Permanent Rose
by Hilary McKay
Published on September 21st
I so looked forward to revisiting the Casson family in 'Permanent Rose' and was not disappointed. The narrative begins about five weeks after the ending of 'Indigo's Star' and tells the tale of the eponymous Rose in her attempts to renew contact with Tom, her brother Indigo's school friend, and to keep her eldest sister, Caddy, engaged to her fiancū Michael.
In both instances Rose takes drastic and creative action in, for instance, manipulating the truth to her advantage and trying out a little thievery justified by her own quirky logic. Rose's story is very much the tip of the Casson iceberg and I found myself as absorbed and fascinated by the family as ever. I very much enjoyed the metamorphosis of David, the ex- bully whom Rose particularly hates and most of the Cassons find hard to like, which comes about, both in Rose's eyes and in his own, as he strives to befriend her. And the final unravelling of Saffy's history - a scandalous surprise! The various dilemmas of each of the characters, in this richly textured writing, interweave and propel the story to its final satisfying conclusion.
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