The Rose Guardian
About this audiobook
Consummate storyteller, Lorina Stephens, returns with a novel of grief and the power of forgiveness
There is a conversation that should have happened between Vi Cotter and her mother. Now it’s too late.
But sometimes the dead speak through the legacy they leave, and in this case Vi’s mother bequeaths her, among other things, her journals. Do we sometimes seek absolution from the grave? Do we seek reconciliation between the child, the woman, the crone?
In a story of unspoken truths and hidden fears, The Rose Guardian explores the cages we make when we fail to unlock our secrets.
This is a quiet, thoughtful book that will appeal to anyone working through the loss of a parent—or their own midlife crisis. Lorina Stephens paints a multi-layered canvas of loss and release, of denial and self-examination, of blame and understanding. The portraiture that emerges as each layer is laid down is a complex and nuanced examination of three generations of women, each the product of their era....
Robert Runte, Essential Edits
...[a] richly detailed novel. Stephens is definitely going on my list of authors to watch and I hope she will go on your list too.
Goodreads
This is both a powerful and moving story that is told with sensitivity and heart. Masterfully crafted, this book is well worth reading. Highly recommended.
LibrayThing
About the author
Lorina Stephens has worked as publisher, editor, freelance journalist for national and regional print media, and is author of seven books both fiction and non-fiction.
Her short fiction has appeared in Canada’s On Spec, Neo-Opsis, Pulp Literature, Polar Borealis, Postscripts to Darkness, Stories of the Deluge, Strangers Among Us, and Sword and Sorceress Ten.
Her book credits include:
The Rose Guardian, Five Rivers Publishing, 2019Caliban, Five Rivers Publishing, 2018Stonehouse Cooks, Five Rivers Publishing, 2011,From Mountains of Ice, Five Rivers Publishing, 2009,And the Angels Sang, Five Rivers Publishing, 2008,Shadow Song, Five Rivers Publishing, 2008,Recipes of a Dumb Housewife, Lulu Publishing 2007,Credit River Valley, Boston Mills Press 1994,Touring the Giant’s Rib: A Guide to the Niagara Escarpment; Boston Mills Press 1993.
Along with author Susan MacGregor, Lorina co-edited Tesseracts 22: Alchemy and Artifacts.
Lorina Stephens is presently working on a new novels, Hekja's Lament. She lives with her husband of five decades in a historic stone house in Neustadt, Ontario.
You can find her at fiveriverspublishing.com and Facebook.
