The Wild Rose

Enjoy the ride: 600-plus pages of romance, harrowing exploits, cinematic backdrops, cliff-hangers, and plot twists - Publishers Weekly

It is 1914 and World War I looms over Europe. In London Seamus Finnegan - a famous polar explorer - considers settling down and taking up a prestigious position with the Royal Geographical Society. Unfortunately, despite many eager women around him, no one is able to soothe the pain left in his heart by Willa Alden, a childhood sweetheart and fellow traveller, who after an accident on mount Kilimanjaro, disappeared into the Himalayan wilderness, refusing to see Seamus ever again.

Seamus' family and friends doubt that he will be able to restrain his hunger for adventure and settle into the society life again, but just as he is to sign up for another mission in Antarctica he meets Jennie Wilcott, a beautiful and spirited young teacher. The passion that sparks between them is more than a mere fling and Seamus begins to believe that he could be happy in this new life with a steady job and a cosy home to come back to. But is this newly found happiness just a trick of his heart? Will his feelings for Jennie survive Willa's unexpected return to London to attend her father's funeral?

Just as the moral and emotional dilemmas caused by Willa's reappearance begin to devour Seamus' short-lived bliss, war erupts, allowing him to escape the torments of his soul in the name of fighting for his country. But in a world ploughed by war, the past keeps resurfacing in the least expected places .

The Wild Rose, first published in 2011, is the last part of the acclaimed multi-generational saga by Jennifer Donnelly that began with The Tea Rose. Set against the turmoil of World War I and filled with thrilling twists and cliff-hangers The Wild Rose is a satisfying conclusion to an unforgettable trilogy.