The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red [Hardcover]

Ellen Rimbauer (Author), Joyce Reardon (Editor), Steven Rimbauer (Afterword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2001

At the turn of the twentieth century, Ellen Rimbauer became the young bride of Seattle industrialist John Rimbauer, and began keeping a remarkable diary. This diary became the secret place where Ellen could confess her fears of the new marriage, her confusion over her emerging sexuality, and the nightmare that her life would become. The diary not only follows the development of a girl into womanhood, it follows the construction of the Rimbauer mansioncalled Rose Redan enormous home that would be the site of so many horrific and inexplicable tragedies in the years ahead. The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red is a rare document, one that gives us an unusual view of daily life among the aristocracy in the early 1900s, a window into one womans hidden emotional torment, and a record of the mysterious events at Rose Red that scandalized Seattle society at the timeevents that can only be fully understood now that the diary has come to light. Edited by Joyce Reardon, Ph.D. as part of her research, the diary is being published as preparations are being made by Dr. Reardon to enter Rose Red and fully investigate its disturbing history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A mysterious and haunting spirit lurks within the walls of Rose Red, the setting for Stephen King's upcoming ABC miniseries tie-in by the same name. Built on a Native American burial ground in early 20th-century Seattle, the mansion which is constantly under construction sets the scene for a multitude of inexplicable disappearances and ghastly deaths. While moody oil tycoon John Rimbauer refuses to acknowledge that the house has a mind of its own, his young wife, Ellen, dramatizes these eerie events with great detail in her diary, often personifying the house as if it were a living being. (Or, perhaps, a non-living being?) While the evolution of Ellen's character from innocent and submissive to frighteningly powerful is a slow process, the language and questioning nature of her entries entice the reader as the mystery of Rose Red is brought into full bloom. Ellen also reveals frustration and disappointment with her marriage namely her husband's unfaithfulness and alarmingly frequent involvement in voyeuristic activities as well as a growing confusion about her sexual identity and attachment to her friend and African handmaid, Sukeena. In addition to extensive dialogue that makes the diary seem a tad more like a novel than someone's personal confessions, Ellen's entries are accompanied by a handful of explanatory notes put in by the "editor" and supposed professor of paranormal studies, Joyce Reardon. The people mentioned in the diary, as well as Reardon, are all characters in Rose Red, which was created directly for television by the bestselling author. As to who penned the actual text of the diary? That remains as much of a mystery as Rose Red herself.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A clever, beautifully detailed fiction." -- USA Today

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1st edition (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786868015
• ISBN-13: 978-0786868018
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (276 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #743,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting companion to the upcoming mini-series, January 6, 2002

By 

"sarahmorgen" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red (Hardcover)

This fictional diary is a companion to the upcoming ABC mini-series - Stephen King's Rose Red, to air three nights at the end of January. Stephen King wrote the original teleplay about Joyce Reardon, PhD, who investigates a long-believed haunted house in the Seattle area with the help of an autistic 16 year old girl. This diary provides additional background to the story, supposedly written by Ellen Rimbauer, mistress to Rose Red, the haunted mansion. It is written in the tradion of The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, of Twin Peaks fame. I would be extremely surprised to discover that Mr. King himself wrote this account, due to the overly dramatic, extremely feminine tone and viewpoint. Mr. King's writing is much more straight forward,and usually his stories are told with a distinctly male voice. I enjoyed this book. Because it is in journal form, it is easy to forgive the overly dramatic nature of some of the passages, and some of the writing problems. It is, in my opinion, a brilliant marketing stragegy a la the Blair Witch Project on the part of Hyperion Books and the producers of the mini-series. The book comes complete with references to a website for the fictional university where Dr. Reardon holds her chair, and provides pictures and additional background. As a fan of Haunted House stories, and horror in general, I was very satisified with the overall experience of The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer.

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Um, I would not go in there Dr. Reardon, if I were you..., January 21, 2002

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red (Hardcover)

This faux-diary will remind many of the brilliant publicity campaign orchestrated for "The Blair Witch Project," although it certainly does not reach the depth and detail of that infamous effort. For me, "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer," the back story for the upcoming "Rose Red" mini-series whipped up by Stephen King is more reminiscent of "The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer" from "Twin Peaks." The different is that the latter came out AFTER the first season and only served to obscure what was happening in that bizarre little town. "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer" certainly sets the stage for the mini-series. We know a lot of what happened and we have some theories as to what is going on in that strange mansion overlooking Seattle, but the mystery is not even close to be solved.

The character of Ellen Rimbauer also reminds me strongly of Edna Pontellier, the heroine in Kate Chopin's 1899 classic "The Awakening." Both deal with the issue of a woman embracing her sexuality at the turn of the century and while both tales are tragedies, Ellen's is of a different fate. Her character is the strongest part of the "Diary," and if you are expecting the traditional heroine afflicted by a haunted house, you are going to be in for a surprise. The book suffers from the necessity of leaving massive holes in the narrative so that the cat does not end up entirely out of the bag. There are a couple of photographs and several relatively crude drawings that add little to the aura of authenticity (although I have seen better in both regards elsewhere associated with this enterprise).

This is a relatively simple division: If you are going to watch "Rose Red," then you should read "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer." Yes, on one level it is a blatant attempt to make money off of our interest in anything Stephen King. But on the other hand, it is a solid back story and if it does NOT inform our enjoyment of the mini-series, I really will be surprised. After "Rose Red" is aired, most of the fun and a large chunk of the value of reading this faux-diary will be gone.

So, who do I think wrote the book, Stephen or Tabitha? I certainly think he could do it and I suppose at some point a figure will emerge from behind the curtain and we will learn the truth, but it does not matter to me if this turns out to be Richard Bachman revisited. For now, we can just be content to go along for the ride. Besides, I am curious as to why so much seems to happen on the 15th of the month and will overlook the fact that if they indeed believe everything in the diary to be true, then Joyce Reardon, Ph.D. and his team of investigators are idiots to attempt to wake up Rose Red. But then there would be no mini-series, right? WARNING: Do not pursue the URL to discover the "other" diary excerpts, considered "too graphic and disturbing" to be printed in this volume by the "editor" until you have finished reading the diary.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book, January 14, 2002

By 

Miranda L. Skogebo (MORENO VALLEY, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red (Hardcover)

This book was a very good weekend reader. A real page turner. I read this book late into the night and had to put it down because I got spooked. :) Woke up at 6AM the next morning just to finish the book.

THE GOOD: It is a wonderful tale that will take you around the world to Africa and back to the Northwest US, from the underbelly of a China Town district to the Grande Ballroom of a haunted house. It dabbles in dark magic and dives head first into Psychic Phenomena. Very well written. I love the cover, and the pages are the old antique like pages (uneven, rugged pages) with flowery decorations on each page. There is a nice map of the ground floor of Rose Red on the front and back covers of the book. This was great when I was trying to visualize what was happening and where, but I would have loved to seen a diagram of the other three floors.

THE BAD: WARNING: I would not reccommend this book to anyone who would be offended by bisexual experimentation or anyone who is under 18.

THE UGLY: I could have done without the cheesy cartoon-like drawings.