Another book in the Elm Creek Quilts series but this one really does not mention much about quilts. Set in the time of prohibition in wine country in Sonoma and shows what hardship prohibition meant to wine growers and how some were bootleggers. Rosa is in an abusive relationship and runs away with a former boyfriend taking her children with her and they make a new life in California but do not have an easy time of it until they finally purchase a property with vines and a winemaker and Rose learns to make wine. Many people lost their homes and ways to make a living during prohibition. It is quite rare for me to give a book only 2 stars, most that I read are interesting enough to at least rate a 3, but the actions of the characters in this book just kept irritating me to no end.It is set in California in the 1920's, and the poor hero and heroine just keep encountering one difficulty after another. But I felt no sympathy for them because their problems kept stemming from the bad consequences of their own actions.For example:- Rosa started going out with Lars when they were both way too young to know what kind of adults they were going to grow up to be, but by the time she realized that he was an alcoholic, she loved him too much to make it easy to break up with him- Rosa finally refused to marry Lars because of his drinking, but then she found out she was pregnant with his child, and had to quickly marry someone else to cover this up- Rosa had known John Barclay most of her life, and known that he was a bully as a child, but conveniently overlooked this, and thought that he would be a good father for the child that was not his that he didn't know she was carrying (I'm sorry, but you can't marry someone and expect him to believe that when a fully mature baby is born 7 months after you are married, but he never slept with you until the wedding night, that it is his baby)- soon after Rosa and John got married, Rosa realized what a terrible mistake she had made, and that John was not a good person at all (he told Rosa that her parents had disowned her, and told Rosa's mother that Rosa never wanted to see her again - classic abusive behaviour trying to distance the abused from family and friends), but instead of leaving him then, she stayed and had half a dozen children with him, then realized that maybe she should leave, but now it would be too hard because John would fight for custody of the children and probably win, and Rosa couldn't stand the thought of losing her children- after being married for several years to John, she had an affair with Lars which resulted in a baby, and when John found out (several years later) that the child wasn't his, he was very mad and lashed out physically against Rosa (physical abuse is never justified, but it is understandable that a husband would be mad upon learning that your wife had an affair, and that she had foisted someone else's child on you, for a second time!)- when Rosa finally left John, she went in a rainstorm to hide in a cave with her children (two of whom were very sick), necessitating Lars to come and rescue her and the children, and cross a flooding river in which they could have drowned- several of Rosa's children were very sick (4 of them died) with undiagnosed Celiac disease, but even though she realized that the children didn't get sick when they ate corn tortillas and rice&beans, she still kept the children on the diet that one doctor had prescribed of white bread and milk- while Rosa is working at a vineyard that illegally makes and sells wine during Prohibition, she warns the vineyard owner that one man who has come prowling around seems very suspicious, and advises her not to sell him any wine, but the owner does anyway, and he turns out to be a federal agent and pours out all their valuable wine on the ground- when a group of reporters come to the winery to photograph the spilling of the wine, Rosa and her family, instead of hiding out in their cottage until the reporters and cameras are gone, stand out in the open, and get their pictures taken and put in the newspaper, causing her abusive husband to figure out where they are staying and write her nasty letters from prison- Rosa and John buy a farm, but fail to thoroughly inspect it first, and only after taking possession realize that gangsters are renting out one of their barns for an illegal grappa still. They let the gangsters continue to rent out the barn, risking prosecution themselves, because they are afraid that if they tell the gangsters to take a hike, there will be reprisals.- Rosa and Lars buy a vineyard, even though Lars is a recovering alcoholic (seriously, seriously?)And the examples could just go on and on. I didn't feel bad for the characters at all, because they just kept bringing trouble on themselves! I have quite enjoyed many of the author's Elm Creek Quilts novels, but this one just wasn't the same.
What do You think about Sonoma Rose (2012)?
Really enjoyed this book. New insight to prohibition and rounded out the elm creek series.
—cmrbooks
Not one of my favorite Jennifer Chiaverini books, but a good read.
—luniva
