Narrated by Siobhan Waring
One Perfect Rose is the seventh and final book in Mary Jo Putney’s Fallen Angels series, and was originally published in 1997. Audiobook versions of the first two books appeared a few years ago (Thunder and Roses in 2013, and Dancing on the Wind in 2014), but the narration was fairly poor in both (I reviewed Dancing on the Wind, and it was horrible!), and production halted until earlier this year, when four of the remaining books were released (I can’t see that book four has been recorded), thankfully with a much better narrator at the helm. As a result, listening to One Perfect Rose was a pleasure rather than a chore!
Stephen Kenyon, Duke of Ashburton, is a quiet, reserved man who has always done what was expected of him. He’s taken his duties and his responsibilities towards family, dependents and title seriously, and he married – and was faithful to – the woman chosen for him, even though he didn’t love her nor she him. Now aged thirty-six, and with his stentorian, exacting father dead, his dukedom prospering and the mourning period for his late wife ended, Stephen is finally able to think about living for himself for a change. He plans to travel, to do things that make him happy – until his physician informs him that he has a tumefaction of the stomach and liver and has, at best, only three to six months to live.
Stephen is utterly devastated. He’s done his duty, put his own needs after those of everyone else around him and has never once complained… and for what? Angry, frustrated and despairing, Stephen decides it’s time to be selfish and impulsive for what is likely to be the only time in his life; he packs a bag and heads off on his own to travel around incognito for a few weeks, determined to enjoy the life he has left while his health is holding up – until he has to return to put his affairs in order and prepare for death.
A week or so into his journey, he finds himself in the Midlands where he goes to see a production of The Tempest mounted by the Fitzgerald travelling theatre troupe. He’s always loved the theatre and has seen some of the best actors and companies in London, so he isn’t expecting too much from the performance – but is very pleasantly surprised when the experience turns out to be much better than he’d thought it would be.
Moving on the next day, Stephen finds himself caught up in some drama himself when he witnesses a young boy falling into a river swollen by days of rain, and jumps in to save him. Returning the boy to his grateful family, he recognises members of the acting troupe he’d seen the night before, most notably the actress he’d dubbed “Lady Caliban”, who turns out to be the boy’s sister. Omitting to mention his title, Stephen accepts the hospitality offered him by the Fitzgeralds, and goes on the road with them as plain Mr. Ash – and with them, at last finds out what it’s like to be part of a caring community and loving family.
Rosalind Jordan is twenty-eight and was adopted by Thomas and Maria Fitzgerald after they found her scavenging in the London slums when she was just three or four years old. Stephen is immediately drawn to her goodness and common sense as well as attracted to her lovely face and lush figure, but resolutely fights those feelings, knowing he has no future to offer her.
One Perfect Rose is an incredibly poignant story, and is as much about Stephen’s coming to accept his fate and deciding to live his best life, no matter how short, as it is about the romance and the various other plotlines in the book. He’s a wonderful hero, a man who, when confronted with the worst news imaginable, nonetheless manages to face it with courage and goodness and a determination to find what happiness he can; he’s a compassionate man of great integrity and inner strength, and Rosalind is his perfect match – his equal in intelligence and decency – and their romance is bittersweet and beautifully done.
There’s a definite sense of melancholy pervading the story, but it’s never maudlin or mawkish – and let’s not forget that this is a romance so the HEA is on the cards. But getting there is an intense, emotional journey that moves from breath-taking highs to heart-breaking lows that certainly produced more than one lump-in-the-throat moment for this listener. The first half of the book, which is devoted to Stephen and Rosalind’s romance, was my favourite; the second seemed overstuffed, with a number of other plotlines coming to the fore – including one surrounding Rosalind’s true identity which felt just a little bit too convenient. It’s also fairly easy to work out exactly what is causing Stephen’s symptoms (although the motivations are harder to discern), and I admit to being a little… dissatisfied with the treatment of the ‘villain’. It’s perfectly in character for Stephen to behave as he does, and I can’t really see any other option working in the context of the story, but I still wanted the bad guy to suffer a bit more for what he’d done!
Siobhan Waring is a new-to-me narrator, although her voice did sound very familiar, so perhaps I’ve heard her under another name or in a different context. Her performance here is very good indeed; perfectly paced, clearly enunciated and well-differentiated, her expressive, well-modulated mezzo-range voice is easy on the ear. All the characters are clearly delineated; her male voices are convincing and she’s able to provide a variety of different tones and timbres for the various female characters, so there is never any problem telling any of them apart. She portrays Stephen well, lowering her pitch a little and imbuing his voice with just the right degree of confidence and authority, and in her interpretation of Rosalind, she really brings out her warmth, her good humour and ability to laugh at herself. The Irish brogue Ms. Waring gives Thomas Fitzgerald is accurate and consistent, as are the handful of other regional accents she uses, and Rosalind’s brother Brian sounds appropriately boyish. She does an excellent job of conveying the emotional content of the story – and this is a very emotional story – and delivers a very strong performance overall. I had been wary of picking up any of the other books in this series following my experience with the earlier ones, but Siobhan Waring’s performance here has encouraged me to go back and try some of the other titles in the series. One Perfect Rose is strongly recommended, especially if you’re in the mood for a weepie.
Caz
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