The Rose of Sebastopol

"The Rose of Sebastopol" is a historical (with a bit of mystery) set mainly in 1844 and 1854-1855 in England, Italy, and the Crimea. If you like nuanced historical novels, you'll probably find this one a lovely read. The historical details were expertly woven into the story background, bringing the society, setting, etc., vividly alive in my imagination. Yet the details served the story rather than being the point of the story. The level of detail given for the Crimea landscape made me wonder if the author had really been there (which, according to her website, she has). The settings varied widely, from higher-class home life to various hospitals to a lead mill to the war front, yet they all had depth. The characters were complex and nuanced. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, but I understood why they acted the way they did and wanted to know what happened to them all. The novel maintained a nice level of suspense that kept me turning the pages. The story switched between Mariella's childhood, events in 1854 leading up to Rosa going to the war hospitals, and what happened in 1855 after Henry turned up sick and Rosa went missing. I didn't find these different time lines difficult to keep track of, though, and this set-up kept the suspense up for me--how did all three time lines tie together to explain what had happened? Though Mariella was the point of view character, the story was about Rosa--it started with Rosa ("what happened to Rosa?") and ended with Rosa (solving of what happened and why). Mariella's future wasn't neatly tied up for the reader, though it was clear where things were headed. I usually hate untidy endings for POV characters, yet I didn't feel like I was left hanging with things left unresolved. While I would have liked to know more, her ending fit what she learned in the novel--that unexpected, uncontrollable things happen so don't plan too firmly too far ahead. In a way, the story structure was that of a mystery, with the story ending when the mystery was solved. There was a minor amount of swearing and a very minor amount of cussing. There was unmarried sex with a very small amount of explicit foreplay (removing clothes, kissing, upper body touching). There was a lot of sexual tension, but not really of the erotic type. Overall, I'd highly recommend this novel was well-written, fairly clean reading. I received this book as a review copy from the publisher. Reviewed by Debbie from Genre Reviews (genrereviews. blogspot. com)

Mariella Lingwood and Rosa Barr seem like total opposites in personality, yet there's an alter ego quality readers will slowly begin to appreciate in these complex characters. Mariella thinks of Rosa as possessing "fatal magnetism," and Rosa finds peace in the stability and hidden courage waiting to emerge in her best friend, Mariella. The story begins innocently enough in Mariella's staid, peaceful home where Rosa and her companion, Nora, come to live after being banished by her late stepfather. Mariella is an expert seamstress who gradually is forced to accompany Rosa on her wild, adventurous journeys, to see the uglier side of English factories and their polluted environment where poor laborers are forced to reside. Rosa's goal is to become a nurse, a brave quest in light of the social constraints on such a profession for females in the mid-1800s. She initially attempts to engage Mariella's fiance, Henry Thewell, to teach her all she needs to learn, but her first impulsive, uninvited visit to watch an amputation surgery repulses him and that avenue seems doomed to failure. Romance evolves with several characters, sometimes with the most engaging, innocent progress and others with suggestions of most inappropriate character. The story builds to a crescendo when Henry and Rosa's brother, Max Stukeley leave for service in the Crimean War. While the press is reporting fabulous victories, Rosa realizes it is her mission to follow them into battle. Rejected by Florence Nightingale's group for lack of training and significant experience, Rosa decides to journey to Europe on her own and find a place for her "destiny." After a very short time, Mariella learns that Henry is very ill and travels to Italy to nurse and comfort him. Her initial visit is shocking in the extreme as she hears something she never would have imagined in a million years. Now Mariella has a new quest, to find Rosa. As she proceeds on this enigmatic search, she serves the British Army with her seamstress skills, keeping accounts of linens and supplies and finally is called to nurse wounded soldiers. The graphic descriptions within this novel of the casualties, deaths, disease and horrors of the British, French, Slovakian and Russian troops is realistically described, giving the reader a brutally honest picture of the Crimean War which gets very little coverage in present media accounts of notable historic battles. The author demonstrates considerable talent in the way she paces the conflicts and reactions to a crescendo. The ending of the novel leaves room for a follow-up as the reader learns what happens to only one of the many characters in dire straits by the last page turned. An international bestseller since its publication, The Rose of Sebastopol deserves broader publicity and appreciation for this moving account of a significant historical period and its celebration of love and purpose in characters who struggle against and surmount the barriers of social constraints in

This book was my version of a bodice ripper - although, the bodices ripped were surely done so for medical purposes only. The Rose of Sebastopol tells the story of a set of cousins living in mid-nineteenth century England when the country was engaged in the Crimean war. Rosa Barr is determined to break the corset's confines and make herself of service to the war effort by joining Florence Nightingale's brigade of nurses. Mariella Lingwood gets news of the war from her fiancé Henry, who is serving as a doctor, as she pieces together a scrapbook and tends to her London sewing circle. When Rosa goes missing, Mirella has to break confines of her own as she heads to the epicenter of the war to find her. As an historical fiction nut (having previously gone through a dry spell) this book managed to garner and keep my attention. The writing is as eloquent as the beautiful cover image, and the setting and plot keep you going. The juxtaposition of the two girls' personalities is evident and Mariella's growth is inevitable as she literally reenters her cousin's "world" several times throughout the novel. This gives the book a natural progressive quality without making it seem cookie-cutter. Unfortunately, the book suffers from a top heaviness that proved to be a hitch in the reading process. While the sections of the book set in England were intriguing the climactic Crimean scenes fell lackluster and seemed to drag. Mariella's actions read more unbelievable and the suspense waned quickly. In spite of all this, the novel still earned its keep in entertainment value and the book is a great read for those who love corsets, samplers, and all things "olden". To read more reviews like this one, visit our site: www.bookishlyreviews.com.

This vast and sweeping Victorian drama crosses the decades moving between Italy and London, the English county of Derbyshire, and onto the bloody battlefields of the Crimea where the two heroine of this novel are determined to find love and connections amongst a bloody and body-littered landscape. Filled with the graphic details of the most horrific war fought between the Russian Empire on one side and an alliance of France, the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire on the other, The Rose of Sebastopol is a indeed stark testament to an age of social and medical uncertainly. Ever since her impetuous and free-spirited Rosa Barr came to London to stay with her more conventional cousin Mariella Lingwood, Mariella seemed to be similarly repelled and attracted by Rosa's penchant towards rebellion. Ever since childhood, Rosa has a fierce altruistic streak and dreamed of becoming a proper nurse, or even a doctor if only that were possible in this day and age. Certainly Rosa is like a sudden burst of sunshine in Mariella's life even though Mariella is appalled when Rosa takes her to spend an afternoon with Barbara Leigh Smith, a notorious artist who considered by proper society to be one of "the wild people of London." A somewhat stuffy girl, Mariella spends much of her time stitching and mending and tucking. Up until now she has found satisfaction in her exquisite sewing, playing the role of the young-lady-waiting betrothal to Dr Henry Thewell, one of the country's most promising and ambitious surgeons. Yet Mariella, like Rosa, cannot escape danger, her journey beginning when a letter arrives at her home telling her that Henry has survived the first wave of battle and is convalescing in the Italy after a bout of illness. Traveling to the town of Narni, Mariella endures the smell of fever still on Henry's breath even as he murmurs the word Rosa. Although Henry is too ill and too insistent to resist, there could be little doubt that Mariella is answering the wish of a dying man - and that of his frantic concern for Rosa who pig-headily vanished off to the Front, thinking that she could be everyone's savior. Determined to find out the truth of Rosa's whereabouts Mariella makes hasty plans, bound for the Crimea with her trusted maid Nora McCormack, who becomes an indiscernible traveling companion and who surprisingly finds her own value after becoming a victim of a cholera outbreak. Mariella's eventual goal, of course, is to revisit the place where Rosa was last seen in Sebastopol, but she has no way of knowing all of the difficulties and problems that await her on this momentous adventure, nor the value of those she meets along the way, especially her friend, the tall and board dark eyed Captain Max Stukley, all flashing braid and gilt buttons, with his ostentatious moustache. A soldier from youth who has been guided by the battlefield, perhaps it is Max who can finally unlock the door to Rosa's whereabouts. Dividing her narr

It is the time of The Crimean War, and passionate though impetuous Rosa Barr abandons her stale London life to nurse the wounded. When Rosa vanishes, her cousin and our narrator, Mariella takes it upon herself to find her. Only Mariella is Rosa's opposite; dutiful, loyal and dull. Mariella finds she is completely unprepared for life on the brink of battlefield. And as all the clues to Rosa's disappearance point to Mariella's fiancé, now mad with fever, Mariella is heartbroken. Forced to rise to the occasion, Mariella learns of betrayal, sacrifice and love. The book has its aggravations. The story awkwardly jumps between decades and settings. McMahon also waits until late in the game to give us genuine reasons to care for any of her characters. Also be prepared for many stitching references and detailed clothing descriptions that do support the character, but are very distracting. Its abrupt ending is also unsatisfying, but perhaps because I was finally engrossed in McMahon's tale. Overall, I'm obliged to admit I did enjoy it. The descriptions of the war's battles, conditions, and Londoner's reactions are undeniably engaging. The layers of suspense and brisk pace McMahon builds cement this unexpected treat. I wouldn't have put this book down during its final fifty pages for anything.