lawnsan aboard the rescue ship Carpathia. Rose returns to Denver with Molly Brown and the Blue Heart Diamond necklace Cad had left in a pocket of her overcoat. In April of 1996 while in California with her granddaughter Lindsey, Rose sees a news broadcast about treasure hunter Brice Buhaven who is excavating the wreck of Titanic. Rose somehow knows he is searching for the Blue Heart Diamond necklace she has locked inside her safe. Rose and Lindsey fly to Halifax, Nova Scotia and Rose shares her story about the Titanic disaster on the research ship Keldysh.
226 pages, Paperback
First published March 10, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 19, 2015
Titanic: Rose Walsh McLean's Story is a BRILLIANT read! The author has taken to task the story of Rose herself, and it is a very interesting read from the character, along with all the other exciting characters that come to life on every page. The story is descriptive, very well written, with a lot of charm, personality, and brings the character of Rose to life in a whole other way, only enhancing the film itself!
In our humble opinion, it's a must enjoyable read to any Titanic enthusiast, this book sheds the light on our questions of what might have been or was to be for Rose herself, along with many facets just on life itself for a person in her shoes. The author painstakingly wove together a story that is an excellent combination of Rose's story along with history and fascinating information about Titanic itself. We rave on and on about this book, but, for anyone who loves Titanic whether it be the history of the actual ship or the film, this is a must read even if it is depicted as from a fictional view point. It is so well researched, written that it mixes enough fact with the fiction as the film does. A+++++++++ all the way! Thank you Mr. Walden DiCaprio Carrington for breathing life once again to remembering a tragic event in history in a positive fashion, reminding us of the beloved film and honoring the memory of all those lives that were tragically lost during the sinking of Titanic itself. A MUST READ!!!!!!!! It makes us want to just watch the film AGAIN :o)
In our humble opinion, it's a must enjoyable read to any Titanic enthusiast, this book sheds the light on our questions of what might have been or was to be for Rose herself, along with many facets just on life itself for a person in her shoes. The author painstakingly wove together a story that is an excellent combination of Rose's story along with history and fascinating information about Titanic itself. We rave on and on about this book, but, for anyone who loves Titanic whether it be the history of the actual ship or the film, this is a must read even if it is depicted as from a fictional view point. It is so well researched, written that it mixes enough fact with the fiction as the film does. A+++++++++ all the way! Thank you Mr. Walden DiCaprio Carrington for breathing life once again to remembering a tragic event in history in a positive fashion, reminding us of the beloved film and honoring the memory of all those lives that were tragically lost during the sinking of Titanic itself. A MUST READ!!!!!!!! It makes us want to just watch the film AGAIN :o)
June 16, 2015
Thoroughly enjoyed this historic romance novel. Many period details of architecture, clothing, cars, and locations such as Denver and Europe. The main character Rose Walsh McClean is well developed and interesting. The story follows her from age 16 until her 90s living through an engagement she didn't want to be in, a shipboard romance and tragedy of the Titanic voyage. The author does a great job of describing life at the turn of the 20th century especially the differences between social and economic classes of the wealthy and the poor. Definitely a good read and well written. I would highly recommend this book.
February 7, 2017
*3.5-4 stars*
I'm a big fan of Titanic so I loved this, I could tell that a lot of research and time had gone into this book, it was a bit like an extended version of the movie or I guess fanfiction so you get to know a lot more about Rose's background etc.
I'm a big fan of Titanic so I loved this, I could tell that a lot of research and time had gone into this book, it was a bit like an extended version of the movie or I guess fanfiction so you get to know a lot more about Rose's background etc.
October 16, 2020
1.5 stars.
What this book wanted to be so badly was a novelization. The film company either didn’t like the author’s writing style or didn’t like where he’d tried to take the story and probably threatened lawsuits if it was ever published.
Well, it was published in 2016. Self published and with just enough minor details changed to avoid litigation from the film studio (Rose Dewitt Bukater becomes Rose Walsh McLean, Jack Dawson becomes Jake Lawnsan, Cal Hockley becomes Cad Carnegie ... I could go on but you get the idea.)
The story is actually good at points. The author (if there was ever a made up/pen name, Walden Dicaprio Carrington definitely has to be one) has bookended the main Titanic story from the James Cameron film with how he imagined Rose’s life to be pre- and post-Titanic. It starts off with her 16th birthday party held by her “aunt” Molly Brown (yes THAT Molly Brown, otherwise known as that “vulgar Brown woman”, quoted brilliantly by Frances Fisher in the film) where she meets “Cad” and their blossoming relationship up until they step onto the Titanic.
But oh my goodness, this was desperately crying out for something - what’s that word? Oh yes an EDITOR. This needed severe editing and would have probably ended up being half the length. It was sooooo repetitive and clunky. The dialogue was stilted and quite often the characters would repeat whole swathes of description which had already been mentioned or tell another character way too much detail about their quite frankly rather dull day to day lives. We get the same thing happening day in, day out. Rose takes off her jewellery, steps out of her shoes, puts on a nightgown and lies down in bed, pulls the flat sheet and thick cotton quilt over her every single night. You will get sick of reading this. Sometimes it varies depending on her location - for instance it was a maroon quilt on the Titanic. When they are driving about Denver, the car brand they are driving is mentioned repeatedly and more than once in the same paragraph sometimes and many other nonsensical unnecessary details are written down and repeated again and again.
Most of the Titanic scenes are lifted straight from the film, with some changes made to the dialogue, to escape the lawyers. Some of the more famous scenes are skipped over all too briefly (“Jake” and Rose’s first meeting, their lovemaking after the drawing, the infamous chase through the bowels of the ship), and some are dragged out, to the point where you will end up struggling to read it.
This isn’t a very long book either. It’s only 251 pages, but it took me 3 days just to crack page 100 (when they eventually reach the Titanic.) I should have given up, but I wanted to see why this was so highly rated. (We clearly read a different book.)
I’m being generous by giving this two stars. Really it should barely be a one star but if you can move past the obvious repetitiveness/padding/name, scene and dialogue changes, then there is a good story in there and I did like how the author lifted certain bits that we knew about Rose from the film and fashioned a life for her out of it.
Unfortunately this isn’t a Titanic book I would recommend. I wasted three days of my life slogging my way through this, when I probably could have watched the film back to back for the same amount of time and got more enjoyment from it. Don’t waste your time or money or think you’re getting a good book judging by the high rated reviews.
What this book wanted to be so badly was a novelization. The film company either didn’t like the author’s writing style or didn’t like where he’d tried to take the story and probably threatened lawsuits if it was ever published.
Well, it was published in 2016. Self published and with just enough minor details changed to avoid litigation from the film studio (Rose Dewitt Bukater becomes Rose Walsh McLean, Jack Dawson becomes Jake Lawnsan, Cal Hockley becomes Cad Carnegie ... I could go on but you get the idea.)
The story is actually good at points. The author (if there was ever a made up/pen name, Walden Dicaprio Carrington definitely has to be one) has bookended the main Titanic story from the James Cameron film with how he imagined Rose’s life to be pre- and post-Titanic. It starts off with her 16th birthday party held by her “aunt” Molly Brown (yes THAT Molly Brown, otherwise known as that “vulgar Brown woman”, quoted brilliantly by Frances Fisher in the film) where she meets “Cad” and their blossoming relationship up until they step onto the Titanic.
But oh my goodness, this was desperately crying out for something - what’s that word? Oh yes an EDITOR. This needed severe editing and would have probably ended up being half the length. It was sooooo repetitive and clunky. The dialogue was stilted and quite often the characters would repeat whole swathes of description which had already been mentioned or tell another character way too much detail about their quite frankly rather dull day to day lives. We get the same thing happening day in, day out. Rose takes off her jewellery, steps out of her shoes, puts on a nightgown and lies down in bed, pulls the flat sheet and thick cotton quilt over her every single night. You will get sick of reading this. Sometimes it varies depending on her location - for instance it was a maroon quilt on the Titanic. When they are driving about Denver, the car brand they are driving is mentioned repeatedly and more than once in the same paragraph sometimes and many other nonsensical unnecessary details are written down and repeated again and again.
Most of the Titanic scenes are lifted straight from the film, with some changes made to the dialogue, to escape the lawyers. Some of the more famous scenes are skipped over all too briefly (“Jake” and Rose’s first meeting, their lovemaking after the drawing, the infamous chase through the bowels of the ship), and some are dragged out, to the point where you will end up struggling to read it.
This isn’t a very long book either. It’s only 251 pages, but it took me 3 days just to crack page 100 (when they eventually reach the Titanic.) I should have given up, but I wanted to see why this was so highly rated. (We clearly read a different book.)
I’m being generous by giving this two stars. Really it should barely be a one star but if you can move past the obvious repetitiveness/padding/name, scene and dialogue changes, then there is a good story in there and I did like how the author lifted certain bits that we knew about Rose from the film and fashioned a life for her out of it.
Unfortunately this isn’t a Titanic book I would recommend. I wasted three days of my life slogging my way through this, when I probably could have watched the film back to back for the same amount of time and got more enjoyment from it. Don’t waste your time or money or think you’re getting a good book judging by the high rated reviews.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews