Rose's Will [Kindle Edition]

Denise DeSio (Author)

Book Description

Acid-tongued matriarch, Rose D'Orsi, manages to snag the unconditional love of a wise, compassionate millionaire from the senior center. Eli's love, however, doesn't reduce Rose's need for complete submission to her will, or at least a damn convincing facade, as evidenced by Ricky, her 40-year-old people-pleasing son. Unlike her guilt-ridden resentful younger brother, authentic Brooklyn-born Glory D'Orsi believes that meaningful relationships are a two-way street, and that love means surmounting differences, not concealing them. Who's right? And does it really matter after Rose develops a terminal illness and there's so little time left? Ricky and Glory confront their own choices and each other when they grapple with the question: How much are we willing to disown in exchange for parental love and approval, and how do the consequences shape our lives?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a well-told story [in which] any of the three main characters could be its hero...a major accomplishment for a first-time novelist." - J.E. Knowles, author and Lambda Award finalist, 

"...inventively crafted. A story that is by turns harrowing, humorous, and heartwarming." - ECHO Magazine

"Reading this novel is like rubbernecking the scene of an accident." - Mary Janosik, ER nurse

"...a skilled writer [with] a firm grasp of human nature." Lisa McDivitt, author of Debutante Detective

"...a beautiful roller coaster ride of raw, human emotion." - Roxy Kade, author of Therian

"...a combination of Elizabeth Berg, Rita Mae Brown and Erma Bombeck." Karen Helm, teacher

"Spectacular ending! Really makes you think." - Diane Castle, author of Black Oil, Red Blood 

From the Author

ROSE'S WILL began as a memoir, but morphed into a novel when I realized that it was more fun to make stuff up. The section regarding Eli Fineman's Holocaust experience, however, is 100% true and based on Bulgarian Holocaust survivor, Eli Farchy, who entrusted me with his story. I was careful to retell it without embellishment because I believe that it's imperative to capture and document each survivor's experience as a reminder of the damage that hatred and bigotry inflicts on humanity. Mr. Farchy is 83 years old as of 2012, and living in Brooklyn, New York.

 

Talking with my readers is my favorite thing to do, so if you have any questions, comments or thoughts, please don't hesitate to contact me through my blog.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 970 KB
• Print Length: 246 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: 48fourteen (October 2, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005RU3LRC
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #240,233 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching and well written. October 15, 2011

By E. Schneider

Format:Kindle Edition

I really enjoyed this book. I read it from beginning to end in one sitting, and it was well worth the discomfort of sitting in the same chair for 5 hours.

Rose's Will is story that should appeal to virtually anyone who has encountered family drama. Denise DeSio's tale of acceptance, reconciliation, forgiveness, and moral responsibility is told through the eyes of three different people and three totally unique perspectives. The pace is quick and not weighed down by excessive descriptive filler, although in places I wouldn't have minded knowing more about certain characters and situations. The character Eli is so well written and insightful that his "life story" could probably be made into an entirely separate novel. While there are some hard-hitting and somewhat disturbing scenes in the book, it's well balanced with just the right amount of comic relief. I especially liked the exchanges between Glory's young niece and nephew. All in all, Rose's Will is a great read. Denise DeSio should be very proud of her first novel. She really hit a home run.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars MUST READ! January 6, 2012

By PRC

Format:Kindle Edition

Rose's Will cuts close to the psychological bone. If you've ever contemplated the universal topic of family pain and drama, reading this novel is like rubbernecking the scene of the accident. Denise DeSio, in her first novel, has mastered "the pure, clear word", as described by the great American poet James Wright. The writing is spare and authentic, the pace is quick, and the plot clever. Amazingly, the ending is happy and unexpected. It takes a very gifted writer to tackle this potentially tear-jerking topic and deliver a novel with great compassion and wit, but no self pity. Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Dysfunctional family - good read January 21, 2012

By SeattleMary

Format:Kindle Edition

This was the first book I read on my IPod Touch. I was worried I would not like the format but found it relatively easy.

At the beginning, I did not care for the book - I found the first chapters disjointed, moving too fast with too much information. And throughout the book, I was distracted by the use of two First Person voices and 1 Third person (omniscient) voice. I think it might have been easier to have 1 first and two third person voices.

I had made a commitment to finish the book so I kept reading. And I came to appreciate it. There are parts of this book that are hard, but they feel very real, especially the way the dysfunctional family is dealt with.

There is one way I didn't like the book - we are never told who the Rose was that Eli loved. So I am left questioning that relationship.

Because of the strong lesbian characters, I would suggest that my lesbian book club read it but we have women who still insist on paper copies.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Rose's Will January 12, 2012

By Ronel

Format:Kindle Edition

Review of Rose's Will

Some books grab you from the word go and by the second paragraph in the book I was hooked by the words that the author strung into such beautiful sentences. There is word to describe that ability: wordsmith.

I am not one to give endless synopses of books. In short the story deals with a woman, Glory, who has to deal with an extremely painful childhood and who, despite horrendous abuse, tries to reconcile with her aging and belligerent mother, Rose. Her mother is still in denial and this leads to a series of confrontations between mother and daughter. Add to that Rose's hostility towards her daughter's lesbian relationship and you have an extremely volatile situation.

There are no car chases, no murder that needs to be solved...what there is is a brutally honest narration of a dysfunctional relationships. Years of abuse left its mark on everyone, including on the brother Ricky. While Glory chose to leave the house, he chose to stay and look after Rose and he still resents Glory for leaving him to take care of Rose.

is easy to paint characters in a story like this as either good/the victim or bad/the aggressor. The author side-steps this brilliantly and instead of a one -dimensional child abuser, you have Rose who struggles with her own inner demons. And her boyfriend Eli's narration is used as the voice of reason. Like Cicero that he is so fond of quoting, he is the one that approaches life logically. He brings out Rose as she was before the trauma ---the caring, laughing, jovial woman who is fond of dancing and whose laughter filled the canals of Venice.

But this is a multi-layered story. What is striking is that everyone knows that the daughter was abused but still they remain apologetic.... As if they are trying to by either trivialising events or by furnishing reasons for the mothers erratic behaviour eradicate the past. This in itself, instead of alleviating the pain of the victim, causes more trauma as it appears as if they do not understand what the person went through. Then the self-doubt returns: Maybe if I acted differently I could have avoided the abuse and the pain. But that of course is a fallacy, you cannot expect of a child to somehow, by behaving differently, stop the avalanche of abuse.

So Glory is not only fighting her painful memories, she is also fighting for the right to be heard, the right to be believed.

In the end, Glory finds solace in the stories of Eli of a mother that was happy, content and caring. He shows her the other face of the monster who brought her up.

The book is an emotional tale and the author's layering of perspectives is wonderful. It is seldom that a book with such a theme is such a page turner. The author also manages not to turn it into a sulking, melodramatic "O woe is me" book.

This has been one of the best and most enjoyable books I've read in a long time. I can't wait for the second one. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and Entertaining May 23, 2013

By campfirewithin

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Rose's Will is a captivating family story, told from three very distinctive viewpoints. The author does a particularly great job of capturing the struggles and stresses of interpersonal relationships, especially when dealing with difficult family members. There were a number of times I literally said out loud, "Yes!" when relating to internal emotional conflicts and thoughtful observations about human behavior. In fact, I probably highlighted about a half dozen of such passages, and I have never used the highlight function on my Kindle before. The chapters are relatively short, and you will find yourself justifying "just one more" chapter again and again. I'm really looking forward to reading other books and essays from this author.

More About the Author

Denise DeSio was born and bred in in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn, New York to first generation Italian-American parents who divorced when she was 11. Her award-winning debut novel, Rose's Will is a fictionalized account of the bizarre circumstances surrounding her mother's death and the Bulgarian Holocaust survivor her mother left behind.

After the eBook release of Rose's Will, DeSio was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a total mastectomy in December of 2012. The print edition was released in March of 2013, on the day she began chemotherapy.