In her lushly described seventh historical novel, The Queen of Roses, Julia Kelly (The Dressmakers of London) takes readers into the foothills of California's San Gabriel Mountains, exploring the intricate gardens and equally complex social dynamics of Pasadena society through the life of English immigrant Adele Pearce.
Kelly's narrative opens in 1960 with newspaper reporter Theresa Johnson stuck writing obituaries, though she longs to write features and hard news. Theresa receives a phone call from the septuagenarian Miss Pearce, pointing out some errors in her obituary of Pasadena hotelier Guy Whitley. Theresa drives to Adele's home, Rosewood House, in the Altadena hills, where Adele makes a surprising offer: she will hire Theresa to write her biography.
Theresa is plunged into the glittering but still-evolving world of Pasadena in the early 1900s, where wealthy transplants from the East Coast and various European cities struggled to establish a new social milieu on untested ground. Adele, freshly arrived from London in 1903 to join her parents in Pasadena, is stunned to learn that an unwise investment has led to the loss of her family's fortune, and she must find a husband among the brash California businessmen she meets. Her marriage to Guy, while practical, proves unsatisfying. Adele finds solace in making Rosewood House and its gardens a true oasis.
Kelly deftly moves back and forth between her dual narratives, drawing subtle parallels between Theresa's struggles at the office and Adele's frustrations at being reduced to a society ornament before and after her marriage. The Queen of Roses is an absorbing portrait of two women who find the courage to pursue their dreams even under difficult circumstances. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams