The Children of the Roses: A Novel [Hardcover]

Warren Adler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004

The children in The War of the Roses were determined not to repeat the devastation, destruction and self-immolation engendered by their parents, which were evoked in that bestselling novel and then the most famous movie ever made about divorce.

In The Children of the Roses, Josh marries Victoria for evermore, and his hugely overweight, happy-go-lucky sister Evie finds pleasure at the trough and through a series of live-in lovers. But in all-too-human, unpredictable and often hilarious turns, the betrayals begin.

Soon Josh and Victoria are on their way to their own form of internecine warfare and disaster. Victoria's demonic and male-hating mother and the overstuffed and ever-sympathetic Evie are their constant counterfoils. Antagonists include a suave headmaster, who turns out to be a relentless sexual predator, and a blackmailing husband. The couple's children, Michael and little Emily, engineer some stunning surprises of their own that will forever change their parents' wayward ways. From noted storyteller Warren Adler, The Children of the Roses is an absolute page-turner.

"A funny new spin on dysfunctional family life-engrossing, unpredictable and touching."--Sidney Sheldon

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Adler recreates the epic marital bickering that made the original War of the Roses(1989) such juicy movie material, but this tepid sequel pales despite the potential offered by the troubled marriage of Josh Rose, the son of the spouses who were killed by a falling chandelier after squabbling their way through the first book. Josh has all the trappings of success-a satisfying job as creative director of a Manhattan ad agency, two beautiful children and a gorgeous albeit icy wife, Victoria, a former lawyer who was also damaged by her parent's bitter divorce. His stability is threatened, however, when he succumbs to the temptations of his chief designer, a married woman named Angela Bocci whose passion for risque semi-public sex leads to a hot affair. Josh manages to hide his infidelity from Victoria as the couple struggle to keep their 11-year-old son, Michael, from being thrown out of an elite private school for a petty thievery incident. But all is lost when Angela's spouse, Dominic, tries to use the affair to blackmail Josh before revealing Josh's infidelity to Victoria, who is blackmailed into a separate series of erotic shenanigans by Michael's diabolical headmaster. Adler scores points with sly irony in the early infidelity chapters, but the story flattens when Angela demands a divorce and the couple's joint custody experiment begins. The generic bickering leads to an outrageous climax in which a near-tragic house fire causes the couple to rethink their separation; the sappy, over-the-top ending comes off as a half-baked attempt to outdo the savage humor of the original. There are some funny moments as Adler sets up his marital chess pieces, but this follow-up succumbs to sequelitis.
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From Booklist

In War of the Roses (1986), Adler set the ultimate standard for dysfunctional families. Now in his long-awaited sequel, the sins of the father are visited upon the next generation of Rose offspring. Son Josh and his sister, Evie, were scarred for life by their parents' vindictive battles and bizarre deaths. For her part, Evie seeks solace in food and sex. In his marriage to Victoria, a woman with her own matched set of emotional baggage, Josh has tried to walk the straight-and-narrow as a model husband and father. But blood will tell, and when Victoria discovers Josh's tawdry office romance . . . you guessed it: a divorce and custody battle ensue. But as acrimonious as relations between Josh and Victoria become, his children are the ones who take over the destruction department right where their grandparents left off. Adultery, blackmail, rape, and arson all factor into the downfall of the next crop of Roses, yet Adler's gift is to turn these outwardly bleak scenarios into outrageously appealing black comedy. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402201974
• ISBN-13: 978-1402201974
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,406,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Warren Adler is a world-renowned novelist, short story writer and playwright. His 32 novels and story collections have been translated into more than 25 languages and two of his novels, The War of the Roses and Random Hearts, have been made into enormously popular movies, shown continually throughout the world.

Three short stories from his acclaimed collection, The Sunset Gang, have been adapted as a trilogy and shown repeatedly on the Public Television network.

Mr. Adler's blogs appear regularly in the Huffington Post and other sites throughout the world and his short stories appear in numerous anthologies.

Mr. Adler is a pioneer in electronic publishing. He was one of the first authors to acquire his complete backlist and to convert his entire library to digital publishing formats.

A product of the New York public school system, Mr. Adler graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School and New York University, where he majored in English literature. In 2009, he was honored by being chosen "Alumni of the Year" at NYU's School of Arts and Science. He has taught novel writing at honors seminars at NYU.

After graduating from New York University with a degree in English literature, Mr. Adler worked for the New York Daily News before becoming Editor of the Queens Post, a prize winning weekly newspaper on Long Island. His column, "Pepper on the Side," became a staple of a number of newspapers in the country.

During the Korean War, after basic training, he was recruited by Armed Forces Press Service to serve in the Pentagon as the only Washington Correspondent for the service. His Washington by-line went all over the world and was published in every publication put out by the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MUST READ FOR PARENTS DEALING WITH DIVORCE, April 27, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Children of the Roses: A Novel (Hardcover)

Mr. Adler's novel described an experience where my ex-husband and I decided to use the "nesting" process which meant keeping our children living in the family house while we took turns taking care of the children on alternate weeks. It didn't work for us since we found ourselves competing for our children's love and not following our joint child rearing rules.
"The Children of the Roses" dealt with this situation with deep honesty which made the process chosen by the divorcing parents all too real and harrowing. Mr. Adler's incite into the trauma of divorce is awesome. Every divorcing parent should read this book and learn how good intentions can backfire. I found the novel compelling and while the humor is dark, I caught myself laughing through my tears.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A One Night Read, August 31, 2009

By 

Delores J. Jordan "mobiledeelight" (Mobile, Alabama) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Children of the Roses: A Novel (Hardcover)

Adler takes the reader on a ride that keeps them on the edge of their seat. This book picks up where War of the Roses left off. The children of the Roses have their idiosyncrasies as a result of their parents' horrible death. They take this with them in life and relationships. One never married and one did to a truth junkie. Living their lives as they wish and living their lives in reality don't match. This creates tension that has the reader turning the pages to find out what will eventually win: their dreams or life's seedier side.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Troubling Twist on Divorce, April 27, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Children of the Roses: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book made me laugh and cry. Mr. Adler has a bizarre sense of humor that enriches this story and makes it quite believable, despite the qualms I had regarding certain incidents. There is a part of the novel that troubles me and that is the question of how far a parent will go to protect and advance her child if faced with a sexual predator who has power over that child. This issue is a central theme of this wonderful novel. And yet I am still conflicted about that one incident. As with The War of the Roses, despite my misgivings, I thought it was a great read.