The Blue Rose

By: Kate Forsyth

Narrated by: Karen Cass

Viviane de Faitaud has grown up alone at her family’s château, for her father, the Marquis de Valaine, lives at the court of Louis XVI in Versailles. After a hailstorm destroys the château’s orchards, gardens and fields, an ambitious young Welshman, David Stronach, accepts the commission to plan new gardens in the hope of making his name as a landscape designer. However, the love that blossoms between them is doomed: Viviane is betrothed to a duke, and David is forced to leave the property.

In the aftermath, Viviane enters an unhappy marriage and moves to Versailles, while David embarks upon a mission to China to procure the secrets of tea-growing. There, he is inspired by the story of the Blue Rose, a fable of impossible love. Can he and Viviane - a world apart - ever hope to rekindle what they had together?

©2019 Kate Forsyth (P)2019 Aurora Audio Books

A wonderful listen!

As always there is romance, magic and plant lore in her books. 3 of my favorite things! Enjoyed this book while I gardened and cooked. From heartbreak to joy to grief to hope to anticipation. Thoroughly entertained me!

Thorns and Roses

Since seeing her in all her fairytale glory at the 2017 HNScon, I’ve been a huge fan. I honestly feel that Forsyth is getting better and better. This book and Beast are her best, most fully realized integrated historical/fairytale retellings. Hurry and write another!

The Blue Rose is about a Young aristocrat who long’s to escape her cruel world, and how she navigates the unimaginable of the Terror. Meanwhile, her lover, in his desperate search for the unusual flower, takes us to China and back. Lots of history, greatly imagined words, wonderful characters. I couldn’t put it down.

I wanted to like it :/

I had read Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth recently and I absolutely LOVED that so I was excited about reading another historical fiction book by her but I just couldn’t get into this one. I found the love between David and Vivienne hard to buy because it came on so quickly and yet without much passion. It was hard to stay invested. I was riveted by Bitter Greens though so I highly recommend that!

Fantastic!

Fantastic story! Amazing narration! I loved it. I would recommend this to anyone who loves historical settings, relatable characters, and romance.

Love love love

I adored this story. As usual, Kate Forsyth doesn’t disappoint, and thankfully the narrator was wonderful. Do yourself a favour.