review by Maggie Perkovic on show
This is an interesting little story set in 1929 with two girls in their twenties sharing a flat in Londonand enjoying the buzz therof. Joyce an orphan works in an office while American born Marsha who is financially better off is free to visit retaurants and theatres and happy to pay for Joyce to accompany her with their assorted friends. Things change drastically when Joyce is found to be the heiress to the helmingham estate in Suffolk as the present one has been lost in the brazilian jungle and presumed dead. She leaves her flat and takes up residence in this beautiful house but finds herself quite out of her comfort zone, as she is now reponsible for her estate, her village her servants and everything which goes with being the Squire!!! It is very hard for her and the only friend she makes is the gardeners's wife who is trying to grow the rose in the title of the book. This friendship is frowned on by the locals, and when she invites her London friends down for a weekend it gets worse, as they insult her servants and mock the locals. Her erstwhile friend Marsha is so jealous of her new status they nearly come to blows!!! Another complication is Laurence a war time compatriot of the Head Gardener Tom who is acting as chauffeur but himself concealing a secret while he tries to come to terms with post war trauma after serving in the Great War. Joyce begins to wonder where her happiness lies . a good story, very enjoyable.
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