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Thorn On The Rose (2010)

by Joy Dettman(Favorite Author)

4.32 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Pan Macmillan Australia

series

A Woody Creek Novel

review 1: Oh Lord, does anyone have worse luck than poor Jenny Morrison? Or, for that matter, better fecundity? In the next book I fear she'll sit on a dunny seat vacated by a man five minutes earlier and come out knocked up with triplets. Goodness, what a womb on her. I couldn't put this book down, of course. The Woody Creek miseries are so addictive, but they're leavened beautifully by good humour and a sort of stoic endurance shared by all the characters. For her utter haplessness, Jenny is still a lovely lass and a pleasure to read about. You certainly root for her. (It's just such a shame that half the blokes do, too.) Gertrude remains a triumph. Ditto Sissy - although I sort of missed her dumb malignancy once she embarked on her serial house-guesting. Hope she'll be back in fo... morerce next book, and with a bastard of her own as just deserts. Loved the whole Sydney section and especially Myrtle, who deserved a good throttling at one point, but luckily came good. Shocking end for Amber and Norman - yet very fitting. I suspect Amber will be back like a rash though. Can't keep a good lunatic down. Joy Dettman loves a startling return, does she? This book was littered with 'em! Can't complain though, I've always been of the camp that celebrates coincidences as plotting devices when used with boldness and aplomb. Clearly Joy is, too. She's one of the best writers in Australia. I just wish more people would start saying it. Looking forward to 'Moth to the Flame'.
review 2: I enjoyed this story as much as I did the first in this series. It continues the story of Jenny Morrison's life. At 14 after having a child after being raped by the town clowns Jenny ran away to Melbourne, hoping to find her friend who she had been writing to for some time.That was a dead end so she takes refuge with Laurie, who had come to her rescue and seemed like a nice man though he wasn't. He was good to Jenny except that he takes advantage of her and she lets him not knowing what else to do. She finds herself pregnant again and after Laurie is arrested for a robbery Jenny heads home to Woody Creek with the help of a Salvation Army couple.When her grandma Gertrude Foote finds out that Jenny is pregnant again she is not happy and Jenny has decided she does not want to keep this child but when Georgie is born she changes her mind. Jenny stays on at Gertrude's because she has no-where else to go. She is known around town as the town slut, for this and other reasons Jenny does not go into town very much.Her sister Cissy gets engaged to Jim Hooper, who had been Jenny's childhood friend before he had started escorting Cissy and his sister Margaret around. Cissy had had her eyes on Jim for a long tiem, not because she was in love with him but because she wants the money that his family has, which is not such a different idea than her mother Amber had when she married Norman.One night, after going to see "Gone with the Wind" in town Jenny finds herself being bailed up by a local lad and she is frightened when Jim Hooper comes to her rescue. They talk and Jenny tels him he is mad if her married Cissy as she will make his life miserable. Jim thinks about this and finds himself coming down to play cards with Jenny and Jimmy (who lives near Jenny) but of course he is there for another reason. He has fallen in love with Jenny but she does not beieve him but as he is showing Jenny the house that Jim's father is renovating for his marriage they get together and she finds herslf pregnant again. This time she stays at home and they don't find out in town that she has a boy until Margaret Hooper sees him in town one day and finds he is the splitting image of her broher Jim. Margaret is excited that she has a nephew and she wants him so she tells her father and it does not take long until the Hooper family tries to make a move to take little Jimmy away from Jenny.From this Jim (who has joined the army) finds out so he makes plans to meet Jenny in Sydney when he is on leave before being shipped overseas. It takes a lot of talking Jenny into this, because she does not trust Jim anymore than any other male but she goes and they have a great week together. They are styaing in a posh boarding house and when Jim goes off Jenny decides to stay as she has found work as a singer by night and in a factory by day and she loves her life until one night she is pack raped by a group of yanks. For various reasons she does not report the rape to the police. This baby she tries to get rid of but when she goes to the doctor who will perform the abortion she sees that it is old Noah (who used to hand around Woody Creek and he also went to jail for molesting a child), one look at him she can't go through with it. When her land lady eventually finds that she is pregnant she kicks her out which is hard as little Jimmy had become very fond of Mertyl as she looks after him when Jenny is working. Jenny has trouble finding somewhere to live so she come begging back to Mertyl and tells her that she can have this baby when it is born. Over the next 2 months they have a pretend game where Jenny makes Mertyl look like she is pregnant, Jenny has the baby at home and when the birth is registered it's parents will be Mertyl and her husband Robert. After the birth Jenny relucktantly goes back to Woody Creek. A message had been sent a few months back the Jim Hooper (who Jenny had agreed to maarry when she turned 21) is missing is action.Life back in Woody Creek is not easy but she makes the best of it. She settles back at Gerttude's with her 3 children Margo, Georgie and Jimmy. She has lots of trouble from Jim's father who wants Jimmy to be brought up in his home, but as long as Gertrude is there to be her back up Jenny is fine.In the last few paragraphs, there is a rumour that Jimmy Hooper is alive and in hospital, but no-one seems to believe this as no-one goes to see him. A gentle gian Ray King comes back to town for his sister's wedding and Jenny remembers him as the boy who helped her when Cissy was being a bully. They go on a few dates and Ray asks Jenny to marry him - she is very reluctant due to her family circumstances but he says he has not children so her 3 will be fine. She also finds out that Amber and Norman are not her pareants but that her mother died the night she was born. She finds out instead that Amber is her sister.In the mean time Ambere has been sent to a mental home for the murder of her husband Norman and she is also being investigated for the murnders of 2 little girls in Woody Creek. This is when Gertrude has regrets that she did not report what she knew about Amber earlier. Lots of regrets does Gertrue have and I think she should have too.A great story, even though it is sad the characters are all real. Roll on next book less

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