Watching the Roses (Egerton Hall Novels) [Turtleback]

Adele Geras (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2005 | Series: Egerton Hall Novels

In this modern-day retelling of “Sleeping Beauty,” Alice seemed destined to lead a princess’s life-except for the frightening curse that “dreaded” Aunt Violette bestowed at her christening: that she will die at the age of eighteen. And on the night of her birthday, this malediction becomes a frightening possibility when Alice is brutally raped by the loathsome Angus. “Geras has achieved a tremendous narrative hook even though she is telling a familiar story, and she has deftly added just the right modern twists and details to allure older readers back to the story that enchanted them as children.”-VOYA

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10-- A self-conscious restyling of ``Sleeping Beauty,'' brought up-to-date with a boarding school setting and rape--a somewhat uneasy mixture. Three school friends have been eager for Alice's fabulous 18th birthday party to be held at her family's rose-encircled castlelike estate. But it seems the young woman's wicked Aunt Violette's ill wish for her has come true after she is raped at the party and becomes totally withdrawn. Her journal entries during this time chronicle her return to mental health and build suspense as her story unfolds. This sequel to The Tower Room (HBJ, 1992) is only partly successful, due mainly to weak characterization. No one cares if the ``wicked stepmother'' or the ``handsome prince'' lacks credible motivation in a fairy tale. But in modern fiction, it's another matter. Geras is forced to rely on such plot contrivances as sending the heroine off alone with a hot-and-bothered boy who, it turns out, she does not recognize until too late to be her childhood tormentor. This is not to say that the book is completely without interest or charm. There are plenty of quirky characters, a wonderful setting, rose lore, and intriguing echoes of fairy tales throughout. The British references are sometimes incomprehensible (what are winkle-pickers?), but romance fans will anxiously await the handsome prince whose kiss awakens the princess.
- Kathy Fritts, Jesuit High School, Portland, OR
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The story is redolent with sexuality, fragility, and innocence . . . [An] unusual romance."--The Bulletin
"Tremendous."--VOYA

"Geras writes with imagination and skill."--Kirkus Reviews

"[Has] wide appeal."--Booklist

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Turtleback
• Publisher: Demco Media (August 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 060633534X
• ISBN-13: 978-0606335348
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I was born in Jerusalem in 1944 and educated at Roedean School, Brighton and St Hilda's college, Oxford.
I've been writing books for children and young adults since 1976 and have published more than 90 titles.
I've also written four adult novels, published by Orion Books.
My website is at http://www.adelegeras.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully told modern day Sleeping Beauty, January 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Watching the Roses: The Egerton Hall Novels, Volume Two (Paperback)

Watching the Roses was among one of the most wonderful books I have ever read. It's a definate page turner that you'll NEVER put down! This book will send you on a carousel of emotions from love, to being at the hands of death. Adele Geras has a true talent for reflecting the thoughts of the main character of the story, and making you believe you are right there with Alice by her window watching the roses. Meet Bella and Megan, Alice's two best friends who are also total opposites, but make the friendship of a lifetime in the meantime. Meet all of Alice's aunts, each different and unique, and each who have their own story to tell. And finally meet Jean-Luc, the handsome foreign boy that steals Alice's heart, a kiss, and brings Alice up from her "coma". I give this book 5 stars, and can't wait to read other two books in the series!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Calling all teenage girls, continued..., December 14, 2001

By 

Kelly (Fantasy Literature) (Columbia, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Watching the Roses: The Egerton Hall Novels, Volume Two (Paperback)

_Watching the Roses_, the second book in the Egerton Hall trilogy, tells the story of Alice, the shyest, most sheltered, most romantic of the three friends. Echoing the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty" and a little bit of "Red Riding Hood", it is also the most romantic, most gothic, and darkest of the three books.

Alice was cursed at her christening by her aunt, "the dreaded Violette", who was angry at not being invited; the curse stated that she would be "snuffed out" on her eighteenth birthday. Another aunt tried to mitigate this by wishing her health and a long life, assuring her parents that, while Alice might fall ill or have an accident that year, she would recover. Eighteen years later, the family throws a grand coming-out party for Alice, to defy Violette's dark words. And at this party, Alice is raped.

Alice retreats into silence, hiding in her room and refusing to speak to anyone. Her parents fall into despair as well, drinking and taking sleeping pills, and letting even the precious rose garden go to ruin. Alice sits alone, writing her thoughts in an old notebook of her father's, peppered with his notes on this rose or that. The rose descriptions at the beginning of each of Alice's entries are easy to skim over, but don't--they set the mood for the next installment of the story. Alice wants to break out of her shell, and can't find the strength to do so; the only thing that sustains her are dreams of her long-distance sweetheart, Jean-Luc. How will she "wake up" back into normal life? Read and find out...

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicate and haunting re-telling of a classic fairy tale, August 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Watching the Roses: The Egerton Hall Novels, Volume Two (Paperback)

Having already read 'The Tower Room', first in the series, and been given a taster of this story, I was eager to read it, and I wasn't disappointed. It begins just as 'The Tower Room' did, with 'once upon a time', but the fairy tale atmosphere is far deeper in this book, as it should be, because Alice's life is much more rarified than Megan's. There is a hint of something awful from the first page, drawing you deeper into the story, and more hints are added as you progress, a sense of doom overhanging the heroine. You really get a sense of Alice, an only child surrounded by doting adults who are all much older than her, very sensitive and very close to her two friends Megan and Bella, who also act as her protectors. The reader is also made aware of how unexperienced Alice is with men, and how she finds this lack of experience rather difficult faced with her friends' progress. There are many little details which lift the book above the norm-Alice's hint of foreign blood, her excellence at Art, the rose descriptions which serve as a frame for the story, a nice touch which links it back to the original. Finally, I was also pleased and impressed that Geras makes Alice sound different from Megan, despite both stories being told in the first person. An excellent read which I keep coming back to.