Genre: Historical Fiction, romance Rating: 6.5/10

Impressions: Robust plot, cliche romance

Blue Rose gave me the distinct impression that I was living vicariously through its characters to experience the French Revolution. The violent fall of the French monarchy is not a pretty sight to behold, and Forsyth makes no apologies for this, instead she seems to revel in it. There’s an honesty and a bluntness in her writing which gives it all the more impact, and I often felt as though I was looking at something I shouldn’t be, and yet couldn’t look away.

The story fluctuates between beautiful and gruesome, tumultuous and pensive, but maintains a fast pace throughout. It’s interesting to witness the clear contrast between the higher and lower classes, the rising tensions sparked by dissent, and the stirrings of revolution. Blue rose poses interesting ethical questions like: what does justice look like? Can vengeance do good? Is violence acceptable if it creates change? But most importantly, I think it really succeeds in humanising historical figures such as Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI, before and during their fall. Seeing the Reign of Terror in this light makes feelings of sadness, empathy and horror unavoidable.

The historical aspects of this novel and the movement of the plot created a page-turner of a book, but it was let down by the romance. I have no qualms with romance in fiction, or with the star-crossed lovers of Blue Rose – French aristocrat Vivianne and Welsh gardener David – but their relationship seemed one-dimensional. Over the five-year period of the novel, there’s an incessant pining for a love lost, however the love itself fell flat. For me, the relationship between Vivianne and David seemed brief and underdeveloped, and didn’t create a passion that would believably be felt for five years. I wanted them to be together for the pure fact that Vivianne was so desperately unhappy, isolated and deserving of love, but what was between her and David seemed more like puppy love than the real thing. It needed to be built upon at the outset and given more depth to successfuly carry through the whole novel.

It was frustrating to read some beautifully crafted sentences directly followed by cliches, but overall this was an entertaining read and the positives outweighed the negatives. It gets a 3.5/5 for me and i’ll be looking into what other works Forsyth has to offer.