Rose Addams

by Margie Taylor

Rose Addams is hitting her sixties, but these days it feels like they’re starting to hit back…

Her daughter, Morgan, has ditched her thesis program and moved back
home to Vancouver, while her son Jason’s partner has never seen eye to eye
with his mother. Her husband Charles has decided to take early retirement
from the university to work on his long-gestating book, and his rakish best
friend Garnet has a new mistress who is way too young for their social circle.
When Rose encounters a young man panhandling outside of her library
office though, a chain of events is set in motion whereby Rose will have to
confront all the facets of her rapidly-complicating life…

Genres: Canada, Fiction, Contemporary

310 pages, Paperback

Published April 15, 2023

About the author

I'm a writer and former journalist with eight published books: four novels, a radio play, a parenting manual, a book of humorous essays, and a collection of book reviews. My first novel, Some of Skippy's Blues (Robert Davies, 1998), won the Alberta Writers' Guild Best Novel award.

The next, Displaced Persons (NeWest Press, 2004), won the AWG's Trade Fiction award, was nominated for the Ontario Library Association's Evergreen Award, and was described by the Globe and Mail as an "excellent mystery ... that leaves you wanting to read on and on".

In 2011, my collection of humorous essays, 60 is the new 20: A boomer's guide to aging with grace, dignity, and what's left of your self-respect, was published by Mediscript Communications.

Harrow Road is a work of historical fiction, set in London in the 19th century. I followed that with a collection of reviews called I'll Read That For You: a bluffer's guide to 101 book reviews you should read before you die. It's now available on Amazon.com.

My most recent book, Rose Addams, was published by NeWest Press in 2023. It's available on Amazon and most major bookstores.

Reviews

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

🇨🇦I enjoyed and quickly made my way through this book. It was a rare read which had many elements I recognized: public library employment and the faces of homelessnsss as seen from such a job; a small Atlantic university (Acadia); a connection to Toronto’s Danforth, and a reference to a Strathcona Park neighbourhood;, and a 60+ woman protagonist.
Oh…and the story starts the day before Labour Day
🇨🇦

[Luciana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book probably because there were many parts of it that were familiar or things I could relate to. The setting takes place in Vancouver & Rose is a librarian. She is 60+ & a force to be reckoned with. Her husband, a university professor, suddenly announces at a dinner party that he is retiring & gives reasons that really puzzle Rose. Rose has 2 adult children, 1 who is doing her phD & decides to take a leave from university & breaks up with her fiance, & her son, who is actually quite successful living with a woman who seems to know everything.

In the meanwhile, Rose comes across a homeless guy who she knows from when he was a child & tries to help him out. She invites him to her home & her daughter befriends him, leaving Rose a bit bewildered.

Her dinner party guests are the family's best friends & so you really get to know the characters in the book really well. The relationships are very nicely interwoven & Rose leaves nothing unsaid. Quite a variety of topics are discussed in this novel that are relevant to today. And in the end...there is nothing like family!

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very character-driven book, which I normally like, but it didn’t really amount to anything at the end. All the plot lines fell flat to me, and none of the characters were interesting. Charles’ diagnosis of Alzheimer’s was so obvious to me from the beginning and it was frustrating to witness it for almost the entire book and have none of the other characters clue in. I thought I would really enjoy this book mainly because of the interesting family dynamics and the writing, but I got bored pretty quickly which is a shame.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rating
A novel set in Vancouver and written by an author from Port Moody. I was delighted to find this in a local bookstore. It ticked all the boxes for me: a woman about to turn sixty, navigating life, the tiresome expectations in her longtime library career, a husband about to retire, grown children who are finding their own way but sometimes still need their parents, relationships with friends old and new, and ageing but feeling exactly the same. There's much more to the story, however. It begins when Rose Addams encounters a young man panhandling outside her library office and realizes she knows him and cared for him when he was a child. So begins a chain of events that brings her entire family and friends group together over a Thanksgiving dinner that they will never forget.

Fast-paced and well-written, the novel explores homelessness, unsuitable relationships, generation gaps, toxic relationships, marital changes, and a life-changing health crisis. All told with heart and moments of humour. My only complaint is that I felt that one health issue in particular could've been identified and explored more fully by the middle of the story. Rose is a "fixer", some might call her a busybody, so it seemed out of character for her to ignore for so long the signs of what was happening right in front of her. Her denial was frustrating at times, at least it was for me.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rose Addams is a wonderful slow burn of a novel. I love that Rose, the central character, is a woman of my own age. It's heartbreakingly rare for a woman at this age and stage of life to be the main protagonist in a novel. So often, women of a certain age are used as comedic fodder, portrayed as doddering old-fashioned characters with stereotypical habits such as knitting or playing bridge. Or, worse, they are used to provide back-story for more important characters while remaining essentially invisible themselves.

Not so with Rose Addams! From the first page, she is a force to be reckoned with, a powerhouse of a woman. We see the entire narrative play out through Rose and we know how she feels about it all. I loved that deep-dive into her consciousness. I got to know the characters so well that by the end of the story, I felt like I could join her family and friends around the dining room table quite comfortably. That's good storytelling, when you feel like you've made some new friends on the page.

Highly recommend.

[Marion Agnew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Rose is a refreshing character who's going through some things--some really difficult things--and trying her best to meet challenges with empathy and resourcefulness. Her community values her and, realistically, takes her for granted. The writing is clever, clear, and perceptive.

No spoilers--the only part that I didn't love was a late plot twist that hits too close to home for me. I think that's why I wrote the review above but didn't post it immediately after reading the book. I'm glad I found it and can share it now.

When I heard the author speak at an event, she said she was working on a sequel. I hope she still is--the world needs more books about women handling their life transitions with humour and honesty.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this because it's a local author and took place in Vancouver, so I could picture everything clearly. It was very well-written and even though you could guess what was going to happen, it was interesting. I liked all of the inter-connected stories and characters, although some were really weird. That being said, their worldview is so different than mine that it was hard to relate to them. It just felt like people floating along with no real purpose or direction. So while that's not really a fault of the book, which I think is quite good, it just didn't appeal to me as much.

I'd be interested in reading more by this author.

I should also note that while the protagonist is in her 60s, I'm in my 30s and still found it enjoyable - it's definitely not just for an older crowd.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly competent, entertaining middle-aged soap opera...although I was hoping that Rose would finally snap at her husband and ungrateful children and put them completely in their entitled places. I didn't get that catharsis...but a man can dream.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the writing style of the author and the story is concerning a woman in my stage of life, so in some ways I could identify. The ending felt abrupt, but appropriate somehow.