Rose By Any Other Name

Rose wants to be alone but instead she's on a road trip of discovery with her mother. This is a warm, generous novel big on family dynamics and a rich portrait of a feisty young girl facing up to love, loss and life's big issues.

Don'tcha just hate the way you get caught up in stuff without really wanting to? You make a wrong move, and before you know it you're in some weird scene that isn't you but ... how do you get out of it? Maybe you lied, maybe you stole, maybe you betrayed your closest friend. It happens. Yeah. Then it goes a bit further, and suddenly you're one of those jerks you hate because ... you can't be trusted.

Nineteen year old Rose is in a mess. Her friendship with Zoe has soured, per parents have split up and her romance with Nat has stalled. Rose feels she is to blame for everything, especially the dark secret that is burdening her....

Rose is all packed up. She's got a van full of petrol and a stack of CDs. She's got a surfboard in the back and a secret that won't go away. But that's okay. She also has enough attitude to light up the night sky.

Then her 50 year old mother decides to come along ... and Rose's road trip takes an unplanned U-turn, straight to the heart of last summer. Little does she know thier journey to Port Fairy to visit Rose's ailing grandmother will be a turning point in their lives. A rich, compulsive novel for teenagers and adults.

Maureen McCarthy is the ninth of ten children and grew up on a farm near Yea in Victoria. After working for a while as an art teacher, Maureen became a full-time writer. Her novels have been shortlisted for numerous awards and include the In Between series, which was adapted from scripts Maureen co-wrote with Shane Brennan for SBS TV; Ganglands; Cross My Heart; Chain of Hearts; Flash Jack; and When You Wake and Find Me Gone. Her bestselling and much-loved book Queen Kat, Carmel and St Jude get a life was made into a highly successful four-part mini-series for ABC TV. Maureen has three sons and lives in Melbourne.


Rose By Any Other Name
Allen & Unwin
Author: Maureen McCarthey
ISBN: 1741149096
RRP: $19.95


Review: A fascinating journey of Rose's life and how she deals with the she's been dealt.