G1191 Book Review of Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

Name of Book: Darling Rose Gold

Author: Stephanie Wrobel

ISBN: 978-0-593-10006-6

Publisher: Berkley

Type of book: suspense, Missouri? Relationships, 2012-2017, survival, Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, USA, modern times, thriller, mother/daughter, revenge, diseases, desperation, hunger

Year it was published: 2020

Summary:

Sharp Objects meets My Lovely Wife in this tightly drawn debut that peels back the layers of the most complicated of mother-daughter relationships...

For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair and practically lived at the hospital. Neighbors did all they could, holding fundraisers and offering shoulders to cry on, but no matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with Rose Gold.

Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar.

After serving five years in prison, Patty gets out with nowhere to go and begs her daughter to take her in. The entire community is shocked when Rose Gold says yes.

Patty insists all she wants is to reconcile their differences. She says she's forgiven Rose Gold for turning her in and testifying against her. But Rose Gold knows her mother. Patty Watts always settles a score.

Unfortunately for Patty, Rose Gold is no longer her weak little darling...

And she's waited such a long time for her mother to come home.

Characters:

Main characters are Patty Watts and Rose Gold Watts, mother and daughter. Patty is best described as a liar, manipulative, charismatic, and someone who is on a very thin line of sanity and insanity, yet someone who craves nothing but control. Rose Gold Watts, at first, is someone who is hungry and desires things and events she never experienced. She is also manipulative, dangerous and after a while knows exactly what she is doing. There are many secondary characters that will stand out such as Rose Golds former friend Alex as well as Alex's mother Mary Stone and some other characters that I will not reveal for fear of spoiling the book.  But all of them are drawn well and I won't forget them for a long time.

Theme:

Don't underestimate people

Plot:

The story is in first person narrative from Rose Golds and Pattys points of views, and takes place from 2012 to 2017, showing the readers the trajectory that Rose Golds path leads to, and then focuses on 2017, when Patty, her mother gets out of prison and how she tries to cope with handling Rose Gold and her grandson Adam. This is a truly twisted tale of unhealthy relationships, mental illnesses and of an unexpected form of revenge. Many twists can't be seen.

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Stephanie Wrobel grew up in Chicago but has been living in the UK for the last three years with her husband and dog, Moose Barkwinkle. She has an MFA from Emerson College and has had short fiction published in Bellevue Literary Review. Before turning to fiction, she worked as a creative copywriter at various advertising agencies.

Darling Rose Gold (US & Canada)/The Recovery of Rose Gold (UK) is her first novel, coming March 17, 2020.

Opinion:

I tend to be fascinated by the dark side of life, of psychology, always wondering and trying to understand motives of people who do them. One of the things I am fascinated by is Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, where caretakers/parents hurt the children/people they are caring for. As a mother I find Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy to be repelling, sick and I do not approve of this type of behavior. Yet, kids suffer from things these, ahem, "parents" do to them. Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie WROBEL, tackles this controversial issue with a what-if twist: what if the child who has been wronged wants a revenge. Loosely based on the famous Gypsy Rose Blanchard case, ( name is similar to hers even!) I found the book to be powerful and I think it captured a lot of what a victim possibly experiences. ( awhile back I watched some interviews of Gypsy Rose, and Rose Gold was very similar to her.) This is truly a heartwrenching story, and I really wanted to give Rose Gold a hug for everything she had been through.

This is goodreads firstreads win

5 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)