Red on a Rose
A Novel
-
- $6.99
-
- $6.99
Publisher Description
In a captivating voice that wafts around you like a rose's rich fragrance, Patricia ]ones peels back the petals of emotion that blanket a woman's soul and, in this poignant and wise novel, tells a powerful story of love and redemption.
Lila Giles Calloway has come a long way since she stepped out from under her stepmother's controlling thumb. Happily married to cardiac surgeon Jack Calloway and living in her beloved hometown of Baltimore, Lila splits her time among visiting with Jack's elderly patients, directing her own on-line reading program for children, and contemplating the possibility of motherhood. But all this comes to a screeching halt when, one typical Saturday afternoon, Lila is confronted with a situation that challenges the very core of her moral fiber. In a split second, the idyllic life lack and Lila have built together is threatened, and suddenly she must reconcile the truth that there's a bit of evil in all of us with her love for her husband and her faith in her life's purpose.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Veiled advice for newlyweds and a thoughtful exploration of racism distinguish this novel set in Baltimore's contemporary African-American community during the muggy summertime. The heat triggers flaring tempers at least in bride-of-two-years Lila Calloway when her tradition-bound stepmother Eulelie chides Lila for asking her cardiac surgeon husband Jack to mix the salad. The young couple, still much in love, are comfortable with sharing not only deep emotions but daily chores despite Lila's upbringing as the pampered daughter of influential Judge Giles; Jack grew up disadvantaged, but has become highly successful in his profession. Lila has a satisfying career as well in an online reading program for children and looks forward to motherhood; her standards for herself and others are high and uncompromising. When a trivial incident becomes a life and death matter, Lila must face the fact that moral issues are seldom simple and that her husband, the soul of rectitude, could, to his silent regret, make the wrong choice. Jones spares no one in her indictment of racism. Vicious taunting by rednecks, social prejudice among blacks according to their skin color and baiting by some blacks of their more successful brethren are integrated into the narrative. Meanwhile, lengthy passages of introspection and frequent flights of violent imagination mar rather than enhance Lila's characterization. She seems merely rude in "truth-telling" to her houseguests, stepmother and father-in-law; moreover, self-righteousness makes her less than sympathetic. Mercifully, Jones (Passing) restrains from sensationalizing a serious story about the effects of racism, and the credible, upbeat ending doesn't vitiate the strength of its message.
