Rose Madder (novel)
| Rose Madder | |
|---|---|
 First edition cover |
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| Author(s) | Stephen King |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Viking |
| Publication date | June 1995 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 432 |
| ISBN | 978-0670858699 |
| Preceded by | Insomnia |
| Followed by | The Green Mile |
Rose Madder is a 1995 novel by Stephen King. It deals with the effects of domestic violence (which King had touched upon before in the novels It, Insomnia, Dolores Claiborne and Needful Things, and many others) and, unusually for a King novel, relies for its fantastic element on Greek mythology. In his memoir, On Writing, King states that Rose Madder and Insomnia are "stiff, trying-too-hard novels."
[edit] Plot summary
In the prologue, which takes place in 1985, Rose Daniels's husband, Norman, beats her while she is four months pregnant, causing her to suffer a miscarriage. Rose briefly considers leaving Norman but dismisses the idea: Norman is a policeman, and is excellent at finding people. Norman also has a violent temper and was recently accused of assaulting an African-American woman named Wendy Yarrow. The subsequent lawsuit and Internal Affairs investigation has made him even more volatile.
Nine years later, when Rose is making the bed, she notices a drop of blood on the sheet from her nose the night before; Norman had punched her in the face for spilling iced tea on him. Rose realizes that she has passively suffered through Norman's abuse for fourteen years and that if she continues to put up with it, he may well eventually kill her. Rose reluctantly decides to leave Norman, departing from her unidentified city on a bus, with their bank card. Once Norman realizes Rose's flight, he resolves to hunt her down.
Rose arrives in Midwestern city, disoriented and afraid. When she arrives at the bus station, she meets a man named Peter Slowik, who guides her to a women's shelter. There, she quickly makes several friends and, with the help of the shelter's director, gets an apartment and a job as a hotel housekeeper.
Rose decides to pawn her engagement ring, only to learn that it is only cubic zirconia. However, she notices a painting of a woman in a rose madder gown and immediately falls in love with it. She trades her ring for the painting, which has no artist's signature. Outside, a stranger asks her to read a passage from a novel, and is so impressed that he offers her a job recording audio books. Then, a pawnshop employee, Bill Steiner, asks her out; the two begin a relationship.
Rose discovers that that the painting seems to periodically change, and is eventually able to travel through it. On the other side, she encounters a woman called Dorcas, who resembles Wendy Yarrow, as well as the woman in the rose-madder gown. Rose refers to her as "Rose Madder" because of her gown and her evident insanity. Rose Madder asks Rosie to rescue her baby from an underground labyrinth inhabited by a one-eyed bull called Erinyes. Rose does so, and Rose Madder promises to repay her. Rose returns to her world and puts the strange incident at the back of her mind.
[edit] References to other King works
The Dark Tower novels
- "Rose Madder" and Dorcas had spent time in the city of Lud.
- "This world, all worlds. And many bulls in each one. These myths hum with truth, Rosie. That's their power. That's why they survive."
- In the tenth section of the book, Rosie Real, Rosie wonders if Bill will drink the Pepsi with the "liquid amnesia". "Either he'd drink it or he wouldn't. Ka, she thought, and then, What?"
- Daughters and Sisters is located off of Dearborn Ave. Roland goes by the name Will Dearborn while visiting the Barony of Mejis as told in The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
- When Norman Daniels visits Daughters and Sisters, he claims to be a visitor from 'Midland Gas', Midland is a location also featuring in The Dark Tower series.
- When addressing Rose, Rose Madder claims they are 'well-met', terminology featuring throughout the series.
- The Misery Chastain novels by Paul Sheldon, the protagonist of Misery, are frequently referenced.
- Cynthia Smith, a prominent character in Desperation and The Regulators, is at the Daughters and Sister's shelter where Rose stays.
- Anna Stevenson is a great fan of the female activist Susan Day featuring in Insomnia.
- When Norman Daniels takes on the role of the bull, he takes to saying 'Viva ze Bool', a Bool is a major plot device used by writer Scott Landon.
[edit] Editions
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