Misfortune: A Novel

You know who I am. But perhaps you don't know my name: Rose Old. I was unwanted at birth and thrown away, evidence best disposed of. If you consider that, bloodily new to the world, I was bound for a dusty grave and that I was saved only by a distracted boy and a stray dog, it's a miracle that I lived an hour, let alone as long as I have.

Who'd have imagined I'd live to tell the tale, as it were? Fortune patted me on the head at an early age, but it wasn't all walks and treats. We had a co...