The Wild Rose (2011)

Wow. Donnelly's Rose books had a long wait time in between them (published in 2002, 2006, and 2011), but just a quick glance at the bibliography at the end of her last will give you a clue about the amazing amount of research that went into these books--and it was all worth it. The Wild Rose, like its predecessors, is a sweeping, epic drama that tells the story of its two main characters (Seamie Finnegan, the youngest Finnegan sibling, and Willa Alden--and if you've read book two, you were anxiously awaiting their story!) but also gives a rich and colorful look at the time in which it is set. It is so much more than just the story of those two people, so much more than just a family saga. The Wild Rose encompasses the years 1913-1919 and takes place on three continents--Europe, Asia, and Africa. We witness the struggle for women's suffrage as it rages in London, observe MPs in the House of Commons struggle between funding programs for British working class citizens or building up their Navy, and we see behind the scenes as a spy network flourishes behind the scenes, ferreting information between London and Berlin. We are heartbroken by the devestation of war not on the front, but with the families of men who don't come home--as well as those who do. For fans of the series, it's not to be missed. For those of us who haven't read The Tea Roase and The Winter Rose since their publication, she does do an excellent job of reminding us of the whos and whats we need to recall to make sense of the plot of this one, but if you haven't read the first two books in the series yet I strongly recommend doing so before tackling this one. You won't be sorry you did! ( )

** The Wild Rose is the 3rd book in the Tea Rose Trilogy. There are slight spoilers for the previous two books in this review**


The Wild Rose continues on with the story of Willa Alden and Seamus Finnegan. By the end of The Winter Rose, Seamus and Willa have gone separate ways. Willa is bitter at having had her leg amputated after the Kilimanjaro climb went horribly wrong and blames Seamus. Seamus, meanwhile, is licking his wounds as he figures out how to deal with her. When The Wild Rose opens up not much has changed between the pair. Seamus is trying to continue on with his life in England, while Willa is off having a Pity Party of One up in the Himalayas.

Unlike the previous two books, where I was in love with the romantic pairing, I never found myself endeared to either Willa or Seamus. Willa comes off as a selfish, ungrateful brat. What I didn’t get is that she didn’t start out this way. In The Winter Rose, I had high hopes for her. She seemed like an intelligent, athletically strong young lady who wanted to keep up with the boys. I got that. But then the ill fated Kilimanjaro trip happened and Willa lost her leg along with the rest of her personality. She became this bitter character intent on placing blame on the most innocent person, Seamus. Her reason for becoming bitter? Because she could no longer climb. Now I could understand this to a certain point and was even a bit sympathetic to her in Winter Rose. However, it’s a few years down the line, chick has a new leg and climbing all over the Himalayas taking beautiful pictures, tracking out pathways for future climbers and hobnobbing with the Dalai Lama. I’m sorry Willa take your little violin and shove it up your pie hole! That “excuse” is no longer valid and blaming Seamie was plain stupid. I was over her excuses by the second chapter.

Seamie also wasn’t much better. A wannabe be debonair rogue charming the pantaloons off whatever women he came into contact with in an effort to forget Willa. I felt like shaking him, telling him to grow a pair and freaking communicate. For FFS, he can trek all the way to Antarctica, but he can’t trek to the Himalayas or send a letter letting Willa know he still loves her. Lame. Just plain lame.

So yeah, as you can tell from my rant in those two paragraphs I never really warmed up to this couple. I didn’t feel sorry for them. I couldn’t even relate. I didn’t feel anything towards them other than frustration at the lack of communication and self-pitying that the both of them did. What I loved about the other couples was that they were altruistic and loving. Unfortunately, Willa and Seamus only thought about themselves. Towards the end… when they finally got back together I didn’t really care. I thought they deserved each other as they’re both pretty damn selfish.

What made this book for me were the secondary characters. I loved getting to see what became of Fiona’s and Sid’s families. Fiona and Joe are my favorite pairing of the trilogy and they further charmed the pants out of me in this book. They’re just fabulously written characters and I love them. Even their kids, like Katie, are pretty awesome. I also loved Max von Brandt, who turned out to be a very complex character. Overall, it was these secondary storylines that kept the book moving for me. I do have to point out that Donnelly once again pulls out all the drama by having the characters hobnob with a ton of famous people and there are a lot of unrealistic scenes, but I expected this from reading the last two in the series and didn’t mind it at all.

I also have to say that I listened to the audio of this and it was fantastic. I thought Jill Tanner did a fabulous job of bringing the story to life.
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Great story and an amazing end to the trilogy! I am truly sorry that this story cannot go on... The characters are wonderful, the story emotional and intriguing. I will recommend this series as one of the best ever - and I don't mean that lightly. Ms. Donnelly wraps up this epic series wonderfully with numerous twists and turns thrown in to keep the reader on their proverbial toes. ( )

OK, she's gaunt, her face has sun damage, and yet she's the most beautiful woman they have ever seen. Umm, no. ( )

The story of the Finnegan family begins in the slums of London and follows its strong characters who are involved in and escape (literally) the rampant crime and poverty. Three generations of this family fight for their lives and ultimately British civil rights throughout the early twentieth century, a turbulent time in history. Having read the previous books of the Rose Trilogy, the reader will find this finale flows evenly to a fitting ending of this family saga, but is not quite as good. Is it worth all the reading? I'd say only if you like a war romance that skims over brutality then cleans itself up and wraps itself in a somewhat happily-ever-after bow.

"The Wild Rose" focuses on the WWI timeframe. Several story lines compete in this novel; some interesting, some not. I was unable to really like most of the characters - especially the important ones. Many of the plots came across too contrived. The book was mostly predictable with a few quick twists that bolstered the overall tiresome aspects.

I wanted to like this book because I really liked Donnelly's writing in her book "Revolution". It seems she did a lot of research to write these three novels and I don't question her historical facts. London came across real and strong, but other locations were weak and the sense of time and place are elusive.

Unfortunately, I found The Wild Rose was not satisfying and not worth the time it takes to read ... for me anyway. I got tired of the same characters incredibly cheating death over and over. I found it somewhat annoying. It was like watching a tv series where you know the good guys are bound to win.... just not sure who the good guys really were in this one... or if they won? ( )