Mystical Rose

by Richard Scrimger

Set primarily in Toronto, with brief stops in Philadelphia and New York, Mystical Rose spans from the 1920s to the 1990s. The story is told in flashbacks, revelations from the disordered mind of the elderly Rose, who, confronting death, has entered into a conversation with God. She revisits her life as an English-born girl growing up in the small town of Cobourg, Ontario. When her father returns from the First World War a burnt-out shell of his former self, her family's reduced circumstances force Rose into domestic service. Shortly after she enters the wealthy Rolyoke household, Rose finds herself married to the scion of the family and transported into a world she struggles to understand.

With lyrical, precise prose and haunting images, Richard Scrimger captures the tale of a woman never quite in control of her own destiny, yet determined to deal with all that life presents.

Genres: Literary Fiction

248 pages, Hardcover

First published May 16, 2000

About the author

I was born with very little hair and very little feet and hands. They all grew together and I still have them, together with all my organs except tonsils. I do not have four children -- they have me and we all know it. I write and teach and talk about writing and other things. Actually, I talk a lot. I’m right handed, my car has a dent in the passenger side door, and my blood type is A-. The motto of South Carolina is Dum spiro spero.— success comes by breathing. I like black licorice and rice pudding and ratatouille and coffee. Lots of coffee. My hair usually needs cutting. How much more do you need to know about anybody?

I have been writing since 1996. No, that's not true. I wrote for years before that, but no one cared. Since 1996 I've published fifteen books for adults and children. You can read more about them somewhere else on this site. A few of the books did very well. Some came close. A couple didn't do well at all. My most recent offering is Ink Me, a tragicomedy about a tattoo gone wrong, told in supercool phonetic speak by our learning-disabled hero. Zomboy – an undead story – is due out next year. (My editor and I are arguing about certain scenes right now.) And I am writing a semi-graphic novel about kids who fall into a comic book.
Do you want more details? Really? Okay, then.

In 1996 I published my first novel, Crosstown (Toronto: The Riverbank Press), which was short-listed for the City of Toronto Book Award.
Humorous short pieces about my life as an at-home dad with four small children used to appear regularly in the Globe & Mail and Chatelaine, and can still be found fairly regularly on the back page of Today's Parent. I reworked some of this material into a full-length chunk of not-quite-non-fiction, which was published by HarperCollins as Still Life With Children.

I started writing children's fiction in 1998. Two middle-school novels, The Nose From Jupiter and The Way To Schenectady did well enough to require sequels. There are four Norbert books so far, and two Peelers.

My work has received a lot of attention in Canada and The United States. The Nose From Jupiter is a Canadian bestseller. It won a Mr Christie Book Award, was on most of the top ten lists and has been translated into a Scottish dozen languages (that’s less than 12). Bun Bun’s Birthday, From Charlie’s Point of View, Mystical Rose, and Into the Ravine made a variety of short lists and books of the year – Quill and Quire, Canadian Library Association, Globe and Mail, Chicago Public Library, Time Out NY (kids), blah blah. Ink Me is part of the “7” series – linked novels featuring seven grandsons with quests from their common grandfather. Pretty cool, eh? As my most recent book, it is my current favorite. But watch out for Zomboy next year. It’s a killer!

Reviews

[Junessa Gray · Rating 2 out of 5]

very confusing. an attempt at literary art that leaves the author entirely confused and bored. the story follows the life of rose on her deathbed as her dementia mind remembers her life that she is never quite in control of. would not recommend.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cleverly written story which plays with timelines, like a person with Alheimer's or dementia as Rose, the central character, has.

[Jas · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounding up to 3. Oddly written with an odd timeline. Heartbreaking yet boring. Would not reccomend

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEWARE. I DON'T FLAG SPOILERS. BUT I DON'T PUT MY REVIEWS OUT ON ANY FEED, EITHER.

Disclaimer - my "reviews" are not truly that. Rather than a critical analysis, each "review" is mostly my quick summary of the plot -- so I can refresh my unreliable memory. Also, I find that once I journal a book, it's easier for me to give it away. That's important, as our house is getting "overgrown" with books.

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Brilliant (but I'm a sucker for art fiction on the theme of love that if not quite unrequited, never gets to bloom as it would want)!
"Mystical Rose" comprises the full lifetime of Rose Rolyoke, which she retells from the Alzheimer's-clouded end of her life.
Hard to believe that Scrimger, a male author, could convey so much of a woman's sensibility as to sexuality and love relationships.
Deft touches of humor interwoven with highly unusual plot turns (such as freak accidents and miracle healing).
Fluid shift between bygone eras (Rose is a child in WWI) and present time, which is cleverly justified and accomplished by the heroine's Alzheimer's.
Rose has suffered losses, but her end-of-life detachment puts a new tincture to the events.
Haunting" and "exquisite" is what the promotional bookjacket calls this tale. For once, I agree wholeheartedly w. a jacket.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

loved the setting, elements of the story, but not the way it was set out