The Gold Rose

The Gold Rose tells the stories of three women who are part of a clandestine rescue organization. It takes us through the lives of Charlotte, Pinkie, and Babe, and details for us how they got to where they are today.
The book opens with Charlotte, stranded in a bus station overnight after a disastrous encounter. She has plenty of time to think back over two of the assignments that meant the most to her: Pinkie and Babe. Their stories then unfold through Charlotte's memories.

I can't decide whose story tugs on my heart more. Babe, the daughter of missionaries to China, is divided from her family during the Communist revolution. She is again separated from the family in whose care she was left, sent to another family and compelled to live as a boy. As conditions under Communist rule become more oppressive and her host family falls more in line with the Party, Babe realizes she can't stay, and she strikes out on her own to make a long journey in hopes of being reunited with her parents.

Pinkie is alone on a deserted road, a toddler whose parents are both dead nearby. Angelina, the girlfriend of a Texas oilman, takes Pinkie to raise as her own. But in a cruel twist, Pinkie is kidnapped by a grasping, greedy Roma woman hoping to use Pinkie for her own gain and taken far from the only mother she knows. Can anyone restore Pinkie to Angelina, or is she lost forever?

Jodi Lea Stewart takes us on a vivid journey through pre-communist China into the Revolution, Mexico and South America, and the United States. She creates places and people that you can almost see, almost reach out and touch, and she describes parts of history that I hadn't given much thought to. What was it like to live in China as the Communists came to power? Would I have been able to withstand the pressure to conform, or would I, too, have given in like Babe's host family? If I were Pinkie, going from bad to worse, could I have ever found it in me to trust again?

The tension in each character's story is compelling, and you can't help but love Pinkie and Babe. I could also relate to Charlotte, raised in the South as she was. Her story may not be quite as dramatic and intense as the other two, but she has suffered her own hurts as well. Stewart's portrayal of people deeply affected by trauma, with that trauma impacting how they continue to live and relate to others, is very realistic.

There is heartache and difficulty here, but the story ends on an upswing. The ROSE Organization offers hope where there was none and help even when providing that assistance is challenging. Makes you think that deep down, there are still decent people left who want to make the world a better place. This was an enjoyable read for me, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction.