Rose Madder (novel) - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

In the prologue, which takes place in 1985, Rose Daniels's husband, Norman, beats her while she is four months pregnant, causing her to suffer a miscarriage. Rose briefly considers leaving Norman but dismisses the idea: Norman is a policeman, and is excellent at finding people. Norman also has a violent temper and was recently accused of assaulting an African-American woman named Wendy Yarrow. The subsequent lawsuit and Internal Affairs investigation has made him even more volatile.

Nine years later, when Rose is making the bed, she notices a drop of blood on the sheet from her nose the night before; Norman had punched her in the face for spilling iced tea on him. Rose realizes that she has passively suffered through Norman's abuse for fourteen years and that if she continues to put up with it, he may well eventually kill her. Rose reluctantly decides to leave Norman, departing from her unidentified city on a bus, with their bank card. Once Norman realizes Rose's flight, he resolves to hunt her down.

Rose arrives in Midwestern city, disoriented and afraid. When she arrives at the bus station, she meets a man named Peter Slowik, who guides her to a women's shelter. There, she quickly makes several friends and, with the help of the shelter's director, gets an apartment and a job as a hotel housekeeper.

Rose decides to pawn her engagement ring, only to learn that it is absolutely worthless. However, she notices a painting of a woman in a rose madder gown and immediately falls in love with it. She trades her ring for the painting, which has no artist's signature. Outside, a stranger asks her to read a passage from a novel, and is so impressed that he offers her a job recording audio books. Then, Bill Steiner, the nice gentleman who owns the pawnshop, asks her for a date; the two begin a relationship.

Rose discovers that that the painting seems to periodically change, and is eventually able to travel through it. On the other side, she encounters a woman called Dorcas, who resembles Wendy Yarrow, as well as the woman in the rose-madder gown. Rose refers to her as "Rose Madder" because of her gown and her evident insanity. Rose Madder asks Rosie to rescue her baby from an underground labyrinth inhabited by a one-eyed bull called Erinyes. Rose does so, and Rose Madder promises to repay her. Rose returns to her world and puts the strange incident at the back of her mind.

Works of Stephen King
Novels
  • Carrie (1974)
  • 'Salem's Lot (1975)
  • The Shining (1977)
  • The Stand (1978)
  • The Dead Zone (1979)
  • Firestarter (1980)
  • Cujo (1981)
  • Christine (1983)
  • Pet Sematary (1983)
  • Cycle of the Werewolf (1983)
  • The Talisman (1984; with Peter Straub)
  • It (1986)
  • The Eyes of the Dragon (1987)
  • Misery (1987)
  • The Tommyknockers (1987)
  • The Dark Half (1989)
  • Needful Things (1991)
  • Gerald's Game (1992)
  • Dolores Claiborne (1992)
  • Insomnia (1994)
  • Rose Madder (1995)
  • The Green Mile (1996)
  • Desperation (1996)
  • Bag of Bones (1998)
  • The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999)
  • Dreamcatcher (2001)
  • Black House (2001; with Peter Straub)
  • From a Buick 8 (2002)
  • The Colorado Kid (2005)
  • Cell (2006)
  • Lisey's Story (2006)
  • Duma Key (2008)
  • Under the Dome (2009)
  • Blockade Billy (2010)
  • 11/22/63 (2011)
  • Joyland (2013)
  • Doctor Sleep (2013)
The Dark Tower
series
  • The Gunslinger (1982)
  • The Drawing of the Three (1987)
  • The Waste Lands (1991)
  • Wizard and Glass (1997)
  • Wolves of the Calla (2003)
  • Song of Susannah (2004)
  • The Dark Tower (2004)
  • The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012)
Richard Bachman
novels
  • Rage (1977)
  • The Long Walk (1979)
  • Roadwork (1981)
  • The Running Man (1982)
  • Thinner (1984)
  • The Bachman Books (1985)
  • The Regulators (1996)
  • Blaze (2007)
Short fiction
collections
  • Night Shift (1978)
  • Different Seasons (1982)
  • Skeleton Crew (1985)
  • Four Past Midnight (1990)
  • Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993)
  • Hearts in Atlantis (1999)
  • Everything's Eventual (2002)
  • Just After Sunset (2008)
  • Full Dark, No Stars (2010)
Non-fiction
  • Danse Macabre (1981)
  • Nightmares in the Sky (1988)
  • On Writing (2000)
  • Secret Windows (2000)
  • Faithful (2004; with Stewart O'Nan)
E-books
  • Riding the Bullet (2000)
  • The Plant (2000; unfinished)
  • Ur (2009)
  • Mile 81 (2011)
  • A Face in the Crowd (2012; with Stewart O'Nan)
Screenplays
  • Creepshow (1982)
  • Cat's Eye (1985)
  • Silver Bullet (1985)
  • Maximum Overdrive (1986; also director)
  • Pet Sematary (1989)
  • Sleepwalkers (1992)
  • Cell (2012)
Teleplays
  • Sorry, Right Number (1988)
  • Golden Years (1991)
  • The Stand (1994)
  • The Shining (1997)
  • "Chinga" (1998; with Chris Carter)
  • Storm of the Century (1999)
  • Rose Red (2002)
  • Kingdom Hospital (2004)
  • Desperation (2006)
Collaborations
with musicians
  • Michael Jackson's Ghosts (1997; with Michael Jackson)
  • Black Ribbons (2010; with Shooter Jennings)
  • Ghost Brothers of Darkland County (2012; with John Mellencamp)
Graphic novels
  • Creepshow (1982)
  • The Dark Tower (2007–)
  • The Stand (2008–2012)
  • The Talisman (2009–2010)
  • American Vampire (2010)
  • N. (2010)
  • Road Rage (2012)
Related articles
  • Unpublished and uncollected works by Stephen King
  • List of adaptations of works by Stephen King
  • Books about Stephen King
  • Tabitha King
  • Joe Hill
  • Owen King
  • Peter Straub
  • Rock Bottom Remainders
  • Dollar Baby
  • Jerusalem's Lot
  • Castle Rock, Maine
  • Derry, Maine
  • The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red
  • Book
  • Category
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
Novels
  • The Gunslinger
  • The Drawing of the Three
  • The Waste Lands
  • Wizard and Glass
  • Wolves of the Calla
  • Song of Susannah
  • The Dark Tower
  • The Wind Through the Keyhole
Short stories
  • "The Gunslinger"
  • "The Way Station"
  • "The Oracle and the Mountains"
  • "The Slow Mutants"
  • "The Gunslinger and the Dark Man"
  • "The Little Sisters of Eluria"
Comics
  • The Gunslinger Born
  • The Long Road Home
  • Treachery
  • The Sorcerer
  • Fall of Gilead
  • Battle of Jericho Hill
  • The Journey Begins
  • The Little Sisters of Eluria
  • The Battle of Tull
  • The Way Station
  • The Man in Black
Characters
Ka-tets
  • Roland Deschain
  • Jake Chambers
  • Eddie Dean
  • Susannah Dean
  • Oy
  • Father Callahan
  • Cuthbert Allgood
  • Alain Johns
  • Jamie De Curry
The Red
  • Crimson King
  • Randall Flagg
  • John Farson
  • Mordred Deschain
  • Maerlyn's Rainbow
  • Rhea of the Cöos
  • Eldred Jonas
  • Andy the Messenger Robot (Many Other Functions)
Others
  • Patrick Danville
  • Stephen King
  • Sheemie Ruiz
  • Blaine the Mono
  • Calvin Tower
  • Dinky Earnshaw
  • Andrew Quick
  • Steven Deschain
  • Ted Brautigan
Races
  • Can-toi
  • Old Ones
  • Slow mutants
  • Taheen
  • Vampires
Places
  • All-World
  • Devar-Toi
  • Lud
  • Calla Bryn Sturgis
Organizations
  • North Central Positronics
  • Sombra Corporation
  • Tet Corporation
Glossary
  • Ka
  • Slo-Trans
  • Gan
Related books
  • 'Salem's Lot
  • The Stand
  • The Talisman
  • Skeleton Crew
  • It
  • The Eyes of the Dragon
  • Insomnia
  • Rose Madder
  • Desperation
  • The Regulators
  • Bag of Bones
  • Hearts in Atlantis
  • Black House
  • Everything's Eventual
  • From a Buick 8

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