White Rose: Una Rosa Blanca (Ballantine Reader's' Circle) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "She was seated at a table in the center of the prison yard, in a straight-backed chair, the legs of which were slightly uneven and..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Karl Decker, Casa de Recojidas (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Like a Victorian lady daintily lifting her skirts over a mud puddle, Amy Ephron pays a visit to the Cuban revolution of the 1890s. In A Cup of Tea, Ephron created a species of historical fiction that combined the coolly modern with the lushly romantic. She returns to form in White Rose, telling the partially true story of Evangelina Cisneros, a beautiful, spirited teenager who's been imprisoned for her part in the movement to free Cuba from Spanish rule. Karl Decker is a reporter for the New York Journal--a newspaper whose all-too-appropriate motto is "While others talk... 'The Journal' acts." William Randolph Hearst sends Decker on a secret mission to rescue the girl. The plan is to import her to the States as "a symbol of her country's struggle, the flower of Cuba." Hearst wants to redirect U.S. policy, encouraging greater American support for the revolutionaries and perhaps even an annexation of Cuba. Leaving behind a wife and child in Washington, Decker heads to Havana to plot a daring rescue. He succeeds in freeing Evangelina, and the two fall in love at the very moment she climbs into his arms from her jail cell. "He held her to him for a moment, he felt her breath on his shoulder, her rapid heart beat against his chest." But Ephron's lovers find themselves star-crossed, as lovers will. The second half of the novel is devoted to the political and marital fall-out of their union. Along the way, the author makes free with grammar and punctuation, opening up her sentences in a lazy, tropical way which will seem poetic to some and annoying to others. To wit: "There was a rope tied to a willow tree in the garden as if a child had used it for a swing and the night jasmine blooming fresh in the air." --Claire Dederer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

The latest effort from novelist (A Cup of Tea) and screenwriter Ephron is based on the true story of Evangelina Cisneros, who escaped imprisonment in Cuba with the aid of American journalist Charles Duval (aka Karl Decker) during the 1890s, just before the Spanish-American War. The determined, pretty 19-year-old chose to accompany her father to the Isle of Pines after he was arrested by the Spanish government on political charges. When her father escaped, Evangelina was left to face 20 years in Ceuta, an African penal colony no prisoner had ever survived. William Randolph Hearst sent Decker, his top reporter, to rescue Evangelina; like a modern heroine, she rescued him right back, helping him to make it safely off the island and following him to the U.S., where she met with President McKinley. The attraction between Karl and Evangelina may or may not have roots in fact, but as Ephron tells it, Karl gives scant consideration to his wife and child at home in Washington, D.C. This is an intriguing story and an important one, with special appeal for political and feminist audiences, but Ephron fails to bring it fully to life. Her decision to rely on Evangelina's own words for some of the dialogue ensures the proper historic tone and surely posed an interesting challenge for the writer, but the results are sometimes stilted, though Ephron's own prose is supple. The novel is fleshed out with a good deal of Cuban history and a look at early American cultural imperialism. But it is developed in too sketchy a fashion to involve the reader's emotions; this is all the more disappointing since the subject matter is so promising. (Sept.) FYI: Ephron is writing the screenplay and will be executive producer for a film based on this book that has been optioned by Warner Brothers.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (October 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345441109
• ISBN-13: 978-0345441102
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #241,919 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful historical novel..., October 27, 2003

By	Dianna Johnston "Compulsive Reader" (Joplin, MO) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is the second book I've read my Amy Ephron, and I enjoyed it just as much as the first. Of course, I love anything historical, so that helps, plus the storyline -- and the fact that it is based on a true event -- fascinated me. I know for sure that I will buy anything Ms. Ephron writes, and I hope another one is forthcoming soon.

White Rose tells the story of the beautiful and young Evangelina Cisneros and her imprisonment in her native Cuba in the late 19th century. Evangelina, like many others in the prison, are there because they have turned their backs on their Spanish government in an effort to liberate Cuba. Soon, Evangelina will be transferred to a different prison -- one where no one survives....

Karl Decker, a journalist in New York City, is sent by his employer to Cuba under the pretense of interviewing Evangelina for a story. However, he is actually there to aid her escape from the prison before she is transferred to a place of certain death. But there are hurdles and many untrustworthy people along the way.

White Rose is a beautiful love story as well as a powerful tribute to patriotism. I loved each page of this novel, and knowing it was a true story made it only better. An awesome book that is highly recommended, especially for historical fiction lovers.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Boring!, November 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: White Rose--una Rosa Blanca: A Novel (Hardcover)

As a Cuban-American I was looking forward to reading this book and suggested it to my Book Club as our next selection. In summary, we found the book to be historically and culturally inaccurate (there are no torillas in Cuba*!). The characters are one-dimensional and unsympathetic and the storyline slow and plodding. It did nothing to inform and educate its readers about the Cuban War of Independence. If I hadn't been reading it for my book club I would have given up after Chapter One.

*In Cuba the term "tortilla" refers to egg omelettes not the typical tortilla eaten in Mexico and Centeral America. The author clearly makes references to the Mexican type of tortillas in the first chapter of the book. She should have done her homework! This reference caused me to question the rest of the research done for the book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars romanticizing a war of independence, June 2, 2002

By A Customer

Ms Ephron's book misses the historical implications of the protagonist's actions. Why did the US/Hearst get involved? I suggest Eduardo Galleano; "Open Veins of Latin America." What would cause a young woman to willingly give up "love" from 2 different men; perhaps an intense desire for independence or her quest for freedom? These were never developed. The Karl/Charles character was also flat. Was he after a story or working for the US interests? The book seem too simplistic and more of a short story needed further development.