The Sick Rose
Erin Kelly
The Sick Rose
Paul has been led into a life of crime by his schoolyard protector, Daniel — but one night what started as petty theft escalates fatally. Now, at nineteen, Paul must bear witness against his friend to avoid imprisonment. Louisa has her own dark secrets. Having fled from them many years ago she now spends her days steeped in history, renovating the grounds of a crumbling Elizabethan mansion. But the her fragile peace is shattered when she meets Paul; he's the image of the one person she never thought she'd see again. A relationship develops between them, and Louisa starts to believe she can experience the happiness she had given up on; but it soon becomes apparent that neither of them can outrun their violent past.
3.4 out of 5 based on 5 reviews
|
Omniscore:
|
| Classification |
Fiction |
| Genre |
Crime, Thrillers & Mystery |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Pages |
352 |
| RRP |
£14.99 |
| Date of Publication |
June 2011 |
| ISBN |
978-1444701074 |
| Publisher |
Hodder & Stoughton |
| |
Paul has been led into a life of crime by his schoolyard protector, Daniel — but one night what started as petty theft escalates fatally. Now, at nineteen, Paul must bear witness against his friend to avoid imprisonment. Louisa has her own dark secrets. Having fled from them many years ago she now spends her days steeped in history, renovating the grounds of a crumbling Elizabethan mansion. But the her fragile peace is shattered when she meets Paul; he's the image of the one person she never thought she'd see again. A relationship develops between them, and Louisa starts to believe she can experience the happiness she had given up on; but it soon becomes apparent that neither of them can outrun their violent past.
THE POISON TREE by Erin Kelly
Reviews
The Literary Review
Jessica Mann
“Erin Kelly manages the complicated strands of her plot with great skill, mixes action, emotion and history in exactly the right proportion and keeps up the suspense to the last page. It’s unusual for a second novel to be even better than the first but Kelly has pulled off that difficult trick.”
01/07/2011
Read Full Review
The Spectator
Andrew Taylor
“It’s an elaborate narrative structure, but Kelly manages it with panache. She writes superbly about adolescents ... That said, the ending is too contrived for comfort and Kelly’s adult characters work less well than her teenagers ... Still, this is an enormously readable novel, and there’s no denying Erin Kelly’s talent. She’s an author to watch.”
23/07/2011
Read Full Review
The Independent
Jane Jakeman
“Kelly is excellent both on the nature of the relationship — intensely sexual yet genuinely loving — and the growing anxieties as the past threatens to overwhelm the couple … a real "can't put it down" mystery.”
27/06/2011
Read Full Review
The Daily Telegraph
Jake Kerridge
“... as in The Poison Tree, her debut of last year, Kelly writes perceptively and chillingly about the long shadows cast by tragic mistakes. If she hasn’t yet plumbed the depths of bitter passion suggested by her Blakean titles, she shows considerable promise.”
15/07/2011
Read Full Review
The Times
Kate Saunders
“Despite her name, it is hard to find a more impeccably English writer than Erin Kelly, whose debut, The Poison Tree, marked her as a name to watch in British fiction. The Sick Rose doesn’t quite pull off the same tour de force but suffers only in the comparison.”
09/07/2011
Read Full Review