Testimony from her daughter put Patricia "Patty" Watts in prison for Aggravated child abuse for five years. The story starts the day Patty is released. She and her daughter, Rose Gold, have seemingly made up, leaving the past behind them but have they forgiven each other for the crimes and the pain they inflicted on one another? The mother supposedly kept her daughter in the dark for sixteen years, and in return, the daughter sent her to prison. Who is right and who is wrong? Who deserves an apology from whom?
Stephanie Wobrel has written an excellent cat and mouse story in which anything is possible, but nothing is reliable. The story alternates between Patty's perspective in the present day and Rose Gold's perspective right after her mother went to prison when she was left alone to fend for herself. A sixteen-year-old girl has spent her entire life in a cocoon weaved by her mother and is now suddenly dumped into the world with very little help. Both viewpoints make excellent points to defend themselves and their actions. I switched sides several times myself while reading it.
There is a specific diabolical tone embedded in the narrative of this book. Patty, with her troubled childhood, is desperate to be needed. The length that she goes to keep her daughter close to her goes out of hand very fast and even borders insanity to a certain extent. Knowing what her mother did, Rose Gold tries to do everything differently. When given an opportunity of affection from her estranged father unknowingly falls into the same path as her mother. I often felt a reflection of Cersei Lannister (from Game of Thrones) in both of these characters. A seeming mundane act in their minds is a grand exhibition of cruelty under society's lens.
Obsession seems to be the book's primary topic, along with many others that I will get to in a second. Patty's obsession with her daughter later transpires into vengeance. Rose Gold's obsession with her looks and self-consciousness drives her to cause harm to people she thinks is responsible for it. Having said all that, despite its flawed characters, it still is a very feminist story exuberantly depicting two strong women who led their lives without anybody's help.
DARLING ROSE GOLD is gripping till the very last page, and I have not read a book that has kept me on the edge of my seat as this has in a very long time. Content warnings include child abuse, verbal violence, prison bullying, infant kidnapping. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good psychological thriller with excellent characters in their full diabolical glory.
Mothers never forget. Daughters never forgive. For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair and practically lived at the hospital. Neighbors did all they could, holding fundraisers and offering shoulders to cry on, but no matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with Rose Gold.
Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar.
After serving five years in prison, Patty gets out with nowhere to go and begs her daughter to take her in. The entire community is shocked when Rose Gold says yes.
Patty insists all she wants is to reconcile their differences. She says she's forgiven Rose Gold for turning her in and testifying against her. But Rose Gold knows her mother. Patty Watts always settles a score.
Unfortunately for Patty, Rose Gold is no longer her weak little darling...
And she's waited such a long time for her mother to come home.
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