I’ve hit a bit of a reading slump lately and struggled to get through a single chapter once I’ve eventually managed to pick up a book BUT this had been on my TBR list for so long it was actually a bit rude to skip past it yet again, so I began to read it on Sunday and by the following Saturday I had finished the entire book-I was so gripped by Wrobel’s writing style, plot and characters that I simply couldn’t put it down! I even read it while sat on my boyfriends sofa totally ignoring the three dogs and their mischief (which is totally unheard of!)!
The Recovery of Rose Gold is a phenomenal book that alternates narratives between Rose Gold in the past and present, as well as her abusive mother Patty (again, in the past and present). Rose Gold was a victim of Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (FDIA), more commonly known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSP) (think Gypsy-Rose Blancharde but without parental murder but a huge revenge plot!) and Rose Gold not only survived the abuse from her mother Patty BUT she testified against her in court and then fours years later went on to forgive her mother. Or so she had the world believe.
I really enjoyed how strongly the characters were written and the varying narratives and time hops were easy to follow and digest in order to pain the picture that Wrobel has worked so hard for the reader to see. I found it really interesting how Rose Gold actually developed Munchausen Syndrome herself (pretending she had an illness of her own accord) in a desperate bid to join her “other family” on a trip to Yellow Stone National Park and as you read on, you start to see that Rose Gold isn’t so much as forgiving her mother but is actually setting her up for highly intricate, and frankly pretty perfect, stone cold and long overdue revenge!
Anyone who has followed the case of Gypsy-Rose Blancharde will highly enjoy this compelling read, as will those who have followed other high profile MSP cases around the world such as the case of Marybeth Tinning (who lost 9 of her children in the 70’s and 80’s), Lacey Spears (whose 5yr old son passed away from overdosing via salt in his NG feeds in 2014), and British Lisa Hayden Johnson (whose son was very premature and Lisa enjoyed the attention so much that she had everyone believe he had a severe food allergy and was tube fed as a result and she spent years spiking his feeds).
The Recovery of Rose Gold is literally like a MSP case crossed with Gone Girl and was so compelling! Not often would I rave about a subject so harrowing, but the twist really has me and that for me was the making of the book! And I truly cannot recommend this read enough!
About the Author
Wrobel is a Chicago native who has spent the last few years living in Britain (lucky us!) with her husband and their dog. She has previously worked as a creative copywriter for a variety of advertising agencies before turning her hand at writing novels. The Recovery of Rose Gold (or Darling Rose Gold in the US) was her first novel and was published in March 2020 (the height of the Covid-19 global pandemic) and has been quickly followed by her second novel, This Might Hurt, which will be released in March of 2022 (which I really can’t wait for!).
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