All reviews are written by members of The H2G2 Bookworm's Club. We hope this review is helpful and that we'll see you airing your views at the Club soon.

Reviewed by Pinwheel Pearl

As a quick look at my U-space will tell you, I'm a fan of Stephen King. I agree that he is an excellent word-smith, and I have realised that reading his books whilst alone in a creaky old house is not to be reccomended. Unfortunately, Rose Madder, while living up to expectations, did leave me feeling a little perplexed.

It tells of Rosie Daniels' escape from her violent policeman husband Norman. Fleeing, with his credit card, from horrific abuse, she ends up at a home for battered women. Here, she begins to overcome the evil of her marriage, and starts up a tentative romance with a pawn shop owner. It is in this pawn shop that Rosie buys 'Rose Madder' a painting that 'seems to want her as much as she wants it'. Rosie uses the woman in 'RM' as her symbol of independence. But, this being a Stephen King novel, strange things start to happen in the picture. It appears to be changing, and insects and leaves from the world in 'Rose Madder' start to escape.

While Rosie repairs the cracks in her life, Norman is after her, and he doesn't care who he hurts along the way. It becomes obvious that the book will end with a confrontation between Rosie and Norman, and that the painting will play a vital role in (presumably, I'm not going to tell you how it ends), saving Rosie.

All very exciting and, I assure you, it makes for a gripping, if rather unpleasant, read. But I felt that using the painting was a bit of a cop-out for King. Yes, he's well known for horror. But Rose Madder would have been just as good without the painting. The violence Rosie endures is shocking and extreme; this alone lives up to the 'horror' tag. If the supernatural painting hadn't been used, then the plot would have been more identifiable for the reader. I found that I spent a lot of time waiting for the painting to become significant, which marred my enjoyment.

Rose Madder shows that King can write, and write well. His publisher should note that a break from the 'ghosts and ghoulies' type of horror that has made King famous won't, in my opinion at least, harm his career.

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