She read this book when my dad, who has a not-so-nice alcoholic, had left us and for the first time in twenty years she was on her own. Not to mention she was now a single stay at home mother of four angry kids whose father had just walked out on them. It was a vey hard time all around.
I don't know how she got a hold of this book or precisely when, but what I do remember is seeing her carry it around reading it every spare moment she got. I should note that before this time I had never REALLY seen her read a book. Sure, she would read us books aloud, read a magazine here or there, but I had always found it so strange that my mom, who had raised 2 book-addicted daughters, and had a fairly impressive (and very eclectic) book collection, never seemed to read, which made this book, Rose Madder, a baffling mystery in my mind.
She had told me the basic rundown of the story over the years (and the multiple times she had read it), so I begrudgingly picked it up at a thrift store a few months back to "one day" read it and possibly get an answer to the mystery of the book my mother took refuge in all those years ago. (my curiosity won out only a few days after I had purchased it)
If you have not read this book, which I strongly recommend you do, you will be absolutely hooked in the first paragraph. We all know Stephen King is one of the best and most terrifying authors ever known (well at least I know this) and has a knack for these kinds of things, but I must say, I was caught, hook line and sinker, on page 1 and I feverishly read this book in a couple of days and was absolutely pained when it was over.
"She sits in the corner, trying to draw air out of a room which seemed to have plenty a few minutes ago and now seems to have none."
This is how you meet Rose and her abusive husband Norman. A real sick son of a bitch. You follow Rose as she endures his abuse, even through a startling miscarriage, until she puts her foot down and numbingly runs. I found myself rooting for her, crying with her, and feeling her RAGE, through all her struggles in rebuilding herself in everyway you possibly could and escaping a past that never had any intention of letting go. You fall in love with all the other battered women she meets and find yourself locking your door when Norman is around, cringing as you hear his thoughts and see what ghastly things he does to people. Like I said, a real sick son of a bitch.
In the end I was left breathless with an aching heart, feeling emotionally exhausted (I had to take a couple days off reading just so I could recover), empowered, and satisfied: The mystery of Rose Madder was finally solved.
If you have ever been abused mentally, or physically, you understand when I say that it is always comforting to know you are not alone in your pain. For my mother I can see why this book would bring her so much comfort and why she clung to it so. It was hope that she can pull through just as Rose does. That one day she will be free of all her suffering and burden and have a new life and quite simply: move on. Now she owns a home out in Santa Barbara with her new husband and all kids have flown the nest and are out living their own lives. Just like Rose, she has a new life, new city, new job (she actually has2!), and has put the past behind her. though as far as I know, she did not have a magic picture to help her along the way..
It is hard for a book to connect to its readers so completely but Rose Madder is one of those books, and has helped at least one woman escape an abusive marriage and though I will never tell her this, I am proud of my mom and I understand now how hard it was all those years ago and I am sorry you went through that.
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