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After 14 years of being beaten, Rose Daniels wakes up one morning and leaves her husband — but she keeps looking over her shoulder, because Norman has the instincts of a predator. And what is the strange work of art that has Rose in a kind of spell?

So, here we are at my latest Stephen King re-read, one I knew I would have a great time with because it is one of my favourite novels of his.

Rose Madder is an emotive look at domestic violence but given the magical King touch -  putting aside the more supernatural elements of the plot, this is a horrific look at what can happen within a marriage, an awful truth that often no-one sees. One day Rose wakes up – and that is exactly it. She has endured her Husband’s madness by sleepwalking through life. Until one day a single drop of blood on the pillowcase changes everything..

This could have been a stunning yet simple tale of a woman running from a human monster – a kind of “Sleeping with the Enemy” if you like but of course with Stephen King its NEVER going to be simple and Rosie has a lot more to face in her future than just the idea that she will be forever looking over her shoulder. One day she finds a painting – a fairly innocuous scene, still it has power. It may also save her life but at what cost?

I really don’t have the words to describe how Mr King’s writing digs into my soul..sometimes more than others but always to a certain degree. The mundane things in life – in this case, a painting, a tree, a colour (the Rose Madder of the title) all come to wonderful life in his hands and become things of beauty and occasional terror. Its what he does best. This novel is no exception.

Filled once more with characters you can root for, ones you can fear and ones you can love, I  again got a great deal out of reading this. And once again I am still finding something new each time I read. This is why I will read them all again and again. Almost perfect.

Happy Reading Folks!