Rose City: A Memoir of Work

by Jean Harper

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0922811652
• ISBN13: 9780922811656
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Mid-List Press
• Length: 177 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.2" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

An Elegant Memoir

Jean Harper's beautifully written memoir does two things that memoirists these days rarely do. First of all, her own personal drama takes a backseat to the lives of those with whom she works in the greenhouse in Rose City. They are the primary focus of the story, the stars of the show, and Harper's empathy and admiration for them shines through every line she devotes to them. In doing so, she gives a voice to people who are rarely understood in the middle class world from which Harper, and probably her readers, come. The second thing Harper does that sets this book apart from many contemporary memoirs is that she refuses to cheapen her experience by sensationalizing it. She writes: "There are many things I could write about that first summer Richard and I spent together. What should I tell? How in love we were? Certainly. Our sex life? I think not." In an age where sex sells, Harper resists the temptation to tell her reader every steamy detail. She understands that her story is compelling on its own, and it is. An elegant memoir.