A Single Rose - by Muriel Barbery

About the Book

Rose has turned 40, but has barely begun to live. When the Japanese father she never knew dies and she finds herself an orphan, she leaves France for Kyoto to hear the reading of his will. In the days before Haru's last wishes are revealed, his former assistant, Paul, takes Rose on a tour of the temples, gardens and eating places of this unfamiliar city. Initially a reluctant tourist and awkward guest in her late father's home, Rose gradually comes to discover Haru's legacy through the itinerary he set for her, finding gifts greater than she had ever imagined. This stunning novel from international bestseller Muriel Barbery is a mesmerizing story of second chances, of beauty born out of grief and roses grown from ashes.

Book Synopsis

From the best-selling author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog comes a story about a woman's journey to discover the father she never knew and a love she never thought possible.

Rose is called to Kyoto for the reading of her estranged father's will. Once there, she encounters acquaintances of her father--including a potter and poet, an old lady friend, his housekeeper and chauffeur, and Paul, her guide through Kyoto.

As the reading of the will gets closer, through her encounters and peregrinations in Kyoto, Rose reaches a poignant understanding of her father's love and an acceptance of loss.

Review Quotes

"[A Single Rose] is interspersed with aphoristic Japanese tales from various periods, as melancholy is gradually transmuted into joy."--The New Yorker

"Barbery brings her usual lush descriptions to this slim novel, weaving traditional Japanese stories through the narrative. [A] luminous meditation on grief."--Booklist

"With elegant and careful prose, [Barbery] offers descriptions of Kyoto and Japanese culture that transcend the genre of a travelogue. This novel will appeal to readers who long for happy endings and escape."--Library Journal

"This novel offers the pleasures of a poetic travelogue and an homage to a place and culture.
A Single Rose is a modern fairy tale... an evocative, transplanted retelling of the tale of a sleeping beauty."--New York Journal of Books

"This plaintive novel impresses with its smoothness."--Publishers Weekly

"It is a joy to take a stroll with Rose and Paul while savoring the beauty of camellias, peonies and wild irises, in a world of muted, delicate colors and to the sound of their elegant words."--Ouest-France

"Though A Single Rose is centered around vulnerable, tenacious Rose, its core is found in its Japanese setting. The novel balances lush, cultivated gardens and weighted symbolism with mischievous foxes, matcha, sliced eel, and sushi, all forming "one happy chaos" and a fascinating maze of emotional release."--Foreword Reviews

"A moving and successful novel. Richly perfumed, delicate, light, and inspired."--L'OBS

"In this story Rose explores an inner self that illuminates her darkness and leads her to overcome her sadness."--L'orient litteraire

"At once a journey through a secret landscape and a poetic transposition of the enigma of love."--Actualitte