The Briar and The Rose
Laura Mills Alcott
Five Star (Gale, Thorndike)
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ISBN: 1-59414-089-8
11-03 Publish Date
Read 5.15.02
Rating - Good
Marilyn Malone
I had never read the Barbara Allen tale before. Therefore, I didn't know that it was loosely based on a true couple from the way I understand. The young Irish girl Mairead and her lover Seamus are star-crossed lovers in the early 1600's and through a misunderstanding they never wed. Seamus died soon after and Mairead never forgave him. She died the day after Seamus' funeral.
The Briar and The Rose:
Now it is 1827 and Devan, Lord Castlereagh is traveling home after a disastrous London fire has killed his love and now is deep in despair that he couldn't save her life. In Ireland, he finds a young woman with amnesia that leaves her without a name or a background. The startling thing is that -- Raven is a twin for his dead love Katherine, but London is far from Ireland.
The Briar and The Rose is the story of two different couples in love - what you may ask do they have in common, when two hundred years separate the couples??
Do you believe in reincarnation or that troubled spirits can roam in vain?? This is a different plotline with the dead lovers trying to reconcile their misunderstanding and using the hero and heroine of 1827.
I liked the merging of the two love stories and the author surprised me with the ending.
"For a first book, Laura Mills Alcott has given us an intriguing tale; it is to be savored like a full bodied wine. Tormented lovers from the past trying to find each other in the future; merging with the hero and heroine of "The Briar and The Rose". Closing the book on the last page, made me realize that the author had blended two different love stories into one; giving the characters a robust and alive feeling; with a plotline that kept one's interest apace with the action.
I must say that Laura's writing is full and descriptive without being stilted.
Thank you Laura, for painting a vivid picture of the physical and emotional connection between Raven and Devan. The warm and sensual moments makes a lasting impression of your talent with words."--- Marilyn Malone, The Regency Lover's Cafe
