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Publisher's Summary

Viviane de Faitaud has grown up alone at her family’s château, for her father, the Marquis de Valaine, lives at the court of Louis XVI in Versailles. After a hailstorm destroys the château’s orchards, gardens and fields, an ambitious young Welshman, David Stronach, accepts the commission to plan new gardens in the hope of making his name as a landscape designer. However, the love that blossoms between them is doomed: Viviane is betrothed to a duke, and David is forced to leave the property. 

In the aftermath, Viviane enters an unhappy marriage and moves to Versailles, while David embarks upon a mission to China to procure the secrets of tea-growing. There, he is inspired by the story of the Blue Rose, a fable of impossible love. Can he and Viviane - a world apart - ever hope to rekindle what they had together?
©2019 Kate Forsyth (P)2019 Aurora Audio Books
Historical Fiction
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What listeners say about The Blue Rose

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

Bringing history and love together.

Deep twists of intrigue and gruesome truths of history intwined. Both shocking and delightful and read with great character voicing to bring authenticity. A clever wroughting of French and British Empire history brough together with the romance protagonists' life challenges.

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

very well written

great recount of history wrapped around romance and survival instinct of mankind. highly recommend read

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Profile Image for Carolin

Brilliantly imagined and crafted

I’m in awe of Kate Forsyth, a truly masterful weaver of magical tales with meticulous historical research. I fell in love with both Vivienne and James - both their circumstances and journeys are so intriguing. Listen to the ABC Conversations interview of Forsyth with Richard Fiedler where she tells the background to the story of how an English envoy to China may have brought the ‘ever blooming red rose’ to France.

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

Wonderful

Fully enjoyed this book. Will listen to it again. Well done Kate and well read Karen.

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A wonderful story, Beautifully written!!!

Absolutely loved Kate's latest offering. she is a true master storyteller. Highly recommended. Beautifully narrated by Karen Cass!!

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  • Kate G.
  • 24-01-2020

I wanted to like it :/

I had read Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth recently and I absolutely LOVED that so I was excited about reading another historical fiction book by her but I just couldn’t get into this one. I found the love between David and Vivienne hard to buy because it came on so quickly and yet without much passion. It was hard to stay invested. I was riveted by Bitter Greens though so I highly recommend that!

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  • Burtao
  • 24-09-2019

Fantastic!

Fantastic story! Amazing narration! I loved it. I would recommend this to anyone who loves historical settings, relatable characters, and romance.

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  • Serenity_68
  • 16-09-2021

not as engaging as her other stories

A good beginning and ending, but the majority of the story was a retelling of the French revolution with characters that did not entirely capture my interest, and so I plodded through.

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  • Bunny
  • 11-11-2019

A Tale of Love & History

I have read many books by Kate Forsyth. She’s a wonderful writer and storyteller. This book is yet more proof of that. A love story, a clear eyes telling of the French Revolution and the far off land of mysterious China. She is historically detailed and her characters always engaging. I recommend this book!

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  • Syd Young
  • 12-09-2019

Thorns and Roses

Since seeing her in all her fairytale glory at the 2017 HNScon, I’ve been a huge fan. I honestly feel that Forsyth is getting better and better. This book and Beast are her best, most fully realized integrated historical/fairytale retellings. Hurry and write another!

The Blue Rose is about a Young aristocrat who long’s to escape her cruel world, and how she navigates the unimaginable of the Terror. Meanwhile, her lover, in his desperate search for the unusual flower, takes us to China and back. Lots of history, greatly imagined words, wonderful characters. I couldn’t put it down.

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  • Paula Beavan
  • 21-08-2019

Love love love

I adored this story. As usual, Kate Forsyth doesn’t disappoint, and thankfully the narrator was wonderful. Do yourself a favour.

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