Rose Madder

By Stephen King

This is the story of Rose Daniels, "the most richly portrayed female King's ever created" (Detroit Free Press). Escape from her macabre marriage is not as easy as fleeing to a new city, picking a new name, finding a new job, and lucking out with a new man. Not with a husband like Norman...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Jun 1, 1996
• ISBN: 9781101138014

Stephen King

Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co., accepted the novel Carrie for publication, providing him the means to leave teaching and write full-time. He has since published over 40 books and has become one of the world's most successful writers. Stephen lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. They are regular contributors to a number of charities including many libraries and have been honored locally for their philanthropic activities.

Reviews for Rose Madder

[taranator-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of my very favorites along with Desperation, the Stand, & Gerald's Game.

[carol420 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rose extricates herself from an abusive marriage, and leaves her life behind to start over when she has finally had enough of her husband, Norman. Suffering physical and emotional torture for years, she finally summons the courage to run. Norman isn't quite so eager to split, though, not until he 'punishes' Rose for daring to mistreat him so. Starting over in a new town, with a new life, and finding new life in herself, Rose sinks into a false security of relative anonymity. She finds an old painting in a junk shop, of a woman in a 'red' dress, which seems to call to her to buy it for her new apartment. The painting continues to haunt and mesmerize her, and eventually becomes her salvation, for just when she thinks she has escaped her former life, found a new career, and perhaps a new love, the demons of her past come back to haunt her, in the form of Norman, bent on making her pay for her 'crimes' against him.

This is one of the strongest King novels I can ever recall reading, and proof that his writing gets better with time. In Rose Madder, he takes a very different turn and explores real humans and their emotions just as vividly as his horrific creatures have been. I recommend this book to King fans and non-King fans alike.

[zjakkelien · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Mwah. I suppose it was ok, but I felt it dragged a bit. The storyline is not highly exciting, and aside from the exact shape of the supernatural, most of it is sort of expected. Especially since you see everything from two view points. I thought it could have been a bit faster. And I found the ending a bit weird, the whole tree thing.

[asha.leu · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In 'On Writing', Stephen King describes 'Rose Madder', as well as 1994's 'Insomnia', as "stiff, trying-too-hard novels". It's a critique that I can only agree with. 'Rose Madder' is certainly better than 'Insomnia', a book I have tried and failed to complete on two separate occasions, but it is lacking that undefinable... something that usually makes King's writing so compelling.My main problem with 'Rose Madder' is its supernatural B-plot about a magical painting connected with Greek mythology, which always feels unnecessarily tacked on to an otherwise gripping thriller about a battered wife escaping her abusive, psychopathic police officer husband. In fact, the A-plot is so captivating and filled with suspense and paranoia that one wonders just why King felt he had to shoehorn in the surreal dreamworld of the Rose Madder painting or the bull's mask that takes over the antagonist in the book's climax. Rosie's husband is a frightening enough antagonist in his own right, and her attempts to flee and start a new life and his dogged pursuit an interesting enough plot without any added supernatural elements. Maybe King thought the book lacked a sufficiently "Stephen King"-esque hook, or perhaps he just wanted to explore Greek mythology at the time, but either way what could have been a classic in the spirit of 'Cujo' or 'Misery' instead feels like King-by-numbers, the plot grinding to a halt and bordering on self-parody whenever Rosie goes into the painting or anything else magical enters the story.

[queencersei · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rosie Daniels is the battered wife of police officer Norman Daniels. After enduring fourteen years of horrific abuse one day Rosie suddenly 'wakes up' and flees her husband with just the clothes on her back and $350 that she took from his ATM account.Free from Norman Rosie first finds herself in a women's shelter, but quickly transitions into a good job giving voice to books on tape and her own apartment. Deciding to sell her engagement ring she finds herself in a pawn shop, where she meets Bill, an honest to goodness nice guy. But Rosie also meets something else in that shop, a curious painting entitled Rose Madder, which she buys on a whim. As Rosie settles into her new life, she knows in the back of her mind that Norman has not forgotten her and in fact is coming for her. But now Rosie has an ally. Something Detective Norman will never see coming, Rose Madder. And Rose Madder will repay Norman for his cruelty.

[bibliophile_pgh · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of Stephen King's more disturbing books. It deals with domestic violence in which a wife tries to escape of husband who is a cop in order to start her life over. There are some supernatural aspects of the story. But the disturbing aspects of the story is really how he creates the nightmare through the wife's point of view.

[barpurple · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Everyday horrors blended with a touch of unreal supernatural make Rose Madder hard to put down. King's skilful story weaving had me in tears at some points and wanting to scream "look out!" at others. This is an example of horror that's all the more spine chilling because of its everyday nature. Brilliant, plain and simple.

[buffalogr · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another great Steven King production. Listened with much interest to what seemed, at first, like a cop novel and a battered woman...but, along came with a twist .

[chromiumdomium · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Quite simply unputdownable

[velopunk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The ending was a bit weak but the rest of the book was topnotch.

[cdverhoff · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was taken in by the painting, too. This was an imaginative piece. Perhaps not as suspenseful as some, but I enjoyed it.

[smitkevi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is fairly typical for Stephen King. It contains many of the familiar ingredients we're used to seeing (small town paranoia, alternate universes, psychotic villains), but his realistic way of portraying an abusive relationship between two brilliantly painted characters forced me to invest emotionally in the story in a way I rarely find myself doing. As a result, I found the suspense much more engaging and the terror (unfortunately I'm rarely scared by horror but this one got me a few times) more real. In the end, it wasn't the best of King but it was far from his worst.

[anagarika0sean · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was good. Mr. King loves using portals/doors into other worlds that can always turn sinister in less than a second.

[cathymoore_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Classic Stephen King centred around a domestic violence victim and her attempt to escape her psychotic husband. Really good, even at the point where, as King is apt to, the story suddenly shifts to a parallell universe. I often feel that when this happens it seems like a bit of a cop-out, as if the author got bored of writing the story almost. In this case though when the story moves into the paranormal it continues to read really well. I was also pleased to find parts of it really quite frightening as well, which is what we all want from a good horror story isn't it?

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A brutal read, due to the main topic - domestic violence. Norman, the abuser, is a sick, sick man who does terrible things to his wife, Rosie. She escapes and he follows. And with a super natural painting, she escapes again. It's a good story, with great characters (I loved Gert!), and its slow pace benefits its complexity! I wasn't a fan of the "through-the-painting" parts of the tale, and the epilogue did nothing for me. Still, it thrilled me and chilled me, and really, what's not to like when it's Uncle Stevie? Viva Ze Bool!

[lukerik-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I'm afraid this is quite lazily written. Norman's condition is one dimensionally drawn. If you've read The Shining you know he can do this better. The love affair reads like a badly written romance. If you've read 'Salem's Lot you know he can do this better too. Early on the story reads well but the fantasy seems arbitrary and any meaning he wants to find in it comes too late to save the novel.

[tlmorganfield · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I listened to this as an audio book, and that's probably why I actually finished it. Good stuff up until Rose goes into the painting the first time (had I been reading this instead of listening, I probably would have put the book down here. And not because I don't like supernatural--I quite love fantasy--but for some reason I'm less fond of SK's supernatural elements than I am of his real world elements.). Gets better once she returns to the real world again: actually, it gets really good, but then things get solved by going back into the supernatural world and so the ending felt lackluster for me. I was pleased to see that characters I really liked survived Norman's pursuit of Rose (Gert and Bill); I was really afraid that King was going to axe at least one of them.

[srboone · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A total misfire. The rape survival story is bland and Harlequin Romance quality. The Greek mythology aspect is interesting, but the marriage of the two is overworked. King tried too hard on this one.

[nazgullie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If I could, I would give this book a full five stars. I loved it. I had a really hard time putting it down, and certain parts had me looking around my empty house unnerved. I had been told by a few people that this isn't the best of King's work, but I'm going to go ahead and say that I have placed King in my 'favorite authors' category because of this story. Without giving out any spoilers I'll say that King's female characters are strong, unapologetic, and in this story he creates a world where women's strength and resilience shines, and is the center of the story. The mythology that he created to drive this message home was subtle (to me anyway), and I'm surprised that it was written by a man. Which leads me to believe that maybe this might have been difficult for men to read and fully enjoy. The elements of horror however are more rooted in what is real to us, and not some supernatural force, although King blends those two worlds seamlessly. I shied away from giving it a full five stars because I did have some issues with the writing style, and I'm guessing that this is some of King's earlier work, so it's not a big deal. The story was fast paced, it sucked me in, managed to outrage and horrify me, and I couldn't put it down. A huge plus, and something that I was looking out for was diversity in King's characters. He delivered, in a big way. I would recommend this book to anyone, and will be recommending it to my children when they've begun to express a beginning interest in horror novels.

[pilgrimjess · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is certainly a book of two halves for me. The first 300 pages were very powerful, in fact the first three chapters are for me some of the very best I have ever read,but the latter 300 were less so seeming to rather peter out.The opening chapters details Rosie's abuse at the hands of her husband Norman Daniels and are pretty horrific so it is easy to like and feel for her. That said the best character for me is that of Norman. Norman is a police officer and seen by the public as a hero but in private is a psychotic monster who is slowly losing his mind.(Although for me this too was a little overdone in the end). Rosie takes Norman's credit card and escapes from his clutches but Norman is not about to give her up and comes looking for her. Rosie visits a pawn shop and spots a painting which grabs her attention and seems to want her as much as she wants it. At home Rosie escapes into another world via the painting.It is this part of the story which rather lost it for me. Although there have been other books about domestic abuse, so it might not have been overly original, but personally I would have preferred the story to have stayed as a simple chase one. The dream sequences baffled rather than entralled me.Overall I felt that the author started off with a good premise but in attempt to be original or at least to give it a twist he rather lost the plot. An OK read but no more than that.

[blazingice0608 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very underrated novel for King, this book gets a lot of negative feedback, and while it definitly has its flaws, it is still a very wonderful book and a must read for any fan of Stephen King. Really shows King's mastery of characterization, Rosie and Norman are both amazing characters, one being the heroine, one being the villian. Rosie's journey and the transformation she makes is stunning, and King uses some beautifully descriptive writing to take us through it, especially in the supernatural parts of the book, his imagination is astounding. The bad part is, around the middle of the book, it becomes rather bloated and a little boring, but the rest of it was very interesting and nicely paced, followed by a pretty good ending. Also, it would have been better as just a psychological thriller, rather than just that but with a supernatural theme, which is why i only give it 3 and a half stars rather than 4+ stars. All in all though, as i said its a wonderful read, especially for diehard fans of King and Dark Tower since it has some connections to it as well.

[selkins_12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A woman on her own, a painting that may be a gateway -- to another world, or to her subconscious? Is she going crazy? Is her husband already there? Who's the woman in the painting? Is the Minotaur real? Who can be trusted, under what circumstances? Great read, evocative imagery.

[bhowell_35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is an excellent thriller, again King's strong theme of domestic violence and male abuse of family, harrowing, like Delores Claiburne.

[andyray_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first of four books SK wrote while he was in early sobriety. You may note the absence of blood and gore in this, the Girl who Loved Tom Gordon, Hearts in Atlantis, and Gerald's Game. A different more sane insane King!

[jessicabadrick · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Rose Madder is my favorite stephen King book I think it is the show of stregnth and independance in the main charecter to get away from a bad situation. Stephn King is one of main authors of books read in my familly and all though my brothers will tell you IT is the end all be all of books I prefere Rose Madder.

[oxlena · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My favorite Stephen King book to date. It's a little 'out there,' and probably not as "good" as a lot of his other novels, but it sucked me into it. It takes endurance to get through it if you're not used to the fantasy-mythological stuff. It was confusing, and has a less-than-perfect ending, but I found it entertaining regardless. 4 out of 5 psychotic cops on a major head-trip.

[paulagalvan-323293 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rose Daniels is an abused woman. Her husband, Norman, is a cop and likes to bite. That was enough to grab my attention from the first page. As the story progresses, Rose becomes Rosie McClendon, a woman on the run in search of a new life. Throw in some King-style shocking language, a supernatural painting you can get lost in, and a demonic killer, and you have a thoroughly entertaining book.

[thanesh_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Book 66 and read after listening to Gerald's game which was also referenced in SK's memoir On Writing. Not his best work I would say and there are some common themes that emerge similar to other books of his such as the deranged policeman Norm which was also the case in Desperation, abused wife like the Shining, pictures coming to life remember in another book not sure which a picture of a wolf that keeps getting closer over time and portals to another dimension Insomnia and the Dark Tower. SK used some strong motifs that recur throughout the book such as let me talk to you real close referring to Norm's term for dishing out his brand of abuse. Some interesting parts about the book is about how the city to which Rosie escapes to is not mentioned which is kinds odd as SK normally likes to spend a great deal of time describing towns and roads and places of interest especially his favorites like Derry and Castle Rock, was not the case in this book. Maybe he was trying something different out not sure.

[kittycunningh-815148 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not his best, but not time totally wasted. Nominally about domestic abuse and King doesn't flinch from descriptions. It was fairly predictable.

[gbill_7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was interesting to see where King would take this story of a battered woman, taking it on the run from her (very) violent husband, who is also a cop. His characters, the action, and the supernatural aspects are all over-the-top, but that’s what the genre is about, and I liked how he used restraint in the places where he subtly points out that violence against women is horrifyingly common. It’s a page-turner that you could easily imagine being made into a movie.Quotes:On art that moves us:“…it filled her eyes and her mind with the sort of clean, revelatory excitement that belongs only to the works of art that deeply move us – the song that made us cry, the story that made us see the world clearly from another’s perspective, at least for awhile, the poem that made us glad to be alive, the dance that made us forget for a few minutes that someday we will not be.”On men:“His sex-drive had gone on vacation, perhaps even into permanent retirement, and maybe that was just as well. The plumbing between his legs had gotten him into a lot of trouble over the years. It was a hell of a note, the sort of thing that might lead you to believe that God had more in common with Andrew Dice Clay than you maybe wanted to believe. For twelve years you didn’t notice it, and for the next fifty – or even sixty – it dragged you around behind it like some raving baldheaded Tasmanian Devil.”And:“…Rosie found time to wonder – not for the first time since she had come to D & S [Daughters and Sisters, a shelter] – why so many men were so unkind. What was wrong with them? Was it something that had been left out, or something nasty which had been unaccountably built in, like a bad circuit in a computer?”On violence against women:“She had a sudden and far from pleasant realization: she was not novelty at Portside. This man saw women like her all the time, women hiding behind dark glasses, women buying tickets to different timezones, women who looked as if they had forgotten who they were somewhere along the way, and what they thought they were doing, and why.”And this one, which made me pause:“She didn’t know why she had stayed with him, any more than she knew why, in the end, it had taken just a single drop of blood to transform her entire life. She only knew that the shower had been the best place in the house, dark and wet and full of steam, and that sometimes half an hour in Pooh’s Chair felt like five minutes, and that why wasn’t a question that had any meaning when you were living in hell. Hell was motiveless. The women in Therapy Circle had understood that; no one had asked her why she stayed. They knew. From their own experiences, they knew.”