Country: Canada
Genre: Thriller/Drama
Pages: 1378 kb (eOriginal)
Synopsis:
Toronto, 1983,
Time has done no favors to ex-burlesque queen Sylvia, formerly known as Scarlet Rose. She turned into an alcoholic, bitter and manipulative wreck of a human being. She lives on her daughter Fiona's allowances, who she likes to torture in the very special way only abusive mothers can. When Sylvia's wealthy ex-husband Charlie is murdered, shit hits the fan in the family. Fiona and Suzie and mortified and looking for the killer as Sylvia makes a play for Charlie's fortune.
"What does that say, Mama?" He pointed up at the sign with the curly letters on top of the mirror.
"It says Scarlet Rose. That's me, baby. I'm Scarlet Rose."
"Are you a movie star, Mama?"
"Not really a movie star. But I am a star." She winked at him.
I knew a very few things about Julia Madeleine before reading THE TRUTH ABOUT SCARLET ROSE. I knew she's Canadian, that she's a tattoo artist and that she's somewhat a veteran in the short story/indie publishing circuit. Many writers I love blurbed this book, including Richard Godwin, Paul D. Brazill and Josh Stallings. That's enough weight to tip my scale. So, what is THE TRUTH ABOUT SCARLET ROSE? Is it a thriller? A little bit, but not too much. Is it a family saga? Yeah, of course. There's a lot of that. Is it a drama. For sure. Is it noir? Not really, but there are elements. So what is it? I don't know, but its lack of self-awareness is very endearing.
The Dalton family is an absolute mess and reading them tearing each other into piece has been my favorite part of THE TRUTH ABOUT SCARLET ROSE, kind of like watching a train wreck on LiveLeak. I know these very passages are going to gather criticism for being in a constant state of emotional overdrive, but I loved them. Julia Madeleine portrays the psychological process of broken people with a lot of accuracy. Fiona keeps helping her mother, giving her money despite being showered in vitriol and jealousy whenever she steps into her apartment. It gives place to scenes of tired hatred where Fiona and her mom has nothing to say to each other, except insults and mean remarks. Saw that in reality about a hundred times before, but never seen it depicted so well in fiction before.
I'm not going to lie, it could've been a little leaner. The main plotline is rather straightforward, but Julia Madeleine invests so much time in the inner workings of her characters, I lost the north a few times. It wore me out to read so much character exposition and to try keeping their position on the board. Especially that the novel is split in halves. It caused somewhat of a pacing issue. Madeleine navigates these issues though, because she doesn't make her plot too complex. She can afford having deeper character psychology because she knows exactly what they want. The structure gets a little loose at times, but Julia Madeleine always steers the boat back.
She tried to scream but nothing came out.
Then everything changed and she could see the face of a little boy before her. She knew him but couldn't remember his name. He was standing by himself in a room staring at her. He was covered in blood and rose petals. She could see the panic in his eyes.
I thoroughly enjoyed the scope and the ambition of THE TRUTH ABOUT SCARLET ROSE. The fact that it has a prequel makes it even deeper and more significant. It's first and foremost a novel about family and the pen and the ideas of Julia Madeleine makes you appreciate the sprawling length of Sylvia's issues with her daughters. It could have been called "The Fall of Scarlet Rose" because the thematic core of the novel is the clash between ephemeral pleasures and lasting values. The complete contrast between Sylvia and her daughters lie in the fact that she built her life on her beauty and ephemeral pleasures like money and now that she has none, Fiona and Suzie are exposed to the wreck she has become and look for alternatives to that lifestyle she forced upon them. It's very well represented in lengthy dialogues and alternating chapters. It might've not helped the overall pacing issue, but writing a novel is all about doing choices.
I liked THE TRUTH ABOUT SCARLET ROSE. The strong characters, the broken family dynamic and the values clash made it work for me. The weight and the symbolism in the Sylvia/Fiona confrontation was genuinely moving. It's also great to know fellow Canadian writers who are into darker fiction. The Toronto of Julia Madeleine is bleak, gritty and perverted. A bit like the Toronto Maple Leafs *. THE TRUTH ABOUT SCARLET ROSE is a sadistic character-driven thriller with just enough heart to it. Sylvia Dalton might just make those summer heatwaves a little more bearable.
THREE STARS
* I just had to slip in a hockey joke, didn't I?
THREE STARS
* I just had to slip in a hockey joke, didn't I?