Title : For the Roses
Author : Julie Garwood
Reading Dates : 14 Dec - 18 Dec 2009Book Summary and Review of For the Roses.
The story starts from 1860 in New York City when 4 of the hundreds of homeless and abandoned street children finds a baby girl in the alley where they sleep. The boys ranging from the eldest 13-year old Adam, an escaped slave, to the youngest 9-year old Travis decide to form a family and raise the girl as their sister. They name the baby girl Mary Rose after Cole's and Adam's mothers and take Travis's family name Clayborne as their own. Realizing that the baby would not be able to survive the city and fearing that Adam's owners might come after him, the 4 decide to make their way west and finally settling in Montana.
Inevitably, the man leading the hunt for the long-lost Lady Victoria, only daughter of Lord William Elliot and Lady Agatha, arrives in Blue Belle where the Claybornes live in 1879. Lord Harrison Stanford MacDonald had come to investigate the Clayborne family after an acquaintance of the Elliot family glimpses Mary Rose who is nearly the spitting image of the late mother. Harrison and Mary Rose of course falls in love and are married.
After Harrison reveals his initial motive for coming to Blue Belle, Mary Rose agrees to visit her father and relatives in England. Although Mary Rose grows to love her father, she finally runs back home to her brothers when she realizes that not only is her father and relatives unwilling to accept her as she is but they are also determined to sever all ties between her and her brothers.
Harrison and Elliot realize their mistake after Mary Rose disappears and chase her to Montana where they seek her forgiveness. Harrison also arrives in time to save Adam from being hanged by his former owners.
Inevitably, the man leading the hunt for the long-lost Lady Victoria, only daughter of Lord William Elliot and Lady Agatha, arrives in Blue Belle where the Claybornes live in 1879. Lord Harrison Stanford MacDonald had come to investigate the Clayborne family after an acquaintance of the Elliot family glimpses Mary Rose who is nearly the spitting image of the late mother. Harrison and Mary Rose of course falls in love and are married.
After Harrison reveals his initial motive for coming to Blue Belle, Mary Rose agrees to visit her father and relatives in England. Although Mary Rose grows to love her father, she finally runs back home to her brothers when she realizes that not only is her father and relatives unwilling to accept her as she is but they are also determined to sever all ties between her and her brothers.
Harrison and Elliot realize their mistake after Mary Rose disappears and chase her to Montana where they seek her forgiveness. Harrison also arrives in time to save Adam from being hanged by his former owners.
Time and again when I read For the Roses my favourite part remains the bond between the Claybornes. The Claybornes have made a family bonded not by blood but love. Neither Douglas, Cole, Travis or Mary Rose have any problems of thinking of Adam's Mama Rose as their own mother. And they soon make Harrison and Elliot a part of their family. A family where one brother shoots the imaginary monsters under his sister's bed so she can sleep without worries at night while another learns how to play the piano with his sister in order to give her a well-rounded education. There is nothing special in the love story itself. Instead it is the story of the Claybornes' past glimpsed through letters communicated between the siblings to Mama Rose and Harrison's experiences when he first joins them which provides both the humor and warmth. It is this which continually makes this story a keeper and makes me wish to read on in order to learn more of the Claybornes.
Links of Interest.
Hello! I'm a new follower having come by from Follow Friday and I adore Julie Garwood. She's one of my favorite authors and is actually one of the first authors that I read when I first began reading for pleasure way back when. It is because of her and Judith McNaught that I developed a love of reading, a passion for it too. =)
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