WHAT ROSE FORGOT
Nevada Barr
Minotaur Books
ISBN
Hardcover
Thriller

I will be honest and upfront (as always, of course) that I do not reflexively reach for novels by Nevada Barr on a regular basis. This is not to say that her Anna Pigeon novels are not worthy of the adulatory attention they receive. I assure you that the contrary is true. That said, I was strongly intrigued by the premise of WHAT ROSE FORGOT, Barr’s newly published stand-alone novel, when I first learned of it months before publication. It surpasses all of my expectations. This is not only a well-written, addicting work but also an important one.

The “Rose” of the title is a seasoned citizen named Rose Dennis. It takes Rose a bit of time to remember not so much her name but rather who she is. That would be, in no particular order, and among other things, a former resident of New Orleans, a current resident of Charlotte, NC, a “lucrative” painter of some renown, the widow of her beloved Harley, and the grandmother of Mel, the most adorable pre-adolescent female who ever walked the face of the earth. Rose, as WHAT ROSE FORGOT begins, has somehow managed to haphazardly escape from a so-called “memory care” unit in Longwood, a tony assisted living facility. She is the walking definition of “befuddled” when we first meet her. She is hardly dressed for company, unsure of how she got outside, precisely where she is, why she is there, and where she has been. Rose is quickly gathered up and returned to the protective if not warm and loving embrace of Longwood. She discerns with what little clarity she has (and which increases once she begins squirreling away her pills) that she doesn’t belong there, notwithstanding what (almost) everyone tells her. Yes, her behavior is bizarre, but it always has been, and as her mental haziness clears in direct correlation to the increase in the number of little pills she collects she quickly becomes convinced that her confusion is due to her medicational regimen rather than the rapid-onset Alzheimer’s Disease with which she has been diagnosed. It isn’t long before Rose executes another escape, with this one benefiting from more planning and some assistance from her reclusive but extremely capable sister to her granddaughter. Uppermost in Rose’s mind, besides not getting caught, is who is behind her medical incarceration. It could be literally anyone from her two stepsons and/or their ex-wives to her deceased husband’s ex-wife to...well, almost anyone. Rose eventually figures things out in a manner which while not entirely believable is extremely entertaining, and sets out to right wrongs and turn tables. The odds are long, but the moral of WHAT ROSE FORGOT is that one should never sell elderly folks short.

WHAT ROSE FORGOT should be required reading for anyone over sixty. Many of those so situated have loving, caring children, but it’s always a good idea to keep your head up and watch for the manifestation of signs and symptoms. WHAT ROSE FORGOT doesn’t forget any of them. Strongly recommended.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
© Copyright 2019, The Book Report, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Rose Forgot was such a charming mystery by Nevada Barr. Rose, terrified and confused, awakes from a groggy sleep to find herself alone with no recollection of how she arrived in the middle of the woods. When she is "captured" by nurses from a nearby memory care facility, she realizes that she has been admitted as a patient and has escaped. She struggles to shake away the fogginess of her mind and finds herself plotting another escape. She is sure that she is not meant to be there and is adamant that she does not have dementia.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this delightful tale, following Rose through her journey to uncover the truth of her intended demise. Nevada Barr, as usual, impressed me with her eloquent writing, casual humor, and endearing characters. I highly recommend this light mystery read to anyone looking for a quick, easy, and adorable book.

I was shocked as to how much I loved this book. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what next problem Rose Dennis (escaped dementia patient---or is she really afflicted with this disease?) was going to get into or create on her own.

As other's have mentioned, you really do need to suspend disbelief for this book...I know that many women of a certain age can do beautiful things, but this is a woman who has been ill and drugged and...well I won't get into some of my issues or rather, Roses issues since they would be spoilers!!!

I did not figure out who was behind all of this and was quite surprised; unlike other reviewers. It was a joy for me to see someone of this age, and her grand-daughter working together to uncover what was going on.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys deep mysteries, action, and books that make you really think.

*ARC provided by the publisher.

One thing I really liked about this book is the older, feisty, clever woman, Rose Dennis, who spends the book trying to figure out who wants her out of the picture and how she ended up in the memory unit of a nursing home in the first place. After a foiled escape, Rose is determined to succeed next time—and there will be a next time. Rose begins faking taking the pills they give her, figuring they may just be poison or something as nefarious. When she escapes, she enlists the help of her teen age granddaughter and computer-hacker sister to figure out what is really going on. Of course, the obvious underlying reason is the age-old “follow the money” theme, but will it prove to be the reason here? In this story, work along with Rose and her helpers to plough through a myriad of clues and events to finally determine what exactly is going on.

This is a pretty good story. The beginning was a bit confusing and difficult to follow/read/understand, but things quickly got better. I thoroughly enjoyed Rose and her helpers. I do enjoy a strong woman, and one who is older (as I am) made things even better. The story line moves along nicely. The plot is an interesting one. I think the idea of someone falsely committing an older person to some sort of institution is quite relevant today, with our aging population. I have read several of the author’s other books, mostly the ones set in national parks. This is a great addition to them. I think most people who enjoy a good mystery, working with the main character through clues and events will enjoy this one. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

Excellent story, I really enjoyed this book. Definitely something different and kept my interest. I like an original storyline and this delivers with a likeable character and a good conclusion as well.

This is a very entertaining "grandma's gone wild" story that will have you in stitches, have you biting your nails, and rooting for Gigi every step of the way!

Rose Dennis, Gigi to her granddaughter, is a yoga posing, medication humming, crime plotting 67-year-old woman who is placed in an elder care home against her knowledge and will. The plot of the story is how she escapes the home, fights off a hit man, and Ms. Marple's her way into solving more than the crime against her, but other residents at the home.

I urge you to keep reading through the slow beginning and delve into a hilarious and thought-provoking adventure that will encourage women of a certain age to keep themselves fit in case they have to break out of a nursing home.

Thank you to Ms. Barr, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book with no expectation of a positive review.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Nevada Barr, and Minotaur Books. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I looked many times for this novel on my phone and downloaded it more than once, but it was not available on my Kindle Cloud. Come to find out (last weekend), the title had changed to/or/from The World Rose Forgot so I was able to read and review. I love Nevada Barr, both her series and single stories, so I was really pleased to find What Rose Forgot. I have read this novel of my own volition and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.

This was a midnight-oil-burner of a book. It is an extraordinary look into the world of Rose - who awakens tied down in a lock-down ward of the Longwood Memory Care Unit after a virulent bout with the flu. She has no memory of being in this care home the last couple of months, no memory of the flu, no memory of the death of her beloved husband. The only hint she has that her world has imploded is overhearing the doctor tell the nurse that they must re-start her dementia medications at half strength for a day before going back to full doses. She then overhears the night nurse tell others to medicate her at her regular dosage. Did Karen just forget? Rose decides no more meds for her for a while and hides them behind the kleenex box. She is later able to escape, but she is easily recaptured as she doesn't really know where she is.

Her second escape is much better planned, and with the help of her teenage granddaughter, she is able to hide out and attempt to figure out what is going on. But will she find the key to her dilemma before those trying to kill her can achieve their goal?

This is a great story! I loved Rose - and Mel - from the get-go, both feisty and colorful and very determined to figure out what is going on. Even the bad guys have some saving graces, and there are characters you just automatically befriend in your mind. There are places - on the roof of Rose's house comes immediately to mind - where you get caught up in the action and don't see the hoot of laughter coming. This is a book to recommend to friends and family of all ages. This is another excellent tale from Nevada Barr.

4 1/2 stars

What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr read like two novels in one: the before and the after.

The before is a frightening story of what happens when an older person loses control of their life through no fault of their own. How they can be manipulated. How they can be placed in a facility and kept on drugs that reduce their mental faculties. (Mind you, this can also be done to anyone who is deemed mentally incompetent.)

The after is what happens when that older woman escapes the facility, is aided by her precocious granddaughter, and begins to turn things on their ear.

The first part of the novel is frightening and the second part reminded me of a cozy and humorous mystery series from the 1960/70s (I can neither remember the title, author, nor when it was exactly written) about two old ladies who have funny adventures and solve mysteries. If you remember what that series might be, let me know.

However, Barr’s What Rose Forgot is not exactly a cozy mystery; it’s far more smartly written than that and embarks on minor philosophical and political thought that might now be for everyone. (The bad reviews seemed to be from folks whose political/philosophical persuasions were of a different ilk.)

I enjoyed What Rose Forgot. I liked that a feisty older woman could survive, manipulate criminals, and a system and population that makes older people feel as if they are unimportant or, perhaps worse, non-existent.

Barr’s writing is, as always, well done with the pacing just fast enough to keep the reader swishing those pages. The plotting was also good. While an event here or there might have tested credibility, I was willing to go along.

The relationship between Rose and her granddaughter, Mel, was magical. They shared a great sense of humor. In fact, I loved how much humor Barr integrated into the last third of the book with interactions between Rose and Rose’s older sister, Marion, an anti-social computer guru, as well as Mel and Royal, Mel’s good friend, and another character who will go unmentioned because—spoiler.

If you are a Nevada Barr fan of her Anna Pigeon mysteries, you may enjoy What Rose Forgot, although, except for the beginning few chapters, What Rose Forgot is not as hard-edged as the Anna Pigeon mysteries.

If you’re new to Nevada Barr, like mysteries about an older heroine kicking ass, doing some perhaps super-hero shenanigans, then you might enjoy this book.

If you are given to rants over political content with which you disagree and cannot read beyond those interjections, save yourself high blood pressure and pass this one by.

Does that cover it? I think so.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I would absolutely love to meet Rose Dennis, Nevada Barr’s heroine in WHAT ROSE FORGOT. Such is the strength of Barr’s characterization that Rose feels so real she could be living next door. Of course, I’d prefer that the events of the plot not be taking place so close!

Rose is a 68 year old woman who has escaped from a memory care facility in the memorable start to the book. She had contracted the flu which, along with the time away from the facility, had begun to flush the drugs she had been taking from her system. It was enough for her to become conscious of her placement in the facility and to realize she needs a more permanent departure after she is returned to it. She has a great sense of humor in spite of a variety of attempts on her life, and Barr writes surprisingly lighthearted dialog for her…surprising given her predicament. Rose’s active yoga practice has kept her body supple, a key element in her survival, and the creative mind that has made her a highly successful artist provides her with unpredictable plans and behavior.

As Rose attempts to discover what is happening to the wealthy residents of Longwood who have been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, she is aided by an agoraphobic sister and an intrepid pre-teen granddaughter. About midway through the book, Rose has discovered enough about the conspiracy she has found herself in the center of that she is able to turn the tables and go on the offensive. This very welcome change in the trajectory of the plot is rewarding to both the reader and to Rose.

Barr does her usual magic in bringing the characters to life that we’ve grown accustomed to in the Anna Pigeon series, while she provides us with a fast-paced plot that includes several intense action-packed scenes. When the resolution comes, it comes quickly. Ends for each of the characters are wrapped up in an epilogue. Since even the minor characters have been so well portrayed, Barr plays fair by letting us know how both villains and heroes fare.

The book is an unusual mix of light-hearted repartee and darkly intense scenes. It is a standalone, which is sad for this reader, who would love to meet Rose again.

This was an interesting tale of a dementia stricken elderly women turned into a super hero grandmother trying to prove her sanity while taking down a care home. I did find this to be a rather slow burn. I also found it to be kind of a far fetched story.

The story follows Rose an elderly women living in a care home with dementia. One night she was found wondering in the woods and returned to the care home. Rose doesn't remember living here out why she is here but feels like she doesn't belong and they ate poisoning her. Rose comes up with a plan to escape the care home. As she comes out of the medical induced fog she is determined to prove she isn't crazy. She teams up with her granddaughter and her sister to try and figure out what this care home is all about. That's when the crazy adventure begins. When i say crazy I really mean insane adventure this grandmother endures to prove she's sane. The lengths the granddaughter goes to support her grandmother was very heartfelt. The ending was something I didn't see coming it was a whole lot of suspense and craziness compared to the slowness of the rest of the story.

This is one book that will leave you thinking could this really happen in real life?

This is a "WOW" book that will keep you on the edge of your seat to conclusion ! This was such a exciting read I was unable to put this book down. What a story this is. Thank you to Net Galley and to the publisher. My review opinion is my own.

Rose is in her sixties when she wakes up to everyone's worse nightmare. She has been committed to a Alzheimer's Unit in a nursing home by her family for reasons unknown to her. She is sure she does not have Alzheimer's as she is in full charge of her own mind. She has zero memory of how she ended up in the facility and soon realizes she has been heavily drugged . She soon overhears a conversation between staff that she will die soon and knows she must break out. She fakes taking her meds and escapes.

I was on the edge of my seat with her escape cheering for her all the way. Then when someone comes to murder her at her house she knows a conspiracy to murder her has been planned.. She realizes she has no allies in her own family as they were the ones to legally commit her to the facility and the police will not help her as they want to find her to recommit her. She is determined to find out why and fights for her life as she grows stronger every day and realizes what others are planning against her is her demise . The only help she can trust is her recluse sister Marion who happens to be a computer hacker and her thirteen-year old granddaughter Mel, and Mel's friend Royal, Together they band together to find out why her family wants her killed and who is behind the conspiracy against her. I love the charcter of Marion and the relationship between feisty savvy Rose and her granddaughter. Rose is a great charcters who will preserve in the end and win her life back no matter what it cost her . I hope the author will write of Rose again in further books as this is one of my favorite charcters . I appreciate that the author touched on senior issues throughout this book with sensitivity and humor..

This is a edge of your seat thrilling read that I could not put down ! It is one of the most exciting thrillers I have read this year. I highly recommend this book to all that love mysteries and great thrillers. Well done to the author !

What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr is not what I expected. I expected to read a thriller, about Rose a women in her 60's, trying to remember how she got locked up in an Alzheimer's Unit in a nursing home, with people out to get her. What a pleasant surprise. I found this book to be unique, and often made me chuckle. I highly recommend this book, you won't be disappointed.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. Thank you.

Just absolutely marvelous! I am a big fan of Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series, so when I saw she had written this standalone, I was eager to read it. It did not disappoint! Rose is a delightful protagonist. An artist in her 60s, Rose comes out a fog to find herself captive in a nursing home without the slightest idea how she got there or why she should be there. Once her faculties return, Rose is eager to go back to her normal life, if only she could remember it. But once she does -WOW! This is a magnificent story about how young and old alike are capable of more than we expect and suspect and it is such fun to watch Rose and her teen-aged granddaughter, Mel, investigate the mystery. And there are just some great lines like "the moment a scientist 'discovered' a phenomenon - germs, black holes, the internet, cell phones, subatomic particles - it was instantly transmuted from magic to science." Gotta love that point of view and Rose for having it.

Quick, funny, engaging mystery about 69-year old memory-car facility escapee Rose Dennis. Quite the unique story of Rose who wakes up in the woods, completely confused and is quickly sent back to her memory care facility after being found where she re-plots her escape, with some help of course. Rose is funny and eccentric and made this book quite an enjoyable read! Her adventure is well worth your time and will definitely provide some laugh out loud moments. Kept me interested from the first page--engrossing AND very entertaining! Thanks so much for the ARC!!!

I started reading Nevada Barr's National Parks / Anna Pigeon mystery novels last year and quickly fell in love with Barr's complex characters and beautiful descriptive writing. WHAT ROSE FORGOT is the first stand-alone novel by Barr that I've read, though she's written several (they're all on my TBR!).

All of the great aspects of Barr's writing that I appreciate in her mystery series are in this latest book, along with some unique elements that really made it stand out for me.

Rose Dennis wakes up disoriented, with no memory, standing in a hospital gown in an unrecognizable neighborhood. Turns out, she's run away from a nursing home, but she has no memory of being committed to one in the first place. When her whereabouts are discovered, she fights the orderlies tooth and nail, dead set on not being returned to a place she doesn't remember and is sure she doesn't belong in.

She feels betrayed by both her family and her body as she struggles against the restraints and the sedation she's subjected to once back under the care of the nursing home. Is she going crazy? Does she really have Alzheimer's like her family and the nurses say she does? What is going on?

Just as she starts to resign herself to her fate, Rose hears one of the hospital administrators say she won't make it through the week, which convinces Rose something sinister is afoot. She starts hiding her meds and planning her escape. But once she's out, how can she convince her family she's not demented? After all, isn't paranoia and multiple escape attempts pretty on brand for someone who's off their rocker?

Rose elicits the help of her computer-hacking hermit sister, Marion, and 13-year-old granddaughter, Mel, to help solve the mystery of what happened and why, but their search will lead them into even more danger as they accidentally uncover something bigger and scarier than they could have ever imagined.

WHAT ROSE FORGOT is told in present tense, with a single point of view (Rose's), which makes for a unique experience. Because of Rose's confused state at the start of the book, she makes for a pretty untrustworthy narrator. I spent the majority of the book unsure of whether I could believe her take on things, especially because the responses of people around her seemed pretty sensible considering Rose’s antics. As the reader, this created a lot of tension that I personally found fun to try to riddle my way through.

My only minor issue while reading is that there were quite a few characters and I had a hard time keeping track of them all, especially as most of the minor characters are pretty one dimensional due to only having the single POV. Whenever a name got thrown out, I found myself struggling to remember who this was and why they mattered and what I knew about them already, if anything. That was a bit frustrating, but other than that, this was a really fun read.

Rose makes for a fantastic character — feisty, funny, and someone you're rooting for the whole time, even when you're not sure if you should be. I also loved the pair-up of 60-something Rose and her 13-year-old granddaughter. What a fun duo! I'd love to see a whole mystery series around these two, with wise-cracking, code-cracking sister Marion making random appearances.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves mysteries, character-driven stories, and hilarious, sometimes over-the-top hijinks. This was a joy to read and unravel, and I won't be forgetting Rose, Mel, or Marion anytime soon.

I have been a fan of Nevada Barr going back many years. I was a little concerned that this book might been too tense for me to read while in the hospital, but was pleasantly surprised by the amount of humor. I almost didn’t recognize it as Navada Barr book, but the strong female protagonist, and the good vocabulary were familiar. Rose is a 68 year old woman who has been locked up in the memory care ward of an old age home. It opens when she comes to in the woods feeling drugged and confused. Even she wonders if she has lost her mind. As things become clearer she strikes out wildly to save herself with the assistance of her thirteen year old granddaughter.. While it is a stretch of the imagination in places it was a fun ride. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read. I was so glad to see a new Nevada Barr book.

Rose wakes up in an aged body that she doesn’t recognize. She is a patient of the Longwood Memory Care Unit. She is recovering from the stomach flu and a lack of medication in her system has allowed her to be strong enough to flee. But she is quickly caught on the grounds and put back in bed.

Rose knows that she just cannot be an old lady. She remembers her name is Rose Dennis and she was born in 1952. She is filled with fear that these people are keeping her against her will. She pretends to swallow the pills they give her and then hides them. As her head clears, she remembers that she is an acclaimed artist.

When she finds her chance, she manages to escape and find her way to her home which is not far away. And from there….this story goes from bad to worse.

The confusion at the first of the book and the attempt to describe what I guess is a hallucination found me frowning and scratching my head trying to figure out what was going on. The use of the name “grasshopper" had me rolling my eyes and I was infuriated when Rose mentioned that her cats may be on a cold table awaiting the syringe!! I am a huge cat lover and for some reason steam came out of my ears. Not funny, Magee!! Anyone who has seen a loved one go through Alzheimers and the different emotions that patients experience, knows how heartbreaking this disease can be. This brought back too many bad memories of having lost my dear mother-in-law to Alzheimers so maybe that’s why this was just not a book for me to read. I hope other readers will enjoy it.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A bit unbelievable, but an enjoyable mystery nonetheless. The quirky characters are what makes this one to read. There is a good dose of humor in this that I didn't expect from the blurb. There is a lot going on here and it makes for a fast paced read.

Rose Dennis is definitely not Anna Pigeon but that's okay

I have been a fan of author Nevada Barr for years, reading her entire series about Anna Pigeon, park ranger, assigned to different national parks across the United States.

I've wondered what happened to Barr. She hasn't published a book since 2016. So even though this is a standalone mystery, I was still looking forward to reading it.

It started out kind of confused to me. I had a hard time even imagining that Barr wrote this book - it's so different to her other books. But I'm glad I persevered.

Rose Dennis is 68 years old and finds herself in a memory card center after her husband dies. She doesn't feel she should be there and, after overhearing a conversation outside her room, realizes she needs to get herself out of there or die.

Rose is quite a character - an artist, a Buddhist, a yoga practicing bohemian. The book was serious at times but liberally sprinkled with humor.

I recommend this book to mystery lovers, lovers of books with quirky characters and a dash of humor.

I received this book from St. Martin's Press through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

Rose wakes up in a Alzheimers unit in a nursing home. She knows she is fine and feels like someone is out to get her. She overhears that she isn't going to make it through the week. So she stops taking her medication and plots her escape.
With the help of her granddaughter, Mel and her friend, plus Rose's computer savvy sister she is on the run and looking for clues and trying to prove she doesn't have alzheimers. I laughed at some of the antics and I yelled at her as well. Sometimes she just made things look worse for herself.
Her family is the one who put her in the nursing home so she doesn't know who to trust. The one person I thought was involved in it is actually who helps her at the end so I was wrong about that person.
I received this from Minotaur books and NetGalley for review.