Richard Scrimger
Mystical Rose
In this remarkable novel, Richard Scrimger conjures the fragility of life and memory through a wholly convincing portrait, by turns hilarious and poignant, of a dying Rose Rolyoke. Set primarily in Southern Ontario, with brief stops in Philadelphia and New York City, Mystical Rose spans most of the twentieth century. Rose tells her story in what appear to be flashbacks, and in conversation with God, who stands at her bedside.
“Mystical Rose is, astonishingly, the story of an entire life, and despite her dementia, the way she forgets words and misuses them, the way she telescopes time, or perhaps because of all these, by novel’s end the prayer that Rose offers strikes the reader as among the most exquisite, meaningful and richest of all time.”
- Globe & Mail
“The strength of Mystical Rose comes from its tender evocation of the daily indignities, pathos {and bursts of comedy} of failing health . . . It is the nuance of these acute if mundane realities where Scrimger excels.”
- National Post
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