Rose Madder

I really loved reading this novel. I got it when it came out in hardback and it is one of the few novels that I have read in hardback rather paperback. I know this should not make a difference but for me in this case it did. The whole look and feel of the book to me was special. I also read this when I was off on holiday.

I do not want to reveal much about the story. Really liked the central female character. Equal to this was her nasty husband. All the fantasy parts in the story were very good, so were all the parts set in the noraml world in which we live. I link this book a lot with other Stephen King novels that were about at the same time - Dolores Claiborne and Insomnia as all three of these deal with adifferent type of horror. Namely domestic abuse, child abuse and abortion. These are far different horrors from the Stephen King horror novels that had appeared before like vampires, haunted houses and monsters. Ultimately these are far more chilling horrors that exist and do not need to be invented.

A couple of quirky things about this book. At no point are we told where in America the story takes place. Finally I found somewhere on the internet that amongst his fans this was the least well-liked of Stephen King's books. This kinda baffles me as I loved it and will always champion it as one of my favourite Stephen King novels.