In Search of the Rose Notes: A Novel
By (Author) Emily Arsenault
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Avon Books
27th October 2011
United States
General
Fiction
813/.6
Paperback
384
Width 202mm, Height 136mm, Spine 24mm
290g
Eleven-year-olds Nora and Charlotte were best friends. When their teenage babysitter, Rose, disappeared under mysterious circumstances, the girls decided to investigate. But their searchaided by paranormal theories and techniques gleaned from old Time-Life bookswent nowhere.
Years later, Nora, now in her late twenties, is drawn back to her old neighborhoodand to her estranged friendwhen Roses remains are finally discovered. Upset over their earlier failure to solve the possible murder, Charlotte is adamant that they join forces and try again. But Nora was the last known person to see Rose alive, and shes not ready to revisit her troubled adolescence and the events surrounding the disappearanceor face the disturbing secrets that are already beginning to reemerge.
...a compelling psychological mystery, told from the alternating point of view of the 20-something narrator and her confused preteen self. ... Instead of dwelling on fear and pain, Arsenault guides the reader through grief, compassion, and understanding in this emotionally complex and deeply satisfying read. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Emily Arsenault's absorbing second book, "In Search of the Rose Notes," is at least as much a novel as a detective story.... Ms. Arsenault here reveals strange truths beneath everyday surfaces and shows that truth sometimes isn't all that strange. -- Wall Street Journal
Emily Arsenault has worked as a lexicographer, an English teacher, a childrens librarian, and a Peace Corps volunteer. She wrote THE BROKEN TEAGLASS to pass the long, quiet evenings in her mud brick house while living in rural South Africa. She now lives in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, with her husband.