Wild Rose [Paperback]

Doris Mortman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1992

From the old world elegance of Budapest to the  opulence of Manhattan and the glittering capitals of  Washington, London, and Paris, comes a magnificent  story of love and danger, passion and  heart-stopping intrigue... Katalin and Steven: even as  children in Hungary, they has shared a special bond.  Then tragedy struck, cruelly tearing them apart. they  would grow up separated by an ocean and an iron  curtain... together only in their hearts. Now, after  years of work and hardship, Steven has forged a  new life in a new land, rising from the coal mines  of Kentucky to the corridors of power to become the  man who has everything--except the one thing he  longs for the most... Now, Katalin has won fame as  an internationally acclaimed pianist with an  adoring public, a brilliant future, and a handsome,  powerful husband. Yet night after night, she gives her  most stung performance offstage-when she escapes  her barren marriage to lead a dangerous double  life... and now, Katalin and Steven have found each  other once again--only to discover that walls of  deceit still keep them apart. and for Katalin--called  The Wild Rose for breathtaking  beauty, her defiant spirit, and her unquenchable  thirst for freedom--the moment has come when she must  risk everything for the man who meant more to her  than life itself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This overlong yet at times engrossing saga traces the intricate relationship between two gifted but ill-fated Hungarian families. Istvan and Matyas Kardos are nine and 14 when their parents are massacred during the Hungarian uprising of 1956. Spirited out of the country to live with relatives in Kentucky, they follow disparate but equally successful paths: Istvan (now Steven) becomes a U.S. congressman and Matyas (Matthew) a prosperous financial analyst. Steven's ties to Hungary remain strong; he never forgets his youthful love for Katalin Gaspar. Now emerging as one of the world's foremost concert pianists, Katalin is also deeply involved in an intriguing but dangerous sideline. Both Steven and Katalin make wildly unsuitable marriages: Katalin to a high-ranking Communist official, Steven to a vain and ambitious socialite. When Katalin wins a scholarship to Juilliard the two meet again, and their romance ignites and flourishes despite political upheavals and family traumas. Mortman ( Rightfully Mine ) writes passionately of the rich, troubled Hungarian heritage. The many bold and memorable characters and the rousing finale, however, are somewhat undermined by cliched prose and a quagmire of subplots. BOMC selection.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

From the author of Rightfully Yours (1989) and First Born (1987), another commercial stew--or rather a goulash, since the subject is chiefly 20th-century Hungary--with a dash of concert- hall music and Washington skulduggery thrown in for seasoning. Mortman's wild rose is the daughter of a famous Hungarian violinist, Zoltan Gaspar, whose nonpareil hands were wrecked by a zealous officer at a Stalinist concentration camp. But Katalin, a child prodigy at the piano, carries on the family name by winning the Salzburg competition and earning a scholarship to Juilliard. In New York she reconnoiters with handsome young Steven Kardos, a hero in the Children's Army during the l953 uprising, then American immigrant and Vietnam Green Beret. But their hot young love gets nipped in the bud when Katalin's called back to Budapest to attend to her ailing mother and can't get permission to leave Hungary after Maria Gaspar dies. So she plays behind the Iron Curtain, dallies with dissidents and gypsies, and marries the Communist hard-liner Major Laszlo Bohm. Meanwhile, Steven goes to law school, weds the dauntlessly wicked Cynthia Rhinehart, and heads to Washington as a congressman. Of course, their paths cross again, now at a Kennedy Center concert (with Bernstein conducting, no less), leading Steven to maneuver himself into the Hungarian ambassadorship--from which post he plots the overthrow of Bohm and the long-delayed attainment of Katalin. Plot and settings are decently handled, but there's no excuse for the way this novel runs on: 750-plus pages are larded with unenthralling secondary characters and long scenes whose gist could have been handled in a paragraph--making this more of an endurance test than a read, even for people who have absolutely nothing planned for the summer. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 848 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (June 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553297619
• ISBN-13: 978-0553297614
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing new awareness of Hungarian history!, October 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Wild Rose (Paperback)

I loved this book! The connection to music was wonderful for me, personally. What I found, though, was an understanding of what the Hungarian people have gone through which was truly valuable to me. I have Hungarian neighbors whom I had no sensitivity towards before I read this book. While seeking my own pleasure in the reading of a novel, I garnered an appreciation for these people that wasn't available to me and I likely would not have looked elsewhere. Thankyou to Ms. Mortman for the human and historical lessons that everyone should be privey to!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars something to return to time and time again, August 24, 2005

By 

N. Naprstek "devourer of quality fiction" (Camden, DE United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wild Rose (Paperback)

Being an avid reader of all types of fiction, especially those pieces that are more than 400 pages, this is a book that I have read so many times that the spine is worn and the pages are dog-eared. "Watching" Katya and Steven and Mat grow up into deep, caring, compassionate people is a rare thing in the main characters of books today. The relationship between Katya and ALL the people in her life is something to envy. Everyone is so passionate about what they believe in and how they feel. It's amazing to watch them interact. I truly recommend this to anyone who likes a well earned ending with lots of character and personality struggle.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vadrozsa (Hungarian for Wild Rose), October 31, 2005

By 

Robert Gyepes "Magyar gyerek" (Aurora, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wild Rose (Hardcover)

I was born and raised in Hungary and lived there during WWII and the 1956 revolution. I was inside the Budapest Ghetto and was liberated by the Soviet Army on Jan 18, 1945. I was also at the square where Stalin's statue was dragged down and that event was probably comp[areable to the fall of the Berlin Wall. I personally had no political problems, and was unaware of Recsk, but my cousin did have a friend who was imprisonned there and the place was a reality. Also there was a very famous opera singer who came in from the west toerform and was not allowed out for years, so Katalin's forced stay is a reality. The book is extremely fascinating, gives a good insight to the life in Hungary during WWII and the Soviet occupation. While fiction, it should be read for it's historical insight and accuracy. As one who lived thought tese tines I higghly recommend to everybody. Great book!!!