6/2/2023 0 Comments Darling rose goldI was struck by how poor the novel’s attempt was at creating a compelling and realistic abusive mother, and when half the novel devolves into disengaging and inauthentic first-person narration, it’s difficult to take the story seriously. The reader experiences the present through Patty’s eyes, and the five years during which she’s imprisoned through Rose Gold’s eyes, and as these two narratives come closer to intertwining, the question remains: Why would Rose Gold give her mother shelter? Wrobel draws out the suspense of this question well, and the uncertainty of the answer carries much of the novel’s momentum. This form of child abuse is a focal point of depictions such as HBO’s documentary “Mommy Dead and Dearest” and Hulu’s “The Act.” For the most part, such narratives culminate with the revelation that leads to the caretaker’s arrest, but Wrobel states that her novel “begins where most novels … end - with the reveal upfront.” Patty Watts has been in prison for five years, and the novel begins with the day of her release, when her daughter, Rose Gold Watts, takes her in, seemingly forgiving her for poisoning her for eighteen years of her life. It’s likely you’ve heard of Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP): A child’s caretaker fabricates illnesses to make the child seem sick. As enticing as a story about a manipulative mother who systematically poisons her daughter for years sounds, Stephanie Wrobel’s debut “Darling Rose Gold” manages to add an even more interesting wrinkle to this premise.
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