In Search of the Rose Notes

Arsenault follows her well-received debut, The Broken Teaglass, with a compelling psychological mystery, told from the alternating point of view of the 20-something narrator and her confused preteen self. In 1990, 11-year-old Nora and her best friend, 11-year-old Charlotte, spend many hours with their beloved babysitter, 16-year-old Rose Banks, exploring their dreams, watching scary movies, and poring through Time-Life books about the paranormal. Then Rose suddenly disappears. The girls' obsessive efforts to divine what happened eventually lead to the end of their close relationship. Sixteen years later, Rose's body is found, the case reopened. At Charlotte's insistence, Nora, the last person to see Rose alive, returns home to Waverly, Conn., where it strikes her that her old friends have never really moved on; all harbor both questions and secrets about Rose. Instead of dwelling on fear and pain, Arsenault guides the reader through grief, compassion, and understanding in this emotionally complex and deeply satisfying read. (Aug.)