Customer Reviews

Coming Up Roses

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With many books, once I turn the last page, the story's image disappears. Within a few days, I have forgotten the book's foundation. This is not so in Catherine Anderson's "Coming Up Roses." I think the child in this harrowing tale will live in my memory forever.

Kate Blakely and her daughter, Miranda, endured personal hell for five long years. An agonizing world controlled by a heinous man - a perverted man to whom Kate Blakely had regrettably married. A man unsoundly motivated -- by his own interpretation of the Bible. Joseph Blakely perceived his wife and daughter as `Handmaidens to Satan' - sent by the evil one to tempt him into sin.

Zachariah McGovern is the neighbor around whom Miranda builds a castle of dreams. In Miranda's eyes, this man is her hero. A man who ranks right up there with the fairies, the elves, and the mystical unicorns from her mother's fairytales -- he is the stuff of magical wishes. Zachariah McGovern is a god sent.

Through the pages, the author has drawn striking character sketches. Kate Blakely is a gentle, loving woman -- the victim of a life mistake. Anderson drafts Zachariah McGovern from her masculine template - brawny men who are everything wonderful. And little Miranda Blakely is divine, the star of the story. This cast and their lives make remarkable reading material.

What are the problems? The conclusion wrapped up too nicely, too methodically. These are two wounded souls who would not come back from the brink of destruction so easily -- no matter who the hero is. Secondly, Zachariah's tragic past was an unnecessary side story. Still, this is a forceful well-written story.

Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.

This is her best work. It's the only book I ever finished, and then immediately reread - the same day. Excellent. You can still find it in some libraries.

This book will touch from the beginning until the end. I have read it several times, and when anyone asks me if I have a book they can read, this is the one I suggest. Hopefully you can find a copy somewhere, I loan mine, but it is a permanent part of my library.

Couple: Zachariah McGovern and Kate Blakely
Kate was married to a very abusive man who beat on her and even tortured their sweet daughter, Miranda, by holding her hands in the fire. Now Joseph is dead and Kate is trying to live her life quietly with her daughter and keep her interfering brother-in-law from taking over her life. Zach is their new neighbor who ends up getting bitten by several rattlesnakes saving Miranda from an old well, and has to recover at Kate's farm. He comes to like Kate and Miranda and realizes they've had an unhappy life with Joseph Blakely. I really like that Miranda warms up to Zach so quickly and even "magic wishes" him to be her pa. It shows how much she's willing to trust again after the horrible things her father used to do.

Kate marries Zach to protect Miranda from her brother-in-law, (who is accusing Kate of killing his brother,) but she's still wary of him. When Miranda disobeys Zach, (by trying to hide in the hay loft when the floor was weak,) and almost has a deadly accident Zach takes her to the house to discipline her. Kate forces herself to trust that Zach isn't like Joseph and wont hurt Miranda. Later when she finds that Miranda only had to sit on a chair in the corner, her trust in Zach is rewarded and they make their marriage real.

Miranda is an adorable child. I especially like the part where she's telling Zach about her mother's happy tears and how pretty they make her eyes. She asks if Zach wants to see her happy tears and tells him she just has to tell her mother how much she loves her. I can see why Zach wanted to have her for his little girl.
This book's a keeper. It's out of print right now, so I'm glad I was able to get it.

I'm a Catherine Anderson fan, but she pretty much dropped the ball on this one. Frankly put, it was dull as all hell. I dragged myself through the first 300 pages, then gave up completely. The characters never seemed to evolve past line drawings -- Kate loves her daughter. Zack is very understanding. That's okay characterization for the first fifty pages, but when there isn't much expansion on those themes a hundred pages after that, things start getting stupifying.

Anderson has written other books featuring women who were victims of abuse, all of them gracefully handled. I suppose that Kate was her first try at writing a heroine like this, and it took her a while to get it right. She got the maternal love down pat, but Kate was practically an invertibrate when it came to spine or spunk. Zack was a one-note wonder, and there's not much more to say about that. I can't remember the last time that I've been as absolutely bored out of my gourd by two lead characters. They were written as nice and likable, but reading about them became a chore.

Save some money and avoid it, unless you need a cure for insomnia.

This book wasn't in good condition. I was really disappointed with it, but wanted it so bad that I'll keep it until I can find another one. For the price, it wasn't worth it. I love to order through Amazon and this is the first disappointment I've had.