The novel “Rose Madder” by Stephen King was published for the first time in 1995.

For years, Rose, called Rosie, has been the victim of her husband Norman’s abuses, which even caused her a miscarriage beating her when she was pregnant. When he hits her yet another time, it seems just one of many abuses she has suffered but the next day she finds a drop of blood on the sheets of their bed, lost from her nose after the blow. For the woman it’s like an awakening from a long slumber that convinces her to run away from that horror.

Frantically, Rosie runs away from home and travels to a distant city. Forced to handle herself for the first time in her life and terrified by the possibility that Norman finds it, thanks to a meeting she discovers the existence of a women’s shelter, where she finds help. When she tries to make some money by pawning her engagement ring, in the shop she finds a strange painting of a woman with a rose madder gown that hides much more than it seems.

Stephen King had already addressed in some of his novels the theme of domestic violence but in “Rose Madder” it becomes central. From the beginning the reader gets thrown into Rosie’s nightmare with the brutal violence she was subjected by her husband. The continuous abuses have thrown her into a state of submission that the author describes through the woman’s sensations and emotions.

Rosie’s slumber state is upset by an incident that seems trivial when she finds a drop of blood on her bed’s sheets. At that moment, finally she understands that she has to do something and decides to run away despite the terror that her husband Norman might discover her. To Rosie that decision represents an awakening with an awareness of what she has suffered and a desire to take control of her life for the first time.

The story of Rosie’s hasty escape to another city contains no supernatural elements but is a tragedy unfortunately all too realistic. Through flashbacks, Stephen King makes us understand what nightmare a woman who accepts her husband’s violence can live developing with great depth her psychological state.

In parallel, Stephen King tells the story from Norman’s point of view of showing how he considers Rosie essentially his property to be disposed of at his will. For him being abandoned isn’t the failure of a loving relationship and above all he doesn’t see it as a personal failure. Norman sees Rosie’s run as an unforgivable affront.

Rosie tries to build a new life but always with the fear that her husband finds her and the knowledge that he’s a cop and therefore has the means to track her down. Some meetings help to improve Rosie’s situation and in a shop finds a painting that almost seems endowed with life.

Initially, the painting seems a secondary element in the novel but it becomes increasingly important throughout the story. The woman who is depicted wears a rose madder gown. It’s the central element of the supernatural part of the novel, which becomes crucial towards the end.

The transition from a human drama to a supernatural one makes “Rose Madder” partly uneven. Initially, Rosie lives in a kind of nightmare but it’s realistic while the final part contains dreamlike elements with strong fantasy / horror connotations. In a novel that for the most part could work without supernatural elements the transition is pretty brutal and I think is its only flaw.

For the rest, in “Rose Madder” I found the typical qualities of Stephen King’s stories with a remarkable construction of plot and characters that allow the reader to get immerses in the story. Even in the moments when the pace slows down the author manages to keep the tension thanks to Rosie emotions.

“Rose Madder” is a stand-alone novel but Stephen King’s fans will easily recognize some references to some other of his stories. It can be read easily even by people who have never read anything about the author – some children perhaps? 😉 – because those references are a kind of extras that add another level of reading for fans.

Overall, “Rose Madder” seemed to me a very good novel regardless of its genre. It’s one of the cases where the label of “king of horror” given to Stephen King is restrictive because this work can be appreciated by anybody and for this reason I recommend it to everyone.