Rose Gold Watts has believed all her life that she was seriously ill—she was allergic to everything, needed the use of a wheelchair, and was a permanent fixture at the hospital. But no matter how many doctors and tests, nobody can figure out what is wrong with Rose Gold.
What's actually wrong? Her mother is a really convincing liar.
Patty is being released from prison after serving five years. She's lost all her friends and has been shunned by the very same neighbours that supported them and held fundraisers. When her daughter agrees to take her in, the entire community is shocked—it was Rose Rose Gold that turned her in and testified against her.
Wanting to reconcile, Patty has forgiven her daughter. But unfortunately for her, the feelings are not mutual. Rose Gold is not her little darling anymore, and she's waited a long time for her mother to come home.
As far as debuts go, this is a stellar effort. A solid 3.75 stars.
Mothers and daughters can be complex, but this is on a whole other level. Wrobel pens one of the most layered and convoluted mother-daughter relationships I have ever read with two very complicated and twisted characters.
Alternating between Patty and Rose's perspective, we are trying to figure out exactly who is manipulating who. Both women are unreliable, vile, and insidious. Readers will go back-and-forth as to who to believe and will be questioning their loyalties to both.
My only criticisms are that I wanted more of a character study and that the pacing was off. Given that Patty has a psychological disorder, the manipulation and control should have been fully fleshed out. And the timelines didn't quite come together as they should, and the ending seemed rushed.
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STEPHANIE WROBEL has an MFA from Emerson College. She has had short fiction published in Bellevue Literary Review, and was nominated for the 2018 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Before turning to fiction, she worked as a creative copywriter at various advertising agencies.
Wrobel grew up in Chicago but has been living in the UK for the last three years with her husband and dog.
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