Roses by Leila Meacham

This is truy the best read I've had the past few years. As stated by"People", it is "Like Gone with the Wind, this epic is gloriously entertaining". For me, the superlatives of superb, magnificent, enthralling, spell-binding among others would describe this wonderful piece. It is the story of Mary Toliver in East Texas 1916. The younger child of two, inherrited cotton plantation called Somerset from her father Vernon, following which she has to endure the loss of her only love, her only child and so much more. Worst, her mother who was chose to be broken hearted for not being given the land, punishd Mary in the most chilling fashion. She knitted a bedcovering for Mary's 20th birthday and later hang herself with it. The afghan is pink, a color associated with "unforgiveness". The guests remarked "your mother has worked so long and hard for your gift Mary, who can blame her for not wanting to let it go". Oh boy, what horrifying gesture. The love tale of Mary and Percy Warwick is the most beautiful of love stories I've ever imagined can occur between two beautiful privileged people. Beautiful and the most tragic. The book is especially haunting in the middle. Towards the end, I've just got to be so pissed off with the character of Rachel, Mary's nephew whom she wanted to save from the Somerset curse. I really cannot bring myself to even sympatize with this Rachel, even when she finally changed her mind about suing Percy for the land ownership. I even like Lucy better. Ahh, there is too much to tell; you would have to read it for yourself. It's a damn thick book, I never thought I'd be able to finish it in one week; the whole 609 pages, and I read the hard copy. But YESSSS, I'm so glad I did. One of my hundreds of favourites,said by Ollie DuMonts when Mary asked him to marry her so that the child that she conceived with Percy would not be tainted by people's bad mouthing "I cant believe this....to think that you...would marry me...that my most impossible dream has come true. The only blunt to my happiness is Percy...He will be devastated..."