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Searching... Salem Main Library | TEEN FICTION Rinaldi, A. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stayton Public Library | TEEN RINALDI | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
It's 1900--the dawn of a new century--and never in her wildest dreams did fifteen-year-old Rose Frampton ever think she'd leave her family and home on the peaceful shores of her island plantation in South Carolina . . . especially not to live with a new husband in the land of the Yankees.
But she is doing just that. Rose's new life with her handsome and wealthy husband in Brooklyn, New York, is both scary and exciting. As mistress of the large Victorian estate on Dorchester Road, she must learn to make decisions, establish her independence, and run an efficient household. These tasks are difficult enough without the added complication of barely knowing her husband. As romance blossoms and Rose begins to find her place, she discovers that strength of character does not come easily but is essential for happiness.
Writing in diary form, Ann Rinaldi paints a sensual picture of time and place--and gives readers an intimate glimpse into the heart of a child as she becomes a woman.
Author Notes
Young adult author Ann Rinaldi was born in New York City on August 27, 1934. After high school, she became a secretary in the business world. She got married in 1960 and stopped working, but after having two children she decided to try writing. In 1969, she wrote a weekly column in the Somerset Messenger Gazette and in 1970 she wrote two columns a week for the Trentonian, which eventually led to her writing features and soft new stories. She published her first novel Term Paper in 1979, but was ultimately drawn to writing historical fiction when her son became involved in reenactments while he was in high school. Her first historical fiction novel was Time Enough for Drums. She also writes for the Dear America series. She currently lives in Somerville, New Jersey with her husband.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-7-It's 1900, and 15-year-old Rose doesn't want to get married for a long time. But believing that Rene Dumarest, twice her age, holds the mortgage on her family plantation, she accepts his marriage proposal. Rose moves from her South Carolina island home to New York City where she must grow into her role of wife. Written as Rose's journal, Ann Rinaldi's story (Harcourt, 2005), a fictionalized account of her own grandparents' lives, chronicles Rose and Rene's courtship and first months of marriage. Finding herself married to a millionaire, directing the hired help, dealing with the snobby neighborhood matrons, and encountering prejudicial attitudes she didn't experience back home all contribute to Rose's maturation. A visit from her domineering mother-in-law, Charlotte, is the final impetus for Rose to grow up. Nothing in the text suggests that Rose is looking back on her journal in later years, so narrator Kate Forbes's mature voice doesn't seem to fit, though she reads clearly at a well-measured pace. Rose does not have a strong Southern accent, and not much differentiates her voice from her mother, sister, or island nemesis, Amelia Caper. French emigre husband, Rene, doesn't have a "slight French accent," and Charlotte, visiting from France, doesn't always speak with a French accent. Bridget, one of the Irish hired help, has a slight brogue that comes and goes. Purchase where Rinaldi's historical fiction novels are very popular.-Judy Czarnecki, Chippewa River District Library, Mt. Pleasant, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
PW called this tale based on the author's grandmother, whose father's financial difficulties pressured her into marrying a wealthy businessman at age 15, "a well-paced, lighter offering" for Rinaldi fans. Ages 10-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Rinaldi fictionalizes her grandparents' South Carolina courtship and their early married life in Brooklyn at the turn of the twentieth century. Written in journal form, the story predictably but appealingly chronicles teenage Rose's doubts about her older Yankee suitor, the couple's early marital spats, and their deepening love. An author's note is appended. Bib. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Fifteen-year-old Rose, the younger daughter of a South Carolina plantation owner, marries a handsome, very rich silk merchant out of a sense of obligation to her struggling family. Rene, much older and more sophisticated than his child bride, is kind, loving, and supportive through Rose's first forays into New York life. It's a sweet idea, but the story lacks focus, consistency, believable characterization, and credibility. Rinaldi has never lived in the South, or she would know that people on the Gullah islands don't get ice skates for Christmas. Someone should have caught that electric refrigerators weren't invented in 1900. The journal format works very much against it: Rose's voice sounds too old, and entries such as, "a steamer arrived from San Francisco and there are forty-one deaths from the Plague on it," are straight out of the Google center for historical research. And the plot--does Rose love him?--isn't even interesting. An author's note explains that this is Rinaldi's imagined version of the early marriage of her maternal grandparents, whom she never knew. Sometimes Rinaldi hits the mark; here she falls short. (Fiction. 10-15) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.