Rosetta

by Barbara Ewing

As a child, Rosetta is fascinated by words and loves being told stories. She thinks she is named after the Princess Rosetta of the fairytales, who married the King of the Peacocks and lived happily ever after. But when she finds that it is a mysterious small port town in Egypt that gave her her name, her interest in hieroglyphics is born. Years later, when Rose is an older, wiser and sadder woman, it is her love of language that saves her life. The French Revolution; the rise of the power of the English church; the battles for Egypt between the British and the French; the discovery of the hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone in that same small port town - and above all the machinations of a rich, amoral, social-climbing member of the new' aristocracy and the extraordinary characters that surround him - all whirlpool together to carry Rose into France and a shared moment with Napoleon Bonaparte, and into the dark, unknown world of North Africa in her search to understand the meaning of words, and to find a child of her own.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical

448 pages, Hardcover

First published May 3, 2007

About the author

Barbara Ewing is a UK-based actress, playwright and novelist. Born in New Zealand, she graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a BA in English and Maori before moving to Britain in 1965 to train as an actress at RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in London.

She made her film debut in the horror film 'Torture Garden' (1967) for Amicus Productions, followed by 'Dracula Has Risen from the Grave' (1968) with Christopher Lee for Hammer Films. Both movies were directed by Freddie Francis. Her other films included 'The Reckoning' (1969), 'Eye of the Needle' (1981), 'Haunters of the Deep' (1984) and 'When the Whales Came' (1989).

The television role for which she is best known is that of Bradley Hardacre's mistress Agnes Fairchild in the Granada Television comedy series 'Brass', alongside Timothy West (1982–84). In 1986, she played Treen Dudgeon in the short-lived BBC series 'Comrade Dad', alongside George Cole and Doris Hare. In 1978 she had appeared in an episode of Euston Films' The Sweeney (S4-E7 'Bait').

Her 1989 one-woman show, 'Alexandra Kollontai', about the only woman in Lenin's cabinet in 1917 was a great hit in London, and at the Edinburgh and Sydney Festivals.

More recent TV appearances have included episodes of 'Casualty', 'Doctors' and 'Holby City' on the BBC, and 'The Bill and Peak Practice' on ITV, as well as appearances in various adaptations of Ruth Rendell mysteries.

Reviews

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. A surprise read. Rose, our heroine, loves and is fascinated by words and there meanings. When she learns of the Egyptian hieroglyphs her passion to learn their meaning consumes her. The Rosetta Stone aflames her and her overwhelming desire is to go this country. Rose goes at a time when England and France are fighting in Egypt.
A complex plot that was an addictive read for me.
Unputdownable

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished this last night. This was a fairly compelling read for me - I loved the setting, and the character development. The only thing I did notice was that it felt a little forced to have so many different dimensions of that culture in the same little circle of characters - the emergent feminism, the class angle, the secret homosexuality, the obsession with the Orient, the women & children angle, the religion, it was all jam-packed in there. However, the main character, Rose, was easy to identify with and the story moved along well. I didn't get the perfect happy ending that I came to want for her character, but the stories for the characters were all wrapped up well. It was an easy story to visualise and had some really great dimensions to it.

[lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's something I love so much about the Barbara Ewing books I've read so far. Historical fiction, but REAL. They almost remind me of a grown up version of The Luxe.

[Alison Sloan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Barbara Ewing's books. She is really a gifted writer. I'm not sure why she doesn't receive more attention. Rosetta was not her finest novel but as per her other books the subject matter holds my attention. Barbara Ewing's strength is in her ability to describe and create a vision as you read. My only complaint, and this runs true for all of her books I have read, is that she leaves the book open for a sequel. This leaves me feeling like the book abruptly ends and the characters I love are suspended mid stream. It would be ok if she followed on with a sequel immediately but that's not the case. None the less I would highly recommend any of her novels.

[Tiana Nairn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book set in the Regency period that is focussed on the chafing of women against the many constraints on their physical and intellectual independence (across English and Arabic culture) and the compromises necessarily made to achieve family security and certain types of freedoms against the backdrop of a society fascinated with Egyptian artefacts, especially the Rosetta stone. The characters were very well-developed and the story engaging and satisfying. As someone who greatly enjoys lighter Regency novels, I wasn't too enamoured of the emphasis on the smells of unwashed people, the occurrence of rotting teeth and the lack of a suitably happy ending though!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historic novel with a strong woman who want to take charge of her life in dangerous circumstances. Took a little while to get into it but the travel, the issues in that time - Egypt, England - transported me to a different time.

[Red · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5

Zapowiadało się naprawdę fajnie, ale finalnie baaaardzo się nudziłam. Nie podobało mi się.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Bookcrossing book and my review may be read here:

https://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/...

[Rohase Piercy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another feisty woman fighting male prejudice and the restrictions placed upon the female gender by the customs of her day - I do love Barbara Ewings's heroines, but there comes a stage where they all seem to blend into one another (I was reading this straight after 'The Trespass'). I prefer 'Rosetta' and have given it four stars because the link between the heroine and the newly discovered, but as yet undeciphered, Rosetta Stone is fascinating, and her adventures both in London and in Egypt had me gripped. The descriptive style is so vivid, both places and characters spring immediately to life, and the female characters especially are beautifully drawn. But once again, I was disappointed by the ending! I didn't quite buy the explanation as to why our feisty heroine refused to take advantage of the (admittedly dangerous) offer from the man she loved, and I also didn't quite get why the Duke of Hawksfield, who seemed to me both just and kind in spite of his age and status, inspired such loathing and disgust in her. But the story did have me gripped, and at certain points I couldn't put the book down!

[Anna F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book as it was a dive into a historical period, and a delightful portrait of Rose, the main heroine. Pleasant to read, it shows how women were copying and "finding a way" to live their own lives at a time when men still "owned" them, were expecting them to fulfil their duties (at home, sex and giving birth to children) and were marrying them to get money or prestige or both. Love wasn't often on the agenda. Rose, instead, is determined to live her life her way. She travels to Egypt against all odds to find the illegal daughter of her late husband.

[Jean Overbeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting story about the Rosetta stone and life at the time of the Napoleonic wars. Rose was a fabulous brave and fearless heroine. The story was a little slow in parts but otherwise a good read.

[Isa Lavalle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Segundo libro es mi reto de reelectura. Curiosamente, así como en el libro anterior, también recordaba el final, cosa que no impidió que disfrutara de la lectura.
Lo que creí que iba a ser una historia aburrida de una mujer adinerada, resultó ser la historia de cinco mujeres (aunque una protagonista) que deciden tomar las riendas de sus vidas en la sociedad de Inglaterra en el siglo XIX.
Lo que más me gustó fue el viaje a Egipto; y la manera en que todo se mantiene realista, aunque no sea el final feliz que se muestra en la mayoría de los libros que he leído, o mejor dicho en especial por eso.
A pesar de que ninguna me cayó mal, tampoco conecté con alguna, había momentos en que sentía que leía para enterarme del chisme o simplemente para saber cómo era exactamente el final de todas. Y es por eso que agradezco los buenos momentos pero le digo adiós, seguramente alguien más lo disfrute más que yo.

[Outlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story about an English girl called Rosetta (Rose to her family) who is fascinated by Egypt and the Rosetta stone, set during the French Revolution and Napoleonic era. I would have hated to live at this time period due to the oppression of the female by just about every authority on the planet. Don't know what's worse for the female of the time between religion and aristocracy !

[Claire’s Bookshelf · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read another book by Barbara Ewing many years ago (The Trespass) which rescued me from a reading slump. I picked up Rosetta hoping that it would do the same but unfortunately not. I struggled with the characters and the plot, I found it difficult to be whisked away into the escapism of good historical fiction.

[Katherine Rushton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. I feel much like Rose in that I was once enamoured by Egypt and the hieroglyphs, and language in general. Her story has rekindled the fire in me.

My first Barbara Ewing. I’ll definitely read more!

[RJC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Historical about the Rosetta Stone, sacrifices within marriage. Slow starter.

[Amanda Thiery · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable change from my usual choice of reading material. An easy summer read.

[Patricia Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover is awful but this historical novel is well crafted.

[Mer · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://bitacorademislecturas.blogspo...

[Avida Reada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvellous and enchanting!!

[Sorcha]

Mixed feelings about this book - the author seemed to want this book to be many things, but seemed to shy away from many of the different genres/topics. Implication of awakening sexuality within marriage, including the reference to lewd publications - check. No real exploration of physical love (apart from a moderately implied gay sex scene early on) - check. Attempt at Jane Austen level humour, including pompous clergymen fawning to the rich and famous - check.[return][return]This is not to say this is a *bad* book - at it's heart it did have some good points: The fact that everything at the time was male dominated and women and children were still classed as the property of men, and women had no rights over the "ownership" of their children - if they walked out on the marriage for any reason, the man would retain "ownership" of the children no matter what the circumstances; political marriages were still necessary to ensure that the line and/or money continued no matter what, and that women were essentially the pawns of men............

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

c2005: FWFTB: peacocks, Egypt, hieroglyphs, amoral, knowledge. Getting a book as a gift is one of the best presents. I get stupidly upset though when I get a book that is clearly not for me. In that I mean, because my relatives know that I am an avid reader - then it automatically means that not much thought has to go into it. I sound like an ungrateful git (and I probably am) but it is not as if I keep my thoughts about what authors and genres I really enjoy to myself. I have a strong feeling that sometimes it is the 2 for 1 offers that sucker my relatives into these books. This is a real dud. I found absolutely nothing engaging about it hatsoever. Of course this may be because I am not into frothy love stories at the moment and a second read may result in more enjoyment. So, at this time, unable to recommend to the normal crew. "It was terrible - the poor woman - the stoning and the screaming and the ugliness - and we could do nothing."

[Kate Millin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well thought out plot which works not the theme of Rosetta - each of the two characters and the famous Egyptian stone all named after the same Egyptian village. The first Rosetta is named aced the village by her admiral father who was struck by it's beauty. He gave her a better and more challenging education than most girls were given in the 1700's. The second Rosetta is the famous stone which eventually helped to decipher the hieroglyphics and the final Rosetta is the illegitimate daughter of the first Rosetta's husband - confused yet?

The story however is much less confusing and more gripping than my explanation of it and includes some interesting opinions on the lack of control women had on their own lives at that time, it makes me grateful I live when I do.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the ending could have been 'fluffier' and more romantic, I did like the book. Interesting historical attributes with Egypt and the Rosetta stone, as well as dealing with in a sly way the role of women and their rights at the time, especially marriage and even just travelling which even today, some hasn't changed a lot which is a shame. Although written for adults, older teens could easily read and relate to it. Not really a boy book. I haven't read a Barbara book before but will now try some of her others. Also happy she's a kiwi too.

[Maha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about a woman, her resolution, strength and a journey across oceans to seek answers. What more do you need? Being from an Arab country myself, reading about the characters' experience in Egypt warmed my heart and I smiled through most of it. The differences in traditions and history are all very well described. It's obvious how hard the author had worked to collect that much detailed material. I salute to this book!

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting something other than what this was, so, my feelings are mixed. Did it meet my expectations? No. Were my expectations high? Yes. Were my expectations rather narrow and limited? Why yes. And despite my desire to be meandering around archeological digs in Egypt, I enjoyed 'Rosetta' by Barbara Ewing. It is a story founded in love, all kinds of it. The discovery, the excitement, the self-less denial, and always, the hope and desire for it...

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Strong female lead characters. Adventure, suspense, travel, and love all wrapped up during the time of the French Revolution, Napoleon and the wars over Egypt. You really can't go wrong with this one.

[Camille · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Barbara Ewing's writing for good historical escapism. In this novel, Rosetta, the bright daughter of intellectual parents falls in love with a less than good gentleman who leads her down a very unusual path of travel to Egypt. I liked the characters and the plot. Worth the read.

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's 'meh'.

[Diana Apperley · Rating 2 out of 5]

A reasonable read. Kept me interested, nothing groundbreaking though.