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Rosie: Scenes from a Vanished Life
Rose Tremain grew up in post-war London, a city of grey austerity, still partly in ruins, where both food and affection were fiercely rationed. The girl known then as ‘Rosie’ and her sister Jo spent their days longing for their grandparents' farm, buried deep in the Hampshire countryside, a green paradise of feasts and freedom, where they could at last roam and dream.
But when Rosie is ten years old, everything changes. She and Jo lose their father, their London house, their school, their friends, and -- most agonisingly of all -- their beloved Nanny, Vera, the only adult to have shown them real love and affection.
Briskly dispatched to a freezing boarding-school in Hertfordshire, they once again feel like imprisoned castaways. But slowly the teenage Rosie escapes from the cold world of the Fifties, into a place of inspiration and mischief, of loving friendships and dedicated teachers, where a young writer is suddenly ready to be born.
But when Rosie is ten years old, everything changes. She and Jo lose their father, their London house, their school, their friends, and -- most agonisingly of all -- their beloved Nanny, Vera, the only adult to have shown them real love and affection.
Briskly dispatched to a freezing boarding-school in Hertfordshire, they once again feel like imprisoned castaways. But slowly the teenage Rosie escapes from the cold world of the Fifties, into a place of inspiration and mischief, of loving friendships and dedicated teachers, where a young writer is suddenly ready to be born.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published April 12, 2018
123 people are currently reading
459 people want to read
About the author
Rose Tremain
79 books1,106 followersDame Rose Tremain is an acclaimed English novelist and short story writer, celebrated for her distinctive approach to historical fiction and her focus on characters who exist on the margins of society. Educated at the Sorbonne and the University of East Anglia, where she later taught creative writing and served as Chancellor, Tremain has produced a rich body of work spanning novels, short stories, plays, and memoir. Influenced by writers such as William Golding and Gabriel García Márquez, her narratives often blend psychological depth with lyrical prose.
Among her many honors, she has received the Whitbread Award for Music and Silence, the Orange Prize for The Road Home, and the National Jewish Book Award for The Gustav Sonata. She was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Restoration and has been recognized multiple times by the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. In 2020, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature. Tremain lives in Norfolk and continues to write, with her recent novel Absolutely and Forever shortlisted for the 2024 Walter Scott Prize.
Among her many honors, she has received the Whitbread Award for Music and Silence, the Orange Prize for The Road Home, and the National Jewish Book Award for The Gustav Sonata. She was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Restoration and has been recognized multiple times by the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. In 2020, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature. Tremain lives in Norfolk and continues to write, with her recent novel Absolutely and Forever shortlisted for the 2024 Walter Scott Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
June 11, 2018
Rose Tremain, now at the age of seventy-five, writes in fluid prose of her childhood and teenage years. She was born in London in 1943. The focus is twofold, family relationships and her growth into adulthood, leaving behind the world of her parents to find her own path as an independent woman in control of her own life. She
would
be an author! No one would stop her. Her father engaged himself little in her life. Her mother, contrary to her daughter’s wishes sent her off to “finishing school” in Switzerland and then, hopefully, as soon as possible, marriage. The book ends just as Rose throws off the parental yoke.
What is covered are her early years—life with her three-and-a-half-year older sister Jo and her cousins on their grandparents’ farm in Hampshire, the dissolution of her parents’ marriage at the age of ten, the banishment of her nanny and then being sent off to boarding schools. Basically, to get rid of her. Her mother remarries--the consequence being a new father, two step-siblings to get used to, but still she is relegated to boarding schools. Her biological father continues to play no active role in her life.
Rose’s mother is emotionally detached and undemonstrative, repeating her own mother’s behavior toward herself. Inability to express or even to feel love can be passed from generation to generation. In any case, this is what we see here—the absence of love, displayed both in an inability to feel love or to express it, passes from grandmother to mother to daughter.
A central theme of the book is thus family relationships. Yet the author, speaking now as an elderly woman, is calm. Anger has dissipated. Events are simply related. The author’s own maturity, stability and acceptance of her life as it has played out, does not result in a particularly engaging read. These years of her life are, well, interesting, but I felt not much more. My lack of engagement may be partially due to the author’s British upper-class lifestyle, the boarding school environment and her parents’ snobbism. The circumstances of the author’s life are foreign to me; there is little I relate to. I must counter though, that a truly talented author is capable of making the foreign feel real and what child does not at times fell unloved by their parents?!
The author points out those events in her life that came to be used in the novels and stories she wrote later in her life. Her mother’s admiration of Wallis Simpson and her own short story The Darkness Of Wallis Simpson are mentioned. In speaking of her shared summers with her cousins on her grandparents’ estate, she mentions her stuttering cousin, Jonathan Dudley’s book Winston, Churchill, and Me: Childhood Memories of Summers with the Churchills. Rose’s memoir does not contain long discourses on her books. She speaks of books that were important to her—The Little Prince, is one example. She took part in a play of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s piece.
The author expresses herself clearly. Her prose flows evenly; it is pretty and it is smooth, but it lacks an urgency that excites. She does not play with words in new and original ways. I personally find the conventionality of her writing rather boring. The book is interesting, but it rarely reaches a step higher to become engaging. I never found it to be captivating.
The author reads the audiobook. Narration is an art that must be learned, and keep in mind that she is now elderly. Rose Tremain is an author, not a trained narrator. Word articulation is not clear; words are slurred. She reads at a slow, steady pace without variation. I have rated the narration performance with two stars.
*******************
The Colour 4 stars
Restoration 3 stars
Rosie: Scenes from a Vanished Life 3 stars
The Gustav Sonata 2 stars
What is covered are her early years—life with her three-and-a-half-year older sister Jo and her cousins on their grandparents’ farm in Hampshire, the dissolution of her parents’ marriage at the age of ten, the banishment of her nanny and then being sent off to boarding schools. Basically, to get rid of her. Her mother remarries--the consequence being a new father, two step-siblings to get used to, but still she is relegated to boarding schools. Her biological father continues to play no active role in her life.
Rose’s mother is emotionally detached and undemonstrative, repeating her own mother’s behavior toward herself. Inability to express or even to feel love can be passed from generation to generation. In any case, this is what we see here—the absence of love, displayed both in an inability to feel love or to express it, passes from grandmother to mother to daughter.
A central theme of the book is thus family relationships. Yet the author, speaking now as an elderly woman, is calm. Anger has dissipated. Events are simply related. The author’s own maturity, stability and acceptance of her life as it has played out, does not result in a particularly engaging read. These years of her life are, well, interesting, but I felt not much more. My lack of engagement may be partially due to the author’s British upper-class lifestyle, the boarding school environment and her parents’ snobbism. The circumstances of the author’s life are foreign to me; there is little I relate to. I must counter though, that a truly talented author is capable of making the foreign feel real and what child does not at times fell unloved by their parents?!
The author points out those events in her life that came to be used in the novels and stories she wrote later in her life. Her mother’s admiration of Wallis Simpson and her own short story The Darkness Of Wallis Simpson are mentioned. In speaking of her shared summers with her cousins on her grandparents’ estate, she mentions her stuttering cousin, Jonathan Dudley’s book Winston, Churchill, and Me: Childhood Memories of Summers with the Churchills. Rose’s memoir does not contain long discourses on her books. She speaks of books that were important to her—The Little Prince, is one example. She took part in a play of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s piece.
The author expresses herself clearly. Her prose flows evenly; it is pretty and it is smooth, but it lacks an urgency that excites. She does not play with words in new and original ways. I personally find the conventionality of her writing rather boring. The book is interesting, but it rarely reaches a step higher to become engaging. I never found it to be captivating.
The author reads the audiobook. Narration is an art that must be learned, and keep in mind that she is now elderly. Rose Tremain is an author, not a trained narrator. Word articulation is not clear; words are slurred. She reads at a slow, steady pace without variation. I have rated the narration performance with two stars.
*******************
The Colour 4 stars
Restoration 3 stars
Rosie: Scenes from a Vanished Life 3 stars
The Gustav Sonata 2 stars
November 29, 2021
A beautifully written memoir of the author's life from a young child to seventeen. Young Rose Tremain, or Rosie as she was then known, was privileged in terms of wealth yet starved of love by parents who were distant and cold, who had in their turn, been starved of love by their parents. Luckily Rosie had an older sister, cousins, several inspirational teachers and best of all her beloved nanny, Nan who showed her the affection, love and nurturing care that all children need. A gentle and though provoking read.
October 9, 2018
This memoir of childhood reveals how, although Tremain had all the advantages of wealth – her grandparents’ manor house to explore; boarding school and then finishing school in Switzerland – it meant little to a girl starved of love from her parents. Some of the most poignant passages have Tremain looking back to her mother’s upbringing to ask why she became an easily angered pleasure-seeker who seemed to envy her daughters their happiness; her father was mostly absent, and after their divorce both parents soon remarried.
I enjoyed how the book pays tribute to an influential teacher and traces the early steps in the author’s development as a writer – in this way it reminded me of I Knew a Phoenix by May Sarton and A Life of My Own by Claire Tomalin. It’s also neat to see some incidents that directly inspired scenes from Tremain’s fiction: she marks these out with footnotes.
By limiting herself to her life up to about age 17 (spanning 1943–60), the author keeps the book from getting too unwieldy; it is in fact very short and a quick and easy read, even if parts of it are somewhat emotionally harrowing. Ultimately, though, I wanted more: more scenes, more analysis, more reflection. The photos stretch into the future to show Tremain as a mother and partner, yet the afterword doesn’t even mention meeting her daughter’s father or how she later fell in love with biographer Richard Holmes. One 1992 photo is captioned “Trying to love Mother.” Surely there’s another chapter, or perhaps a whole other book, behind that.
I think you’d need to be more of a fan of Tremain’s writing than I am to get the most out of this. I do plan to read more of her fiction, though: I own Music and Silence, and she often mentions Sacred Country, whose plot appeals to me anyway.
I enjoyed how the book pays tribute to an influential teacher and traces the early steps in the author’s development as a writer – in this way it reminded me of I Knew a Phoenix by May Sarton and A Life of My Own by Claire Tomalin. It’s also neat to see some incidents that directly inspired scenes from Tremain’s fiction: she marks these out with footnotes.
By limiting herself to her life up to about age 17 (spanning 1943–60), the author keeps the book from getting too unwieldy; it is in fact very short and a quick and easy read, even if parts of it are somewhat emotionally harrowing. Ultimately, though, I wanted more: more scenes, more analysis, more reflection. The photos stretch into the future to show Tremain as a mother and partner, yet the afterword doesn’t even mention meeting her daughter’s father or how she later fell in love with biographer Richard Holmes. One 1992 photo is captioned “Trying to love Mother.” Surely there’s another chapter, or perhaps a whole other book, behind that.
I think you’d need to be more of a fan of Tremain’s writing than I am to get the most out of this. I do plan to read more of her fiction, though: I own Music and Silence, and she often mentions Sacred Country, whose plot appeals to me anyway.
March 25, 2019
I have enjoyed several of Rose Tremain’s novels so was delighted to receive a review copy of this memoir of her youth. I hadn’t realised her childhood had been quite so difficult and admire her determination to create a happy and fulfilling adult life for herself. I hope she found it therapeutic to reminisce in this way and make some sense of why her parents were as they were and treated her and her sister as they did.
The sisters suffer variously from neglect, indifference and, in Rose’s case, deliberate thwarting of her academic ambition. One passage struck me as particularly insightful. It follows on Rose’s realisation that her mother envied her the easy post-war generation she is born into.
I think that when we were around her, she didn’t feel as though she was living. ….. When we were safely away in our cold dormitories at Crofton Grange, she and her friends could forget all about their children’s future. Instead, they could go to plays, go to films, go to restaurants, get drunk at lunchtime, flirt, shop, swear, take taxis, waste money, go dancing, have sex, and wander through London in the dawn light, laughing, determined to forget the war that had stolen their youth and so many of the people they’d loved. They were making up for lost time. With disintegrating marriages, they knew that life was slipping by for them, but that for us - the bloody children! - it was infinite. We had years in an apparent peacetime wonderland ahead. It wasn’t fair.
This memoir only covers Rose’s first 18 years, the majority spent at a boarding school that served her well in terms of lasting friendships and quality teaching - she may have been deprived of a family environment but she certainly struck lucky that her parents could afford a good school. It ends, though, with her finally taking control of her own future and we know that this marks the beginning of a new life for her, free of her parents’ influence and at last able to follow her own path.
With thanks to Random House Vintage via NetGalley for the opportunity of an ARC.
The sisters suffer variously from neglect, indifference and, in Rose’s case, deliberate thwarting of her academic ambition. One passage struck me as particularly insightful. It follows on Rose’s realisation that her mother envied her the easy post-war generation she is born into.
I think that when we were around her, she didn’t feel as though she was living. ….. When we were safely away in our cold dormitories at Crofton Grange, she and her friends could forget all about their children’s future. Instead, they could go to plays, go to films, go to restaurants, get drunk at lunchtime, flirt, shop, swear, take taxis, waste money, go dancing, have sex, and wander through London in the dawn light, laughing, determined to forget the war that had stolen their youth and so many of the people they’d loved. They were making up for lost time. With disintegrating marriages, they knew that life was slipping by for them, but that for us - the bloody children! - it was infinite. We had years in an apparent peacetime wonderland ahead. It wasn’t fair.
This memoir only covers Rose’s first 18 years, the majority spent at a boarding school that served her well in terms of lasting friendships and quality teaching - she may have been deprived of a family environment but she certainly struck lucky that her parents could afford a good school. It ends, though, with her finally taking control of her own future and we know that this marks the beginning of a new life for her, free of her parents’ influence and at last able to follow her own path.
With thanks to Random House Vintage via NetGalley for the opportunity of an ARC.
May 28, 2020
I’ve enjoyed reading almost everything Rose Tremain has written. I first came across Sacred Country in the early 1990s. There’s a bitterness towards her parents, particularly towards her mother, which permeates this memoir. This constant theme of fault finding seems to be an attempt to settle a score with a mother who found fault in her daughter. It doesn’t make for an enjoyable read but it was nonetheless interesting to read about her childhood and what she describes as the beginnings of her life as a writer. Tremain credits two encouraging teachers for her creative development, her English teacher and her piano teacher.
August 20, 2021
I was enthralled from the very beginning of this memoir. Tremain writes so beautifully – succinct but deeply insightful. And her descriptions are the same – something about Keith’s ‘narrow leather shoes gliding across plush carpet…’ and an opening observation about birds sitting on a wire and their likeness to musical notes – she tells us so much with an economy of words.
Although Tremain focuses on her early years at a boarding school, this book is all about her relationship with her mother – honestly, next time I have to write an essay on attachment style, I’ll be mining Rosie for a case study. Those familiar with Tremain’s work will enjoy the references to where elements of real life made it into her fiction. Those unfamiliar with her work can read it for the ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ theme – reading about other families is often crazy!
4.5/5 I loved it so much that I purchased a hard copy after listening to the audio.
Although Tremain focuses on her early years at a boarding school, this book is all about her relationship with her mother – honestly, next time I have to write an essay on attachment style, I’ll be mining Rosie for a case study. Those familiar with Tremain’s work will enjoy the references to where elements of real life made it into her fiction. Those unfamiliar with her work can read it for the ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ theme – reading about other families is often crazy!
4.5/5 I loved it so much that I purchased a hard copy after listening to the audio.
Read
March 27, 2023Rose Tremain is one of my all-time favourite authors so I was interested to read this memoir of her childhood, life experiences and the path that led her to be the writer she is today.
This is quite a short book so packs a lot into its pages. I was shocked by how dark parts of her life had been and I appreciated her openness in sharing her story. I particularly liked how references to her novels are peppered throughout, highlighting where the inspiration came from. For this reason I would recommend reading Tremain's novels before picking up this book to fully appreciate those links, though it is not vital.
This is quite a short book so packs a lot into its pages. I was shocked by how dark parts of her life had been and I appreciated her openness in sharing her story. I particularly liked how references to her novels are peppered throughout, highlighting where the inspiration came from. For this reason I would recommend reading Tremain's novels before picking up this book to fully appreciate those links, though it is not vital.
February 23, 2024
I was interested to read this book being a long term fan of Rose Tremain's novels. She recounts her early life up until the end of finishing school in Switzerland. It is an easy, pleasant read without being earth shattering. In many ways it is an oft told tale of growing up in an upper middle class family with emotionally stunted parents; the only love being shown by the nanny; being pushed off to boarding school etc etc. Her obvious talent for writing and academia were thwarted by her mother who was horrified at the thought of having a 'bluestocking' for a daughter and therefore sent her off to Switzerland at 15 rather than following her daughter's plans for Oxford. But as we now know, the success as a writer did finally emerge though not until she was in her 30s. It was all rather bland. Perhaps there'll be a sequel.
July 3, 2024
A perfectly decent, short little snippet of a memoir. I enjoyed it, though I think I would have enjoyed it much more if I had read any of her novels. I have to say it didn’t particularly motivate me to seek them out, although it also didn’t turn me off of them.
Want to read
November 17, 2025Book group choice
May 16, 2018
Although never having experienced the loss of a parent when ten years old, or London post war,
I thought that I would have no problem identifying with Rose Tremain's biography of her earlier life. I am a similar age.
Yes, I did identify with some parts, especially Rosie and her sister Jo's love of leaving London behind for holidays (3 times a year) to to their grandparents beautiful farm, "Paradise" as the chapter is titled.
The deprivation as written by Rosie in her young life comes across primarily as a lack of love from her mother. She seems to have suffered considerably in this regard. However, it is an honest recollection of her life and told from an individuals perspective. To me, it was an insular and privileged young life and simply not appreciated as such by Rosie. Reading further as the pages are turned I feel a need to defend her mother. It was a different time of parenting and yet still reflects the difficulty of children adjusting to a parents re-marriage that still occurs. Again, how lucky were the two girls in gaining a more genuine and caring new father. Much better than the original, whom she addresses as Keith.
Rose Tremain paints some beautiful scenes with her words and also some agonising moments. A book very much open to discussion.
I thought that I would have no problem identifying with Rose Tremain's biography of her earlier life. I am a similar age.
Yes, I did identify with some parts, especially Rosie and her sister Jo's love of leaving London behind for holidays (3 times a year) to to their grandparents beautiful farm, "Paradise" as the chapter is titled.
The deprivation as written by Rosie in her young life comes across primarily as a lack of love from her mother. She seems to have suffered considerably in this regard. However, it is an honest recollection of her life and told from an individuals perspective. To me, it was an insular and privileged young life and simply not appreciated as such by Rosie. Reading further as the pages are turned I feel a need to defend her mother. It was a different time of parenting and yet still reflects the difficulty of children adjusting to a parents re-marriage that still occurs. Again, how lucky were the two girls in gaining a more genuine and caring new father. Much better than the original, whom she addresses as Keith.
Rose Tremain paints some beautiful scenes with her words and also some agonising moments. A book very much open to discussion.
November 17, 2018
Rose Tremain's memoir, published this year, looks back on her early life which is 'vanished' in more than one way for her. It is of course literally in her past and it is also a way of life that formed her but that in many ways she rejected. As a child (born in 1943) she was privileged in financial terms but poor in love, except for her beloved Nanny, to whom the book is dedicated. Her father left the home while she was young and her mother, who from Tremain's descriptions was hedonistic and selfish, could never express any feelings for her. Rose and her sister were sent away to boarding school and later, when Rose hoped to attend university, she was sent to a finishing school in Switzerland. The book is not written in an angry way, rather it is factual and sad, documenting a childhood that somehow still allowed for the development of a writer's imagination and skill. Rose Tremain survived a lack of love through determination and a good dose of humour to become a writer whose many works I've admired and enjoyed.
February 6, 2022
An autobiography of writer Rose Tremain's childhood, taking her from first memory to 18. Tremain had some difficult times, not in a misery memoir kind of way, but in that upper class casual neglect kind of way.
She had a privileged life, enough money sloshing around, London based socialite parents and loaded grandparents, with the obligatory big house in the country, but not enough supervision and definitely not enough love.
Most of the time she and her sister seem to be viewed as an irritating inconvenience by their parents, her father is largely absent, physically or mentally, and she refers to her mother only as 'Jane', their relationship is fraught. Love comes in the shape of a nanny and the girls are sent off to an austere boarding school at the earliest opportunity. This is her evocative description of the morning routine there:
“Our Crofton day started at five past seven, when the matron and the two under-matrons woke us by sticking thermometers into our mouths. These thermometers were housed in little glass tumblers of TCP, and the smell of this medication can still make me gag. Round the dormitories the matrons marched, dressed in white overalls and little starched head-dresses, the tiaras of the school-medics’ world. They stuck the thermometers under our tongues, hurried on to another dorm, then marched back in, snatching the thermometers out again, reading them with practised, laser eyes and passing on to the next bed. There were almost one hundred girl at Crofton Grange and about thirty thermometers, so each thermometer went from TCP to mouth and back again three times every morning. More than the dread of the TCP, I used to fear the taste of another girl’s mouth, stale from sleep, tainted by last night’s supper of macaroni cheese–or worse, by some vomiting that had occurred during the night. Now and again, I tried to cheat the thermometer reading by heating it on my body. In my first year, I’d lost the art of falling asleep at bed-time ... so I began most days feeling tired ... The deception with the thermometer seldom worked, because there wasn’t enough time for the temperature to rise before the tiara brigade returned. So my bedding would be pulled back and I’d stagger around in search of underpants, vest and socks, often feeling almost insane from lack of sleep. Children’s bodies need a lot of deep rest and mine was often so starved of it that I had bouts of hallucination. We had exactly half an hour to wash and dress–in yesterday’s underwear, in the day-before-yesterday’s underwear, in three-or four-day old underwear–because nothing was laundered more than once a week. Hair-washing–done in a basin–was a rationed activity and there were no showers, only ancient baths of stained enamel, with a line marking the permitted height of the water, to which we had access twice a week. I think we all stank like polecats.”
Against all the odds Rose thrives but her mother seems to constantly thwart her intellectual ambitions determined not to have a 'blue stocking' for a daughter.
This is not a long book, 164 pages and typically 2 hours 47 minutes to read according to Kindle, but it packs a punch. Recommended.
She had a privileged life, enough money sloshing around, London based socialite parents and loaded grandparents, with the obligatory big house in the country, but not enough supervision and definitely not enough love.
Most of the time she and her sister seem to be viewed as an irritating inconvenience by their parents, her father is largely absent, physically or mentally, and she refers to her mother only as 'Jane', their relationship is fraught. Love comes in the shape of a nanny and the girls are sent off to an austere boarding school at the earliest opportunity. This is her evocative description of the morning routine there:
“Our Crofton day started at five past seven, when the matron and the two under-matrons woke us by sticking thermometers into our mouths. These thermometers were housed in little glass tumblers of TCP, and the smell of this medication can still make me gag. Round the dormitories the matrons marched, dressed in white overalls and little starched head-dresses, the tiaras of the school-medics’ world. They stuck the thermometers under our tongues, hurried on to another dorm, then marched back in, snatching the thermometers out again, reading them with practised, laser eyes and passing on to the next bed. There were almost one hundred girl at Crofton Grange and about thirty thermometers, so each thermometer went from TCP to mouth and back again three times every morning. More than the dread of the TCP, I used to fear the taste of another girl’s mouth, stale from sleep, tainted by last night’s supper of macaroni cheese–or worse, by some vomiting that had occurred during the night. Now and again, I tried to cheat the thermometer reading by heating it on my body. In my first year, I’d lost the art of falling asleep at bed-time ... so I began most days feeling tired ... The deception with the thermometer seldom worked, because there wasn’t enough time for the temperature to rise before the tiara brigade returned. So my bedding would be pulled back and I’d stagger around in search of underpants, vest and socks, often feeling almost insane from lack of sleep. Children’s bodies need a lot of deep rest and mine was often so starved of it that I had bouts of hallucination. We had exactly half an hour to wash and dress–in yesterday’s underwear, in the day-before-yesterday’s underwear, in three-or four-day old underwear–because nothing was laundered more than once a week. Hair-washing–done in a basin–was a rationed activity and there were no showers, only ancient baths of stained enamel, with a line marking the permitted height of the water, to which we had access twice a week. I think we all stank like polecats.”
Against all the odds Rose thrives but her mother seems to constantly thwart her intellectual ambitions determined not to have a 'blue stocking' for a daughter.
This is not a long book, 164 pages and typically 2 hours 47 minutes to read according to Kindle, but it packs a punch. Recommended.
January 5, 2019
I read this in an evening - admittedly a long one. It's a lovely book in many ways, and if you're a Tremain fan (I am) then you'll enjoy it. But I felt it was a bit short of material and confused in motive to give it highest marks. The story of her life is one of love withheld, as neither of her parents were any good at expressing affection for either of their daughters. If it wasn't for the Nanny, Tremain would have not known love at all and been just as poisonous, perhaps, as the mother. But it's this early experience of love that redeems her and gives her the potential not just to love others but to communicate love through writing. The most interesting bits for me were those concerning her early writing talents and how they were (and were not) encouraged. I loved the expression 'tits to the valley' and will use this at every opportunity. And some of the family history is truly bizarre, as family histories often are. So it's a good read, but I'm left wondering why she wrote it - was the main motive pure nostalgia, self-analysis, story-telling, literary explication, or revenge? Hard to say.
August 5, 2022
Absolutely beautifully written. Almost lyrical and incredibly immersive. Unbearably sad, heartbreaking accounts of post war life, of the early life of Rosie and her family, her school life and on the path to careers.
An account of the author and retelling of her life, it was compelling. For some reason I thought this book was going to be happier than it was though. It was just tragic. Sad. It was difficult to listen to at times but I’m still glad I did. But it left me feeling a little down whenever I put it down and found it a little hard to pick up again. Think that’s more to do with my own state of mind, as I’m turning to books to inject some happiness and this one didn’t have that desired effect!
It was incredibly good in its writing, stories and honesty. It was such an honest account of her life and the audiobook I had was brilliantly narrated by the author.
A interesting insight into life of the times and a worthwhile read certainly.
An account of the author and retelling of her life, it was compelling. For some reason I thought this book was going to be happier than it was though. It was just tragic. Sad. It was difficult to listen to at times but I’m still glad I did. But it left me feeling a little down whenever I put it down and found it a little hard to pick up again. Think that’s more to do with my own state of mind, as I’m turning to books to inject some happiness and this one didn’t have that desired effect!
It was incredibly good in its writing, stories and honesty. It was such an honest account of her life and the audiobook I had was brilliantly narrated by the author.
A interesting insight into life of the times and a worthwhile read certainly.
October 30, 2018
Not everyone has a great childhood. Despite a mother, not exactly from hell but definitely not heavenly, who packs her off to boarding school at the earliest opportunity, Rose Tremain did "enjoy" an education far superior than many and which paved the way for her later success as a writer. So this memoir is a story of ups (her relationships with her sister, school friends and teachers are the best part of the book) and the downs of a mother who was selfish and self centred. I wasn't interested in the descriptions of places where she lived, but I did feel transported to this early part of her life. At the end there is an Afterword of three pages. I hope this will form the basis of the next chapter of her autobiography.
March 25, 2019
I found this beautifully written memoir a vivid and evocative account of Rose Tremain’s childhood and adolescence. Tremain writes with sensitivity and without self-pity, and her tone is measured, objective and honest. In spite of her outwardly privileged upbringing, her mother’s coldness was a major cause of unhappiness for her, and I admire her strength in in dealing with this and becoming the successful novelist she was determined to be. An engaging and enjoyable read.
May 23, 2021
It is refreshing to read a memoir of a reasonably happy childhood instead of the tragedy which frequently accompanies this genre. I am unfamiliar with this author's many books and this would have undoubtedly helped with the enjoyment of this easy reading memoir.
April 30, 2024
I was given this book to read but it wasn’t my cup of tea!
April 21, 2018
I've always been a fan of Rose Tremain's writing, so when I read an extract from her memoir in The Telegraph Magazine, I knew I had to pre-order it. I wasn't disappointed. An excellent snapshot of her early life. I think I could particularly relate to it, because her mother didn't show her much love or affection and wasn't there when she needed her. Such a shame that Rose wasn't given the opportunites she deserved and that her talents weren't recognised by her selfish parents. I'm so pleased that she had the perseverance to pursue her dreams with the help of wonderful teachers and friends.
July 20, 2018
Rose Tremain,British author of many novels and short stories, has written a short memoir of the early years of her life. I think people write memoirs in an attempt to understand their lives; putting down events and reminisces of the people they've known can bring clarity to their "history". Rose writes about her family - divorced parents and eccentric relatives - and life in post-WW2 Britain. She begins at birth and ends in her late teens.
Rose Tremain was born "Rosemary" but was known as "Rosie". Her parents - both rather eccentric in that uniquely British way - split early in Rosie's life. Her mother was indifferent to her two daughters and their upbringing was left to her beloved "Nan", who provided the hands-on love and attention most parents give their children. She was sent to a boarding school at eight where she made friends, did fairly well scholastically, and began to look at the artistic side of life. She wanted to go to Oxford, but her mother sent her to a Swiss "finishing school". The book ends when she seizes control of her life and enrolls at the Sorbonne. Tremain notes in the text when she's used her own life experiences in her novels and short stories.
I never tell someone to buy a memoir. Any memoir. Memoirs tend to be intensely individual and the reader often reads something she really doesn't want to know. "TMI", you know what I mean. I will only say about Rose Tremain's memoir is interesting and well-written. But, if you're not interested in the person and the times she writes about, you won't like "Rosie". If you are interested in post-WW2 Britain, as I am, the book is probably for you.
Rose Tremain was born "Rosemary" but was known as "Rosie". Her parents - both rather eccentric in that uniquely British way - split early in Rosie's life. Her mother was indifferent to her two daughters and their upbringing was left to her beloved "Nan", who provided the hands-on love and attention most parents give their children. She was sent to a boarding school at eight where she made friends, did fairly well scholastically, and began to look at the artistic side of life. She wanted to go to Oxford, but her mother sent her to a Swiss "finishing school". The book ends when she seizes control of her life and enrolls at the Sorbonne. Tremain notes in the text when she's used her own life experiences in her novels and short stories.
I never tell someone to buy a memoir. Any memoir. Memoirs tend to be intensely individual and the reader often reads something she really doesn't want to know. "TMI", you know what I mean. I will only say about Rose Tremain's memoir is interesting and well-written. But, if you're not interested in the person and the times she writes about, you won't like "Rosie". If you are interested in post-WW2 Britain, as I am, the book is probably for you.
July 28, 2018
I had to read this. Rose Tremain is one of my favourite writers and the prospect of a memoir of her childhood and adolescence was intriguing and enticing. Born into an ostensibly well-off and successful family, her early life was a mixture of paradise and various kind of hell. Both parents were distant to the point of emotional neglect, unfaithful to each other and disappointed with their lives. Unsurprisingly, this did not make for the happiest of childhoods for Rose and her older sister Jo. Packed off to a grim boarding school and then to a Swiss finishing school instead of to Oxford, and dispatched to her grandparents in the school holidays, she was seldom welcome at home. In the end though, the spirit of creativity boiled over, as it had threatened to throughout, and she found her own way. One of the fascinating features of Rosie is how many real life events have found their way into her novels and stories.
April 24, 2018
I enjoyed this. I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never read any Rose Tremain - but I will now. Coming from a warm, loving home I find it unbelievable that Tremain’s parents seemed so determined to derail her life at every opportunity. Her mother, who got almost every aspect of child-rearing wrong, should clearly never have had children, but we’re fortunate that she did. That Rosie survived and managed to thrive, despite all the emotional hardship, is testament to her character. If you’re a fan of non-fiction/memoir, this is a great read and fascinating snapshot of the mid 20th century England Tremain lived through.
May 15, 2018
I just love Rose Tremain. Her autobiography tells of a life like fiction full of amazing characters and events from a background which is at the same time privileged and comfortless. She draws from this wealth of experience in her amazing writing. We feel her pain as she grows to realise that she is not loved by either of her parents. Yet in her we see a girl who is lovable and full of life.
I wanted her story to go on and felt it cut off abruptly at the end of the book.
I wanted her story to go on and felt it cut off abruptly at the end of the book.
December 10, 2018
Exquisitely written, honest and evocative. Inspiration for inspiring writers. And a fascinating window into an upper middle-class 1950s/60s upbringing. How the world has changed for women. Its easy to forget how far we have come.
August 26, 2019
I have read most of the authors books and thoroughly enjoyed them but this self pitying poor little rich girl story is quite nauseating.
Sometime Ms Tremain it is best to keep quiet.
Sometime Ms Tremain it is best to keep quiet.
February 8, 2023
It leaves rather a bitter aftertaste.
October 11, 2025
Rose Tremain is just a couple of years older than me. So this story of her childhood evoked many of my memories of the 1950s. It was a pleasure to be taken back a way of life, which has indeed vanished.
The book is a growing up privileged, coming of age novel. And privilege, we soon find out, doesn’t always equate with happiness. Yet she took part in lots of different activities, had fascinating holidays and met interesting people. Most children of that time would seriously envy her opportunities. I know I would have done, and do now.
Rose Tremain lived in large mansions with servants and a nanny. My jealousy was lessened as I read that neither Jane nor Keith, Rose’s parents, gave her their time or affection. When she was not away at boarding school, ie, school holidays, they would send her off to the cold upperclass grandparents.
Had it not been for her ’angel’ Nan, such emotional neglect may have done lasting damage. Nan, her nanny Vera, was always there for her during her early years. In fact, Rose Tremain has said that she really wanted Nan to be her mother. The pages of this novel reminded me how lucky I was to have parents who loved me and who both had a good sense of humour and a zest for life - worth more than all Rosie’s mansions and privileges.
The novel is also a telling portrait of a broken relationship between daughter and mother - her father leaves when Rosie is 10. Her mother stopped her going to Oxford and sent her off to finishing school in Switzerland. After all, Rose says in the book, most parents, in her social circle, “had no better aspirations for their daughters in 1960 than this: that we be assistants to the careers of others and afterwards their obedient wives.”
Rose’s mother, Jane, had been sent off to boarding school, so considered it normal. Consequently, she didn’t have adequate role models for her own child-rearing. Philip Larkin’s poem about Mums and Dads comes to mind: “They give you all of their faults and add some extra just for you.”
Rose Tremain’s novel offers a mosaic of vivid memories from her 1950s childhood and adolescence in post-war England. It offers a portrait of a young girl trying to make sense of an emotionally barren environment. She makes use of her undoubted fictional talent to craft an elegant and moving series of snapshots of her early life, characterised by realistic imagery, candour and an artful selection of key memories that shaped the acclaimed writer she became. It’s a short, well-crafted memoir but being only ‘scenes’ leaves many unanswered questions. Not least of which is: What happens next?
The book is a growing up privileged, coming of age novel. And privilege, we soon find out, doesn’t always equate with happiness. Yet she took part in lots of different activities, had fascinating holidays and met interesting people. Most children of that time would seriously envy her opportunities. I know I would have done, and do now.
Rose Tremain lived in large mansions with servants and a nanny. My jealousy was lessened as I read that neither Jane nor Keith, Rose’s parents, gave her their time or affection. When she was not away at boarding school, ie, school holidays, they would send her off to the cold upperclass grandparents.
Had it not been for her ’angel’ Nan, such emotional neglect may have done lasting damage. Nan, her nanny Vera, was always there for her during her early years. In fact, Rose Tremain has said that she really wanted Nan to be her mother. The pages of this novel reminded me how lucky I was to have parents who loved me and who both had a good sense of humour and a zest for life - worth more than all Rosie’s mansions and privileges.
The novel is also a telling portrait of a broken relationship between daughter and mother - her father leaves when Rosie is 10. Her mother stopped her going to Oxford and sent her off to finishing school in Switzerland. After all, Rose says in the book, most parents, in her social circle, “had no better aspirations for their daughters in 1960 than this: that we be assistants to the careers of others and afterwards their obedient wives.”
Rose’s mother, Jane, had been sent off to boarding school, so considered it normal. Consequently, she didn’t have adequate role models for her own child-rearing. Philip Larkin’s poem about Mums and Dads comes to mind: “They give you all of their faults and add some extra just for you.”
Rose Tremain’s novel offers a mosaic of vivid memories from her 1950s childhood and adolescence in post-war England. It offers a portrait of a young girl trying to make sense of an emotionally barren environment. She makes use of her undoubted fictional talent to craft an elegant and moving series of snapshots of her early life, characterised by realistic imagery, candour and an artful selection of key memories that shaped the acclaimed writer she became. It’s a short, well-crafted memoir but being only ‘scenes’ leaves many unanswered questions. Not least of which is: What happens next?
March 23, 2020
Rosie wurde Rose Tremaing genannt, bis sie ins Internat kam. Davor hatte das Mädchen ein tolles zu Hause in England. Zumindest wenn man es als Außenstehender betrachtete. Mehrmals im Jahr durfte Rosie und ihre Schwester Jo zu den Großeltern auf‘s Land, in das alte Landgut der Familie fahren. Es waren aber weniger die Großeltern, die die Kinder mit Wärme empfingen, als mehr das alte Haus und die Bediensteten. Rosie‘s Mutter Jane war nie in der Lage Liebe zu zeigen. Und auch die Großmutter zeigte kaum, dass sie ihre Enkelinnen liebte. Sie trauerte stets ihren toten Söhnen nach, übersah die Mädchen dabei völlig. Aber das hielt die Kinder nie davon ab, gerne auf das alte Landgut zu fahren.
Rose Tremain erzählt in diesem kleinen Büchlein aus ihrer frühen Jugend und aus ihrem Teenagerleben. Die Autorin hatte es nicht leicht, obwohl sie in sehr guten Verhältnissen aufwuchs. Aber Geld heißt nicht, gleich geliebt zu werden. Zum Glück gab es eine Nanny, die den beiden Mädchen die Liebe gab, die sie brauchten.
Nach außen schien diese Familie völlig normal und intakt zu sein. Aber sind das nicht die meisten Familien? Was hinter verschlossenen Türen vor sich geht, ist nicht immer ersichtlich. Rosie und ihre Schwester Jo, wurden schon früh ins Internat abgeschoben, weil die Mutter Jane sich nicht in der Lage sah mit den beiden Mädchen zurecht zu kommen. Jane traf sich lieber mit ihren Freunden. Nach den Beschreibungen der Autorin, brauchte die Mutter sich aber auch kaum zu kümmern, es gab ja die Nanny. Auch der Vater war zwar im Haus anwesend, aber doch nicht da. Außerdem verließ er die Familie, nachdem er sich in eine deutlich jüngere Frau verliebte.
Ich habe dieses Buch sehr schnell verschlungen und war entzückt über all die schönen Sätze, die ich lesen durfte. Auf vielen Seiten nimmt die Autorin Bezug auf ihre Romane und macht Lust darauf, diese zu lesen. Rose Tremain hat einiges aus ihrem Leben in ihren Romanen aufgearbeitet. Allerdings finde ich, dass sie auf ziemlich hohem Niveau jammert. Ja, sie wurde in ein Internat gesteckt in dem es immer kalt war, das Essen nicht reichlich und ausgewogen genug war. Die Mutter beschimpfte und degradierte ihre Töchter immer wieder und die Mädchen wurden früh von ihrem Vater verlassen. Und doch erlebte das Kind Rosie doch sehr viel Gutes und bewahrte sich eine Lebenslust, die sie zu einer sehr guten Schriftstellerin machte.
Was ich sehr schön fand, waren die Fotos der Familie, die man auf einigen Seiten zu sehen bekommt.
Rose Tremain erzählt in diesem kleinen Büchlein aus ihrer frühen Jugend und aus ihrem Teenagerleben. Die Autorin hatte es nicht leicht, obwohl sie in sehr guten Verhältnissen aufwuchs. Aber Geld heißt nicht, gleich geliebt zu werden. Zum Glück gab es eine Nanny, die den beiden Mädchen die Liebe gab, die sie brauchten.
Nach außen schien diese Familie völlig normal und intakt zu sein. Aber sind das nicht die meisten Familien? Was hinter verschlossenen Türen vor sich geht, ist nicht immer ersichtlich. Rosie und ihre Schwester Jo, wurden schon früh ins Internat abgeschoben, weil die Mutter Jane sich nicht in der Lage sah mit den beiden Mädchen zurecht zu kommen. Jane traf sich lieber mit ihren Freunden. Nach den Beschreibungen der Autorin, brauchte die Mutter sich aber auch kaum zu kümmern, es gab ja die Nanny. Auch der Vater war zwar im Haus anwesend, aber doch nicht da. Außerdem verließ er die Familie, nachdem er sich in eine deutlich jüngere Frau verliebte.
Ich habe dieses Buch sehr schnell verschlungen und war entzückt über all die schönen Sätze, die ich lesen durfte. Auf vielen Seiten nimmt die Autorin Bezug auf ihre Romane und macht Lust darauf, diese zu lesen. Rose Tremain hat einiges aus ihrem Leben in ihren Romanen aufgearbeitet. Allerdings finde ich, dass sie auf ziemlich hohem Niveau jammert. Ja, sie wurde in ein Internat gesteckt in dem es immer kalt war, das Essen nicht reichlich und ausgewogen genug war. Die Mutter beschimpfte und degradierte ihre Töchter immer wieder und die Mädchen wurden früh von ihrem Vater verlassen. Und doch erlebte das Kind Rosie doch sehr viel Gutes und bewahrte sich eine Lebenslust, die sie zu einer sehr guten Schriftstellerin machte.
Was ich sehr schön fand, waren die Fotos der Familie, die man auf einigen Seiten zu sehen bekommt.
March 18, 2020
Bei diesem Buch handelt es sich um die autobiographische Erzählung der Autorin Rose Tremain. Sie berichtet darin von persönlichen Erfahrungen und Erlebnissen und verfolgt dabei vielleicht auch ein wenig das Ziel, herauszufinden, welchen Einfluss der Lebensstil ihrer Mutter auf ihre eigene Entwicklung hatte und wie sie das Leben geprägt hat.
Ich lese sehr gerne Biographien, sowohl von Persönlichkeiten, die mir bekannt sind, wie auch von mir zuvor unbekannten Personen. Bei Rose Tremain handelt es sich um eine mir zuvor unbekannte Person. Ich habe weder einen ihrer Romane gelesen, noch etwas von ihr gehört. Man kann das Buch jedoch auch wunderbar ohne Vorkenntnisse über die Autorin lesen und in ihre Erzählung eintauchen. Sie berichtet von ihrer Kindheit, ihrem Leben, ihren Gedanken und Erfahrungen und den Beziehungen, die sie geprägt haben. Dabei wird stets ein sehr authentischer Charakter aufrechterhalten, da sie einzelne Szenen ihres Lebens herausgreift und diese dann genauer beschreibt.
Besonders gefallen hat mir an der Biographie der Stil der Autorin. Er wirkt sehr lebhaft und statt nur nüchtern die Erlebnisse niederzuschreiben, hatte ich gerade bei den Kindheitserinnerungen oft das Gefühl, ich würde die Szene aus den Augen der "jungen Rosie" verfolgen. Dadurch fühlte es sich manchmal für mich mehr wie ein Roman an als eine Biographie. Das führte für mich zu einem sehr schönen Leseerlebnis.
Im Großen und Ganzen konnte mich das Buch demnach sehr überzeugen, wobei es für mich auch einen Kritikpunkt gibt: Ich hätte mir ein längeres Nachwort gewünscht. Es wäre schön gewesen, wenn sich die Autorin in ihrem Werk mehr Platz für Selbstreflexion eingeräumt hätte. Ich hätte es interessant gefunden, wenn sie ausführlicher berichtet hätte, was sie von ihrem Leben denkt, wenn sie auf die Erinnerungen und Erfahrungen zurückblickt.
FAZIT: Eine Biographie, die sich wundervoll lesen lässt und mir gut gefallen hat. Selbst wenn man die Autorin nicht kennt, lohnt es sich, dieses Buch in die Hand zu nehmen und in die Erzählung einzutauchen.
Ich lese sehr gerne Biographien, sowohl von Persönlichkeiten, die mir bekannt sind, wie auch von mir zuvor unbekannten Personen. Bei Rose Tremain handelt es sich um eine mir zuvor unbekannte Person. Ich habe weder einen ihrer Romane gelesen, noch etwas von ihr gehört. Man kann das Buch jedoch auch wunderbar ohne Vorkenntnisse über die Autorin lesen und in ihre Erzählung eintauchen. Sie berichtet von ihrer Kindheit, ihrem Leben, ihren Gedanken und Erfahrungen und den Beziehungen, die sie geprägt haben. Dabei wird stets ein sehr authentischer Charakter aufrechterhalten, da sie einzelne Szenen ihres Lebens herausgreift und diese dann genauer beschreibt.
Besonders gefallen hat mir an der Biographie der Stil der Autorin. Er wirkt sehr lebhaft und statt nur nüchtern die Erlebnisse niederzuschreiben, hatte ich gerade bei den Kindheitserinnerungen oft das Gefühl, ich würde die Szene aus den Augen der "jungen Rosie" verfolgen. Dadurch fühlte es sich manchmal für mich mehr wie ein Roman an als eine Biographie. Das führte für mich zu einem sehr schönen Leseerlebnis.
Im Großen und Ganzen konnte mich das Buch demnach sehr überzeugen, wobei es für mich auch einen Kritikpunkt gibt: Ich hätte mir ein längeres Nachwort gewünscht. Es wäre schön gewesen, wenn sich die Autorin in ihrem Werk mehr Platz für Selbstreflexion eingeräumt hätte. Ich hätte es interessant gefunden, wenn sie ausführlicher berichtet hätte, was sie von ihrem Leben denkt, wenn sie auf die Erinnerungen und Erfahrungen zurückblickt.
FAZIT: Eine Biographie, die sich wundervoll lesen lässt und mir gut gefallen hat. Selbst wenn man die Autorin nicht kennt, lohnt es sich, dieses Buch in die Hand zu nehmen und in die Erzählung einzutauchen.
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