Product Description

Russia, 1854: the Crimean War grinds on, and as the bitter winter draws near, the battlefield hospitals fill with dying men. In defiance of Florence Nightingale, Rosa Barr - young, headstrong and beautiful - travels to Balaklava, determined to save as many of the wounded as she can. For Mariella Lingwood, Rosa's cousin, the war is contained within the pages of her scrapbook, in her London sewing circle, and in the letters she receives from Henry, her fiance, a celebrated surgeon who has also volunteered to work within the shadow of the guns. When Henry falls ill and is sent to recuperate in Italy, Mariella impulsively decides she must go to him. But upon their arrival at his lodgings, she and her maid make a heartbreaking discovery: Rosa has disappeared. Following the trail of her elusive and captivating cousin, Mariella's epic journey takes her from the domestic restraint of Victorian London to the ravaged landscape of the Crimea and the tragic city of Sebastopol. As she ventures deeper into the dark heart of the conflict, Mariella's ordered world begins to crumble and she finds she has much to learn about secrecy, faithfulness and love.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3274 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review
"absorbing" My Weekly "Brilliant... if you like Jane Austen, you'll probably like this. It's beautifully written" -- Amanda Ross

Review
"absorbing" (My Weekly )

"Brilliant... if you like Jane Austen, you'll probably like this. It's beautifully written" (Amanda Ross )

Sue Magee, THE BOOK BAG
'I was fully immersed in my reading and bitterly disappointed when it ended.'

Customer Reviews

Underwhelming (2.5 stars)
The Rose of Sebastopol is a novel set against the backdrop of the Crimean War. The three main characters are Mariella, our over-sheltered narrator; Henry, her fiancé, who goes off to the Crimean War as a doctor; and Rosa, Mariella's idealistic cousin and best friend, whose progressive ideas lead her to become a nurse in the Crimea with Florence Nightingale. When Rosa goes missing, Mariella goes off in search of her cousin, encountering a very sick Henry along the way.

The historical detail is top-notch, but I had a slight problem with the characters: Rosa is a little too modern, and Mariella is a little boring, though I realize that McMahon may have made her so on purpose for historical accuracy. The constant references to skirts, petticoats, and corsets were a little too intrusive, and I believe that if a real 19th century woman had been narrating, she wouldn't have even mentioned her clothes, much less her underclothes. It's almost as though McMahon wanted to say, "look, look, I did my research!"

In addition, the non-linear narrative is jumpy, and the novel doesn't truly get interesting until Mariella goes to the Crimea. But even then, I thought the entire journey in the first place was a little out of character for Mariella, who seems to be the kind of person who would normally put a lot of thought into something before doing it. Also, the ending is a little rushed and inconclusive, and the book could have used a better editor (for some reason the author, or her proofreader, is afraid of commas). But other than that, I enjoyed the story and the historical details.

Disappointing novel
The novel was well researched from the historical point of view but the style of writing was plodding. The repeated use of period words such as skirts, petticoats, robe drove me mad. So unsubtle. It didn't create an atmosphere and was merely a distraction. And I couldn't see Rosa as the luminous unforgettable creature remembered by the other characters. In fact she didn't come over at all. I stuck with it but read it with gritted teeth.

Beautifully written novel
The book follows Mariella a typically demure and naive girl from England in the mid 19th century as she leaves her ordered world and enters the chaotic Crimea.

The novel touches on lots of different subjects including unrequited love, forbidden love, the futility of war and medicine in the 19th century.

Unlike a lot of others I really liked the characer of Mariella who matures throughout the novel.I also loved the passionate Rosa who wanted to right the wrongs of the world single handedly but who realises the futility of her presence on the battlefield amidst such destruction.

'your death here, like everyone elses, will be utterly meaningless. They fling us about like handfulls of sand'

The ending doenst tie everything up nicely but i liked it better for this. As i put the novel back on my bookshelf i found myself thinking more on it and wondering what the future held for the characters.