Joelle's Bibliofile

Stephanie Wrobel introduces a fresh perspective into an exhausted topic with her novel Darling Rose Gold. The past few years has seen the market glutted with depictions of the fascinating and disturbing psychological disorder Munchausen By Proxy.  In actuality an extremely rare disorder, it involves a primary caregiver who intentionally harms a child in order to gain attention and sympathy (a grossly oversimplified definition).  Most of the popular stories are sensationalized accounts with a clear female perpetrator and a victimized child, low on nuance and high in shock value.  Darling Rose Gold is both more original and interesting than the typical offerings and is well worth exploring as a result.  Providing an interior view of both the mother and the child as a grown adult, Wrobel shows how the pathology emerges and the resulting long-term damage it inflicts on both characters.  The novel begins as Patty, the mother, is being released from prison five years after her daughter Rose Gold has provided testimony against her.  Surprisingly, Rose Gold has seemingly not only forgiven her, but is also accepting her back into her home despite the abuse she suffered.  The emotional stakes are increased further by the presence of Rose Gold’s newborn-who the reader fears will fall prey to the unrepentant Patty.  The author alternates between narration from both women’s points-of-view, using flashbacks to develop some background and provide insight about the intervening years.  Wrobel thereby shows the genesis and extent of Patty’s unhinged thoughts in the context of her own childhood abuse and demonstrates Rose Gold’s stumbling entry into independent adulthood.  The novel’s best chapters are those in which Rose Gold struggles to compensate for the external and internal scars she still carries while dealing with a lingering rage that she has no idea how to healthily express.  Both women are treated cruelly by a community that cannot comprehend the monstrosity produced by this disorder and are confused by Rose Gold’s seeming naivete.  Patty defiantly tries to insert herself back into her old environment without admitting guilt, and Rose Gold desperately attempts to be accepted but is challenged by others’ alternating pity and judgement.  There are occasions in the book when the shifting perspectives and timeline jumps can be a bit confusing to the reader, but the resulting disorientation is satisfyingly resolved and helps to maintain a heightened sense of tension and suspense. Excellently plotted and climactic with some truly surprising elements, Darling Rose Gold is perceptive and empathetic in dealing with a topic that has suffered from too much attention with insufficient depth.

Thanks to the author, Berkley (Penguin) and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.