Book Review: Rose Madder

Rose Madder by Stephen King


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
90% of Rose Madder is a departure for Stephen King in my opinion. There is only a small part in the middle of the book which is more his typical style, and of course the ending is what you would expect it to be. The cover of the book, which made me wonder how in the world a bull skull with flowers on its horns fits in with the story, but eventually it does get explained. It's just too bizarre for me to explain it in a few words so I won't even attempt to.
This is a story about Rose Daniels, the classic battered woman. The batterer in this case is her husband, police officer Norman Daniels. Norman is a psychotic, sadistic, controlling, sexist, racist piece of work. A spot of blood on the bedsheet is the catalyst for Rose to leave him after 14 years of hell. Rose Madder tells how Rose Daniels became Rosie McClendon, independent woman. Of course she meets a new man, falls in love, gets a good job and her own place, and of course Norman is going to follow her to teach her a lesson or, as he puts it "talk to her up close", all because she dared to steal his bank ATM card and take $350 (or so he tells himself). By the end of the novel he is a stark raving lunatic. A strange painting Rosie buys at a pawn shop figures prominently in the story, and this is where the King-ness comes into play.
When Rosie's fear turns to anger, you almost sit up and cheer because you want so badly for her to be free of Norman. When Norman finally gets his comeuppance, fittingly it is at the hands of women who are stronger than him.
Overall, this was a very good read. 4 stars out of 5

View all my reviews >>