The Rose Garden

By: Tracy Rees

Narrated by: Emma Fenney

Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

The Rose Garden is a richly imagined historical novel full of intrigue and secrets, spanning the luxury and poverty of Victorian England. Perfect for fans of Dinah Jefferies and Rachel Hore.

Every house has its secrets....

For 12-year-old Ottilie Finch, London is an exciting playground to explore. Her family have recently arrived in Hampstead from Durham, under a cloud of scandal that Otty is blissfully unaware of. The only shadow over her days is her mother’s mysterious illness, which keeps her to her room.

When young local girl Mabs is offered the chance to become Mrs Finch’s companion, it saves her from a desperate life on the canals. Little does she know that all is not as picture-perfect as it seems. Mabs is about to become tangled in the secrets that chased the Finches from their last home, and trapped in an impossible dilemma....

©2021 Tracy Rees (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

Critic reviews

"Tracy Rees is a natural storyteller.... What a treat it is!" (Rachel Hore)

"In this engrossing novel, Tracy Rees takes the reader directly into the drama and action, her writing bringing every scene to sparkling vivid life.... Totally unputdownable." (Dinah Jefferies)

I loved every minute

This is a beautiful sweet story and the naration was suberb.
This was enhanced by the "real accents" of the performers
Highly recommend .

Fabulous!

This was a wonderful story! I couldn’t stop listening! Tracy Rees provided an unforgettable story with perfect pitch characterizations! I wan more!

Unique Plot

Another wonderful tale by Tracy Rees. Didn't want to put it down....wish this was a series. Enjoyed seeing these characters tackle the injustices of their Era in creative ways.
Rich characters and great narration.

Fantastic book with excellent narration

This was moving, inspiring and well-done. I hope their story continues in future books.

Sweet, but Unlikely

As a rule, I love Tracy Ree’s stories, but in this one, it is my opinion that she tried to tackle too many social issues in one story: adoption, women’s rights, racism, male dominance, and class distinctions. The neatly tied up situations at the end seemed rather improbable. That said, I still enjoyed the story for the most part.

Interesting history

I have read many books by this author. I’ve enjoyed all
Beautiful stories imaginative so well written.
This story about the the beginning of womens rights in England Please read and try some of her other also. Enjoy.

Spellbound story

The first few chapters I wasn’t sure I would stick with it and then I became addicted. It’s really quite appropriate for even today. It’s long but I couldn’t stop listening thank you to the author. The production was wonderful! Thanks

Good Story

This book kept me fascinated from beginning to end. As a lover of Dickens novels, I couldn’t help but notice the class differences, the upper classes with so much wealth and the lower classes with such grinding poverty. Mabs is a wonderful heroine who loves deeply and works herself to the bone in order to care for others.

Worth the listen

There were times that the story seemed to get bogged down but it was worth hearing through it all. I like Tracy Rees as an author. She develops her characters very well and makes complicated stories. It’s a good listen.

So good!

I loved this book so so much! Every character was so captivating, well written, narration was really well done! I loved Ms. Olive, she was so funny and made me laugh out loud! It was a warm story and I just loved every minute of it!

Very enjoyable story

Tracy Rees is such a talented author. I loved the unexpected twist in the middle of the story, and that all the characters were so vividly described and perfectly portrayed by Emma Fenney. A very enjoyable book for people who like to step into the past. ❤️🙂💕

Mrs. S. Singleton

A fairy tail, with the inevitable happy ending

This is a rather fanciful and improbable story narrated in a very skilful manner. I would like to believe it to be a representation of facts but am sure it is not. For all that I enjoyed the story and it’s imaginary twists.

LOVE

Absolutely loved this book. I’ve read everything from this author and she’s one of the best in her genre.

A very enjoyable listen

I loved this book and it had a very satisfactory ending. Olive was definitely the heroine of the story but I also loved the characters of Mabs and Ottie. Ive read and enjoyed all Tracey Rees’ books and this is no exception

Delightful

Such an insight into the multitude of layers of old England. After a slow start, I warmed quickly to the different main characters. I enjoyed Olive tremendously, she epitomised a woman of true open values, a champion of a different perspective in the narrowed channels at that time for all women. highly recommended

Excellent narration

A great story, couldn’t put it down. Emma Fenney was brilliant with all her various voices

Outstanding narration and great story

I really enjoyed this family saga which touches on so many issues; the rise of suffragettes, class divisions, poverty, racism, friendship…

It’s very well constructed and every character is richly detailed. It’s not great literary fiction, but I was totally absorbed from start to finish and felt emotionally invested in a couple of the central characters. It’s well plotted, with a few twists along the way and it kept me listening.

The Rose Garden

Another brilliant story from Tracy Rees, beautifully told showing that “girl power” has always been there! Truly inspiring

A joy of a book.

I really didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. A little twee in places but enough of a plot to make up for that. Excellently narrated.

Very enjoyable.

The story was a liitle slow at first, but i'm so glad i continued.
Its a gentle story with a nice satisfying ending.