Review: The Rose Variations by Marisha Chamberlain
The Rose Variations by Marisha Chamberlain
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
“The Rose Variations” by Marisha Chamberlain came to me as an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the very awesome folks over at Soho Press. My sincere thanks to Soho for turning me on to this great first novel, and my congratulations to Marisha Chamberlain for a beautiful and consuming story. I read almost non-stop over three days, unable to part with it for long.
“The Rose Variations” follows the story of Rose MacGregor, the “Girl Composer” in residence at a St. Paul university in the 1970’s, fresh from her emancipation from a strained life back home in New Hampshire. During her years in St. Paul, we experience the highs and lows of Rose’s life, and the relationships that fill the new chapter of her life out in the world; We meet her co-workers Alan and Frances, her wild sister Natalie, addled best friend Ursula, and a host of friends and acquaintances who will have a profound effect on Rose, and on the reader. “The Rose Variations” is an intimate tale, filled with rich and complex characters, people that for all their faults you would want the chance to know in your own life.
Chamberlain acknowledges not just the instances of deep loneliness and new passion that fill our lives, but also the little storms, the near misses and might-have-beens, the triumphs and disappointments that steer our course. It is the intimate exploration of these small lives that makes this story and its characters so inviting, and makes the journey we take with Rose so compelling.
Chamberlain’s style has an earthy, tranquil appeal. She observes the world with a grounded insight, and describes it in delicious prose. The change of seasons serves to underscore the story, in the “boiling green springtime” of Rose’s arrival in Minnesota, the “flower-thickened sounds” of the summer countryside up north. Chamberlain marks the passage of time beautifully throughout the novel, immersing us in transient external and internal landscapes. Even more alluring than her eye for season and setting, Chamberlain possesses a talent for bringing fullness to her offbeat cast of characters. She has sympathy and affection for them, but even in this sympathy, the novel is not a collection of neatly packaged happy endings. Her aim is never truer than in the moments where she reminds us how crushingly unfair real life can be.
“The Rose Variations” is a beautiful first novel, one that will earn much praise and attention from critics and new fans. This fan for one is very much looking forward to Marisha Chamberlain’s future work.
