The Wild Rose

Finished March 24
The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
This is the third book in the Rose series, with the first being The Tea Rose (read before I started blogging), and the second The Winter Rose. Here the story focuses around Seamie, Fiona's younger brother, an adventurer, and the woman he loves, Willa Alden (the Wild Rose). Their story started in the Winter Rose, and continues here. It is an ill-fated love affair, with the two separated time again through either their own actions, or through other circumstances. With locations from London to Nepal to Egypt, the action takes place in interesting locales, and with the backdrop of the First World War the action and intrigue come naturally. There are spies, adventurers, suffragettes, and hard working men and women. From the charms of Arabia to the excitements of Paris, the novel takes us on a wide range of experiences during the second decade of the twentieth century.
As always the characters are varied and the main ones show complexity. Willa feels frustrated by her injury, and yet determined to make a name for herself in surveying Everest and, later, parts of Egypt. While the women based in England are driven by getting the women a voice through the vote, Willa is independent, oftel playing a man's role, and yet also self-destructive. Seamie is torn between his love for Willa even while she drives him away, his love of adventure, and his responsibilities. Even the "good" people sometimes do things they aren't proud of and this is no fairytale romance.
We see the damaged men that return from the war, and the various methods employed in an attempt to rehabilitate them. Enjoyable and entertaining.