Rose Madder
by Stephen King
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephen KingEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1996-06
ISBN: 0451186362
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Signet
Book Reviews of Rose Madder
Book Review: "Come here so I can talk to you up close..."
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a huge Stephen King fan, but I found this book to be one of his weaker efforts. The story centers on a woman named Rose Daniels, who escapes the wrath of her husband, Norman, after being subjected to extreme abuse for 14 years. She moves to a new city, and falls in with a group of women at a halfway house while Norman hunts her down with murder on his mind.
In my opinion, the best parts of the book were told from Norman's point of view. He is one sick individual, and King masterfully intertwines Norman's inhumanity with black humor. Norman's thoughts will make you laugh and cringe at the same time.
All the characters in the book, including the minor ones, have their own personality and depth, which is one of King's many great talents. The suspenseful and terrifying climax of the story(when Norman finally catches up to Rose) was excellent, and Norman's gradual degradation into pure insanity is both believable and horrifying.
Despite all this, "Rose Madder" is a very flawed book. King does an overall good job at portraying how inept Rose is at interacting with others after being kept prisoner at her house with Norman for so long, except for the fact that she so readily dives into a relationship with another man.
My main complaint however, is the magical/haunted/cursed painting, which is one of the main factors in the story. There is a large chunk in the book where Rose goes into the painting, and I found this to be tedious and dull. I thought the book could have done without the painting side story, as it seemed to be hastily tacked on the the rest of the story so that the book could have a supernatural aspect. Frankly, I thought Norman was much creepier than the painting.
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