That is actually funny.
And a serious historian surely ought to have known better.

The author who writes historically-set mysteries as Barbara Michaels and as
Elizabeth Peters (and is actually an Egyptologist by training) has in several
of her books made roses central to the story. And what's great about that
is that she gets the right roses into the right period, so I suspect that she
actually grows Old Roses.

Jeri

Jeri -

Can you give the titles of these mysteries featuring roses?
Thanks!
Maureen

Most authors have zero control over the cover art.

Amusing, though not surprising, they did not use the right roses.

Books by Barbara Michaels:
* The Master of Blacktower
* Sons of the Wolf
* Ammie Come Home
* Prince of Darkness
* The Dark on the Other Side
* The Crying Child
* Greygallows
* Witch
* House of Many Shadows
* Sea King's Daughter
* Patriot's Dream
* Wings of the Falcon
* Wait for What Will Come
* The Walker in Shadows
* The Wizard's Daughter
* Someone in the House
* Black Rainbow
* Here I Stay
* The Grey Beginning
* Be Buried in the Rain
* Shattered Silk
* Search the Shadows
* Smoke and Mirrors
* Into the Darkness
* Vanish with the Rose
* Houses of Stone
* Stitches in Time
* The Dancing Floor
* Other Worlds

Roses figure prominently in Vanish With The Rose, but they are mentioned in other books.
Plants and gardens wind through the various stories.

Barbara Mertz also writes as Elizabeth Peters

Jeri

It was originally published as "blood and roses: the Paston family in the 15th century". I wonder if the correct roses were on the cover of that one?
apparently it didn't sell very well so they changed the title and cover, and evidently still isn't selling so now it's on sale. Perhaps the next cover will have a picture of fabio and a vestal virgin each with a long stem rose in their teeth, fabio a red one and a white one for the virgin and the subtitle, a love story. of course the publisher might have to change to harlequin.lol!

Jeri -

I would expect no less of Amelia Peabody.

I would expect no less of Amelia Peabody.

:-)
Yes. Amelia would approve, and how can we do less?

There is, btw, a new book.
"LAUGHTER OF DEAD KINGS."

It is 20th-Century, but I found it interesting that the characters are
spending a day at FE-PEA House, near Luxor.
Amelia would be pleased by that, as well.

Jeri

This is an interesting thread to stumble upon.....I am just now reading Barbara Michael's book Vanish with the Rose. Old roses do figure prominently in the book and it is a good read. I was also wondering if it was worth bringing up on this board...if anyone would be interested. Thanks for making it easy.

I LOVE all her Amelia Peabody books. That is what started me on the books she's written as Barbara Michaels. Witch is another good one.

Carole

It seems as though my copy had a much more somber cover than the rosey one at the link above.

Marketing.

Great book, if one is interested in that sort of thing--evolution of the English "legal" system through the lens of one family's rise--predicated on actual letters written at the time.

(not about roses at all)

M

::::This is an interesting thread to stumble upon.....I am just now reading Barbara Michael's book Vanish with the Rose. Old roses do figure prominently in the book and it is a good read.::::

I finished Vanish with the Rose last night. The author must know a little something about roses as by the end of the book they had planted a bed of Austin Roses.

Carole

She (the author, Barbara Mertz) lives in Fredricksburg, VA. I bet she DOES have a garden worth seeing.

Jeri

Speaking of the message not getting out, our local newspaper recently reprinted an AP article about roses by someone called Dean Fosdick. Did you know that "of the many major rose classifications all but the Heritage ... (also called Old Garden, Antique, Heirloom - anything developed before 1867) and species roses are rebloomers"?

grrr.

Yeah, we had one of the "local experts" say in her newspaper column, "the antique roses that are once bloomers, blooming only in the spring"......she was busy raving about modern HT's, David Austin roses and Knockouts and briefly mentioned antiques in this manner.

Letters to the editors, with images, ladies. And a mention of the survivor roses in peoples yards and how important they can be to family history and how we need to share them.

Or else ignorance wins.

Probably the author had very little to do with the cover, though in my experience you often (but not always) get to at least see them before they're published. Still, that may depend on the publishing house and the contract you have with them. The ignorance of which would be appropriate roses probably lies with the cover designer and the people who approve the artwork.

--Ron

Yeah, we had one of the "local experts" say in her newspaper column, "the antique roses that are once bloomers, blooming only in the spring".

*** It may hold true for gardens in harsh-winter climates.
But out here, the roses which have survived with no care for a century or more
are remontant things like Chinas, Teas, and Noisettes. Oh, and Polyanthas.
So when someone in CA writes with certainty that "Old Roses only bloom once,"
I get sorta testy!
Particularly when our remontant Old Roses are flat the easiest roses
to grow under our conditions.

Jeri

AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!!!!
-My response to the book cover.
Lux.

Gean,
I saw the same article and had the same reaction. I went right outside and told all of my August blooming roses (most of them OGR) to stop blooming because the newspaper said so.

lol, Kate. I had the same reaction. When I read the article to the roses out back, they just said "huh?" and ignored me.

I can't figure out whether I just need to say "huh?" and ignore the article or write the newspaper.

What are you going to do?

okay, I wrote a letter to the editor, which I'm sure will be happily ignored. They'll probably just say, huh?

oh, well. made me feel better.

You're a better person than me. I put that on my "to do list" which presently uses the greater part of my purse and my work desk.....it has items on it dating back to college in 1983

lol, Kate. I had that list too, except I lost it. No longer responsible for things on a list that I can't find ... :)