Published: March 11, 2011
Words: 136,523 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9780980052923

Short description

Rosebloom is historic fiction set in the late 1930's. Earned a Independent Publishers award in 2008. The story is about a young Wisconsin farm girl who runs away from home. She is looking for adventure, what she finds is much more. Midwest Book Review calls Rosebloom: "... an excellent blend and deftly written look at 1930's America..." Library Journal Review gave it a "Recommended" rating.

Extended description

True Wisconsin Adventurer Spawns Daughter’s Own Tale

In the spring of 1940 Lloyd Keleny, then 19, and his friend, Ray Hadwick, took a canvas canoe down part of the Wisconsin, then the Mississippi from Wyalusing to New Orleans in 77 days.
From reading her father’s journal and viewing pictures that he took, Christine Keleny was inspired to take her own adventure. She spent over four years and traveled over 3500 miles to seven river towns in five states to write a story of her own, this one fictional. She calls it Rosebloom.
Rosebloom is Christine’s debut novel and has won a 2008 Independent Publishers Book Award (IPPY) for historic fiction. (Read more) True Wisconsin Adventurer Spawns Daughter’s Own Tale

In the spring of 1940 Lloyd Keleny, then 19, and his friend, Ray Hadwick, took a canvas canoe down part of the Wisconsin, then the Mississippi from Wyalusing to New Orleans in 77 days.
From reading her father’s journal and viewing pictures that he took, Christine Keleny was inspired to take her own adventure. She spent over four years and traveled over 3500 miles to seven river towns in five states to write a story of her own, this one fictional. She calls it Rosebloom.
Rosebloom is Christine’s debut novel and has won a 2008 Independent Publishers Book Award (IPPY) for historic fiction.
Some of the judges of this award called Rosebloom “A wonderful portrait of life on the river....” “Rose is a female Huckleberry Finn.” Of the author; “(Christine is) A soulful and lively writer.”
Midwest Book Review referred to it as“...an excellent blend and deftly written look at 1930s America in between the Great Depression and the second Great War – highly recommended for fans of coming of age fiction...”
Library Journal review of the audio books says:"Keleny details her [the main character's] journey and the myriad of characters she encounters in an enjoyable and entertaining way." They also gave it a "Recommended" status.
The story is set in the late 1930s, as the depression is waning and America’s involvement in WWII is just gossip. The main character, Rose, lives on a farm in Crawford County. The summer before she is to start high school Rose runs away from home on the riverboat, Capital. She is looking for adventure, what she finds is much more.
While researching Rosebloom Christine was able to talk with people in Prairie du Chien and St. Louis that were teenagers during that time period, and a ninety-four year old woman who actually worked on the Capital Steamer. She also participated in a church service at the Antioch Baptist Church in the Ville, St. Louis. Chuck Berry’s church. (The Ville was also home to Tina Turner, Arthur Ash and a couple of members of the “Fifth Dimension”). She was able to view Sandborn maps of the time period in Prairie du Chien, St. Louis and New Orleans—before Katrina hit.
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Tags

fiction, women, coming of age, new orleans, relationships, mississippi, historic, river, st louis, prairie du chien

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Reviews

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Review by: Sandra MyFictionNook on July 01, 2012 :
Rosebloom tells the story of Rose Krantz, a 16 yo girl growing up in southwest Wisconsin during the Depression. Knowing that her family is overburdened, she decides to run away from home to seek adventure. Upon signing up to work on a river boat, she begins to realize that the world she knows and the 'real' world are two different things.

The author skillfully weaves historical facts into her book, and it's easy to tell that a lot of research was done prior to writing this novel. I also found that Ms. Keleny took on some rather difficult subjects, such as racial tensions and prostitution, and handled them very realistically and very responsibly, yet managed to capture the voice of a young, naive girl whose optimism and genuine friendliness sets her apart from the people of her time.

Rose doesn't see color - she just separates people into nice and bad. This allows her to form a strong friendship with Lilli Mae, a colored girl whose room she shares on the river boat and who works with her. It allows her to view Grandma B. as family, and be invited into the matriarch's home. It could be argued that her lack of understanding in regards to segregation is a tad unbelievable, but I chose to overlook that aspect, and decided that her sheltered upbringing on her family's farm was the cause of that.

Upon her arrival in New Orleans, Rose is separated from Lilli Mae at the docks, and makes the acquaintance of a Madam running a brothel. Madam E. takes the young girl under her wings and offers her a job keeping the books as well as sending her to school, plus room and board, in exchange for those services.

It is there that Rose meets Malcolm, a young, Cajun man who is a jack of all trades. They fall in like and begin a courtship, one that I'm told is continued in the sequel.

Rose's voice was mostly believable. The story is told primarily from her POV though we also get glimpses at the other characters' inner thoughts. She's usually optimistic and cheerful, even in dire circumstances, choosing to see the glass as half full and exhibiting a canny ability to find good even in bad situations. The narration is almost always so cheerful that I found myself smiling along with the character.

The writing is rich and very detailed, and I found myself completely immersed in the vivid descriptions of the country side, the boat and the towns, so much so that it felt as if I was right there with the characters.

The primary focus of the story is not romance, but the adventures of a young girl in the mid-30s, coming into her own. Very nicely done.

I received a free copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Diane Castle on April 11, 2012 : (no rating)
Christine Keleny has a delightful writing voice which transports you back in time with the main character Rose, a sort of female version of Huckleberry Finn. Rose is an optimistic young woman who altruistically leaves her overburdened family to find work for the summer in the kitchen of a riverboat. Despite her circumstances, Rose is almost always cheerful, and reading her narration is a mood-lift. We follow her through her adventures down the Mississippi, to St. Louis and even New Orleans and back as she receives one heck of a life education along the way.

The adventure is full of interesting juxtapositions and lovable characters. POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT: For example,at one point in the story Rose attends a high falutin' private school while secretly living with a black family. At another point, she lives and works in a bordello (in an administrator's capacity, not as a call girl) while attending a private Catholic school. END SPOILER ALERT

The historical details in this book are rich, well-researched, and engaging. At the end of the book the reader discovers that many of the details were actually relayed to the author by a person who lived through the era and worked on a riverboat, which makes this book a wonderful historical recording of the details of an era.

Recommended.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

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