Just reading the opening sentence of Rosewater by Liv Little let me know I was in for an emotional journey with the lead character, Elsie MacIntosh.
Elsie is sexy, funny, creative and fiercely independent, but also vulnerable, which she tries to hide from most everyone except those whom she tentatively allows in.
An aspiring poet, drowning in debt and working long hours for minimum wage at a neighbourhood gay bar, we meet Elsie just as she’s about to be evicted from her home. What follows is a series of events that force her to confront her fears and anxieties and finally face her personal truths.
It’s a vivid, beautifully written portrayal of a young woman trying her best to stay true to herself and her dreams, even when everything seems stacked against her.
I enjoyed reading this story so much, even though my heart was in my mouth most of the time because of the second-hand anxiety I felt for Elsie’s financial situation, which was, to say the least, triggering.
But her sense of humour, her unapologetic sense of self as a Black, gay woman, and her vulnerability, especially when it came to her relationships with her best friend Juliet, her grandmother and estranged parents, had me wholeheartedly rooting for her, while turning the pages with a quickness to find out what would happen next.
Let’s talk about the poetry
I tend to say I’m not into poetry, but the truth is, I don’t intentionally seek it out – unless it’s song lyrics. That said, song lyrics are really just poems set to music, but I digress. Reading Elsie’s poems in Rosewater made me want to reassess my habits and start adding some poetry collections to my reading list.
Elsie’s poems revealed the depths of her being and expressed those truths she was unable or unwilling to say out loud. The title poem, Rosewater, is a beautiful and intimate love song of friendship and desire. I delighted in its honesty and tenderness.
And without giving away too much of a spoiler, I just knew it was going to land like a hand grenade from which there was no coming back, and Elsie would have to choose to stand her ground and fight for what she really wanted.
I didn’t expect to like this novel as much as I did. Was the ending a little too neat, too happy? Perhaps, but it was worth the journey, and I think a ‘messier’ ending would have left readers feeling robbed. Furthermore, in our current hellscape, we need all the good news and positive vibes we can get and/or dream about, if only in fiction.
Just Read It 