Vincent, having grown up as the privileged daughter of artists, has a lovely life in many ways. At forty-four, she enjoys strolling the streets of Paris and teaching at the modern art museum; she has a vibrant group of friends; and she’s even caught the eye of a young, charismatic man named Loup. But Vincent is also in Paris to escape a painful betrayal: her husband, Cillian, has published a bestselling book divulging secrets about their marriage and his own past, hinting that when he was a teenager, he may have had a child with a young woman back in Dublin—before he moved to California and never returned.
Now estranged from her husband, Vincent has agreed to see Cillian again at their son’s wedding the following summer, but Loup introduces new complications. Soon they begin an intense affair, and somewhere between dinners made together, cigarettes smoked in the moonlight, hazy evenings in nightclubs, and long, starry walks along the Seine, Vincent feels herself loosening and blossoming.
In a journey that is both transportive and intimate, Half-Blown Rose traverses Paris, art, travel, liminal spaces, and the messy complexities of relationships and romance, with excerpts from Cillian’s novel, playlists, and journal entries woven throughout. As Cillian does all he can to win her back, Vincent must decide what she wants...and who she will be.
Cross-Smith's strength is in her immersive prose. She doesn't shy away from creating a strong female lead who (gasp!) puts her own passion above everything, even her family. Reeling from betrayal, Vincent—as in van Gogh—embraces her desires and sexual needs and what it means to be a woman, even while bleeding and emotional. (There's lots of period talk.)
But here's what doesn't work. Every character is not only attractive, but intelligent and interesting, which makes it feel like it's a script for a Hollywood movie. There are also no consequences for anyone's actions, least of all our heroine's (cue the ending). Meandering at times and manic at others, readers will be left feeling a little empty.
Half-Blown Rose is compelling, passionate, and beautifully written.
LEESA CROSS-SMITH is a homemaker and the author of Every Kiss A War, Whiskey & Ribbons, So We Can Glow, and This Close to Okay.
Cross-Smith lives in Kentucky with her husband and their two teenagers.
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