Rose

In "Rose", Martin Cruz Smith demonstrates that he has versatility and depth beyond Renko and the Communist Soviet Union, taking on an ambitious and complex tale set in the dark and gritty coal mining region of Victorian England. As with all of Smith's novels, "Rose" is meticulously researched and rich in historical and cultural detail. Unike many popular authors of today who crank out hastily written and thinly developed book-upon-book to maximize commercial gain, Smith writes infrequently and carefully, choosing each word of dialogue and each scene for accuracy and maximum impact."Rose" is the tale of Jonathan Blair, a British mining engineer who longs to return to Africa and his African wife and daughter. To earn passage, he is sent to Wigan, a dark and destitute English mining town, to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the fiance of the Bishop's daughter. Smith's tale twists through Wigan in a series of turns - chilling in the bleakness and brutality of this 19th Century coal town and its guarded and mistrustful populace. Blair, suffering and often barely alive with malaria, sweats and feints through a series of beatings, discoveries, dangerous liasons, and ultimate triumph. The characters are richly developed, and as dark as the smokestack-blackened skies of Wigan.This is a highly unusual, intelligent, and satisfying work of fiction. Like all of Smith's novels, you'd be wise not to miss it.

Jonathan Blair is a mining engineer who wants to return to Africa. However, in order to do so, his wealthy patron insists that he first travel to the English coal-town of Wigan and investigate the disappearance of Reverend John Maypole. Once there he becomes enmeshed with the pit girl, Rose, and the Reverend's fiancee Charlotte as he tries to unravel what really happened to Maypole.The above description really doesn't do this novel justice. The mystery itself is well done but what really makes this book shine is the suberb writing. I've read many of Mr. Smith's books, and enjoyed them all, but he's really outdone himself in this one. Blair is a wonderful character, richly drawn, full of foibles, but very likeable as the engineer who wants nothing more than to leave Wigan and return to his beloved Africa. Mr. Smith also has a sharp ear for dialog and it truly is realistic. He also paints a wonderful picture of what life was like in a 19th century coal-town. I give this book a 5 star rating, which I don't give out lightly. Don't miss this one.

What is a novel? The easy definition is: "a story that takes you somewhere and teaches you something about human experience." A lot of books do this. Travel books and our grammar school history books do. Tom Clancy books do. Even cookbooks can. But to be a really good novel, a book should teach something factual and unique, and do it with a lot of pleasure for the reader. Take you there and pay you for going. Martin Cruz Smith is my choice for master of painless, fun learning, and this book is a perfect example of his art.Rose is set in the English coal-producing town of Wigan in the 1870's. The intricate mystery of what happened to a young clergyman who suddenly disappeared takes and holds our attention, while the background of the story gives us the sound and grit and blackness of the coal mining life. Being an old engineer myself, I especially appreciate the author's impeccable easy-flowing explanations of how and why things were. (Why do the coal miners have so many blue scars on their forheads? Why should you never run carrying a lit coal-miner's lamp?)The common man worked very very hard in previous centuries. From sailors on wooden ships to the subsistance farmers and fishermen: life was damned hard. Coal miners were some of the hardest working of people anywhere. It is a puzzle why the enormous gulf between these incredibly tough common people and their imperious rulers, the upper classes, never caused a revolution like that in France or Russia. Feeling myself almost participating in this work made me marvel at my luck for my present condition, as well as feel a little shamed to think I could never have been able to do what those men and women did. We really are such wimps, nowadays. Hooray for us, I guess.Rose herself, the namesake of the book, turns out to be the kind of woman that many of us poor males would almost die to have, and we urge our reluctant and imperfect hero Jonathan Blair onward to solve the mystery and get the girl. Yes, it sounds trite put in that way, but Mr. Smith's clean uncomplicated language slyly sucks you in before you notice it. This is one of those books that gets in the way of doing all those important dull jobs we face daily.If you have the idea that "purring" only has to do with cats, read Rose to discover what purring was a century ago in the coal fields of England.

As a Cruz Smith fan who has appreciated the stunning clarity of his images and the realism of his present day locales, I approached Rose with care. Set 100-plus years ago in a place as foreign to Cruz-Smith's Moscow as you can imagine, Rose's story unfolds in the nineteenth-century coalmining town of Wigan, Lancashire. Well, you can only applaud. The grit, dirt, and rough brutality of the life are all there in their expected brilliance, like stones on the bed of a mountain stream. The story - the hunt for a missing man, and the unexpected, enigmatic, unwanted romance that intervenes - develops with moments of sudden violence and erotic passion that catch the reader unawares and fascinated. It's well-paced, beautifully written, and the scenes below ground in the low-technology coal-pit of 100 years ago, with explosive gas, roof cave-ins, and strength-sapping heat, are just about the best Cruz Smith has done.On the third reading in as many weeks I kept finding new depth and artistry in a novel that gave me more enjoyment and frankly, awe at the accomplishment, than anything I have read in years.

After being blown away by the Akardy Renko trilogy, especially the brilliant final chapter, "Red Square," I had high hopes and anticipation for Smith's next novel. What a huge surprise! Pit girls in a turn of the century English coal mining town? Who would have thought one of the finest and certainly most entertaining novels of 1996 would emerge from this premise? Smith is such a brilliant writer, as I write this, over a year and a half after reading the hardcover, I can still clearly visualize the town of Wigan. His grasp of mise en scene is incredible. A historical novel/mystery like this succeeds or fails on the quality of the world the author creates. I believe Smith more than succeeded. In addition, his characters are sharply drawn and memorable and, as usual, he has created a wonderfully strong and independent female character in Rose. What a movie this could make. Memo to Masterpiece Theatre: A six-hour adaption would be greatly appreciated. As I recall, this book sold about five copies, which is just tragic. Read it, you'll have a great experience!