Gathering Roses

By Ellen Weisberg

Book Overview

By Ellen Weisberg

ISBN: 9781847471185
Published: 2007
Pages: 366
Key Themes: North American author, fiction, relationships

Description

'Gathering Roses' is a young adult novel with a much wider appeal. Introverted and studious Lori Solomon meets nonconformist Grateful Dead follower, Nick Warren, and soon finds herself on a seemingly endless carnival ride with him. Although not always apparent to Lori, it is Nick's precarious health condition that seems to underlie his outlook on life, influencing what he expects to get out of it as well as what he feels he needs to put into it.

Ellen's takes a modern and novel appoach to writing fiction, as well as using prose she also uses email conversations to tell her story. This is a delightful book, a most enjoyable read.

About the Author

Ellen Weisberg has a Ph.D. in pharmacology and is actively involved in leukemia research. She also does part-time weather broadcasting for radio. A member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Ellen's writing credentials include a short story, entitled 'Fruit of the Vine', and poem, entitled 'If Only', published in 'PKA's Advocate', and a children's U.S. geography book, entitled 'Friends and Mates in Fifty States', co-authored by her husband, Ken Yoffe, and which is being published by Minnesota-based Galde Press. Finally, Ellen is an illustrator for e-cards and print cards developed by Mountain Mist Productions.

Book Extract

Lori's internship at the radio station continued. She was assigned to start working some of her weekend shifts apart from Nick, and instead alongside a young woman named Helga. Like Lori, Helga had limited experience in radio and was training as she worked on the job. The conversations Lori had with her were short and focused only on the tasks at hand, which made for a very different atmosphere than the one Lori had grown accustomed to working alongside Nick. It also made for an atmosphere that she didn't enjoy nearly as much.

It was the evening after a long day of battling stream after stream of whiny complaints from Prima Donna talk show hosts, while taking care to press all the right buttons and shift levers in a timely fashion. Lori settled comfortably in her seat and looked over at Helga, ready to reflect on what she thought was a decent day's work, when the control room door opened. A frazzled, bearded black man stood a few feet away from the girls, pinching an inkless pen tightly between his thumb and forefinger. He tossed the pen angrily into a nearby garbage can.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1847471188
• ISBN13: 9781847471185
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: Chipmunka Publishing
• Length: 362 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Contemporary, coming-of-age story

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (8/07) Lori met Nick during her college internship at a radio station; she worked closely with Nick, the morning DJ. He was an enigma, a challenge, something to acquire. His demeanor was cold and unemotional. Lori always pushed herself to extreme limits, always wanted to attain the unattainable. After she got it, she usually found she no longer wanted it, feeling that if she could achieve it, then it must not be good enough. His aloofness was what made Nick attractive to her; he was the unattainable. Lori saw Nick as a challenge and she would go to any length to acquire him. Nick has health problems which influence his dark outlook on life. "Gathering Roses," by Ellen Weisberg, is a story for young adults. She successfully describes the lives of young professionals and the struggle they face in today's world. Women face struggles with self-image and isolation. These are situations young women endure, but keep hidden, preferring not to talk about them. Ms. Weisberg demonstrates how technology, the internet and email have an impact on the daily life of the characters. There are email messages throughout the book from Lori and her friends. They add humor and insight to the storyline. While email may be quick and easy, it has its own set of communication problems, it does not allow you to hear a person's voice or see their face so that you can judge their emotions. This is a very contemporary, coming-of-age story. Lori is coming to accept who she is. I could see her growing and maturing throughout the book. This is a book of relationships; it steps beyond the issue of gender and reaches to the heart of interaction. Ms. Weisberg is a very talented author. I recommend "Gathering Roses" to young adults.

Explore a wide range of emotions with a turbulent journey through the human heart

Gathering Roses merges the timeless concepts of love, self-image, the need for security, to belong and feel loved, while also looking for adventure, something that lifts us beyond the mundane. These basic and timeless themes are woven into the recent and perhaps fleeting superficial elements of modern society, comprising shift work, career flexibility, mobility, and the wide cross section of people we inevitably meet along the way. Making full use of modern communication media, the increasing use of emails to maintain and drive relationships is explored effectively to illustrate the deeper feelings of the characters involved by creating opportunities for people to communicate in a time frame that allows rapid responses, but with more time to articulate responses than face to face conversation allow, and with less of the etiquette restraints of social gatherings. The opportunity to fully articulate ones darkest and most intimate feelings are thus allowed to fully expand. I found the emotional confessions astonishingly vivid and empathetic. The author displays an exemplary depth in understanding human feelings. At times the story goes very close to the bone and is therefore a welcome addition to modern literature for readers looking for a sign that they are not alone in this chaotic modern world. I found myself caught up in the development of the relationships, and really wanting to know how on earth the heroine would escape the trap(s) she found herself in. The development and resolution of these problems are managed in a masterfully subtle fashion, in a way that reflects the outcome of so many relationships and segments of our lives.

A real page turner

This is an entrancing book. I usually read for 30 minutes before bed, but found myself unable to stop with Gathering Roses. I read the whole book in two nights. The main character, Lori goes through many conflicting feelings but throughout remains true to herself. The ending is heartwrenching. A must read!!!

LOVED this book!1

This book is GREAT! I loved reading the IMs between Lori and Nick and I could just feel her pain and can relate to the push-pull dynamic of their relationship. I also enjoyed Rutherford's dark and bleak emails. I was sad to have finished it so quickly as I felt like I really knew the characters. I highly recommend this book to all!

Hard to put down...

this book! Funny, but gut wrenching in it's ability to capture those hard-to-describe feelings we all get when dealing in both romantic and non-romantic relationships, this book is absolutely worth every penny.