The Rose Garden (Tracy Rees)

I always look forward to Tracy Rees’s books and this one was another very good read.
The story takes place in the late 1890s in London and brings together the lives of three very different women. Mabs is poor and works as a labourer on the canal, dressed as a boy, to help her family survive. Olive is the daughter of an extremely wealthy couple. She is unmarried and unconventional. Abigail is a wealthy lady who married “below” her rank and suffers the consequences. These three women have in common that they want to lead better lives, which has a different meaning for each of them. The book depicts the life in London in those days, from the three perspectives, as well as around the topics of women rights and status, class differences, racism, psychological abuse, wealth and poverty and the tough condition of orphans.
In spite of all the difficulties and setbacks our characters experience, they have a deep bond of friendship between them. This creates a very warm sentiment throughout the book and recalls how friendship can transcend all social divides if only we let it do so.
I very much enjoyed the story and the writing. I cannot wait for the next Tracy Rees story.