The Poppy and the Rose

by Ashlee Cowles

Overview

Death can take a lot of things, but it can't take your memories. Some moments stretch beyond time, and they smell as fresh as the day we lived them...

1912: Ava Knight, a young English aristocrat, boards the Titanic and meets three people who will change her life forever.

2010: Taylor Romano arrives in Oxford for a summer journalism program and is invited to tea at an old manor with a cursed history.

When Taylor discovers that the Lady of the house knows an uncanny amount about Taylor and her family's secrets, she knows something isn't right. But before she can find answers, the old woman dies suspiciously, leaving Taylor with a single clue: the story of a Titanic survivor named Ava.

With the help of a brooding chauffeur and some historical sleuthing, Taylor must uncover the link between Ava's past and her own before her most cherished memories are tarnished forever.

Told across time, The Poppy and The Rose is an atmospheric tale of family secrets, intertwined destinies, and the power of memory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781945654640
Publisher:	Owl Hollow Press, LLC
Publication date:	10/06/2020
Pages:	322
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.72(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Ashlee Cowles is the author of Beneath Wandering Stars, winner of the Colorado Book Award. She wishes time travel was real, but until that happens, writing books is the next best thing. Raised in a military family without roots, Ashlee spent her teen years in Europe and enjoys traveling the world almost as much as she loves telling stories.

Esther Wane is a British actor and voice-over artist. After a career in finance, she fulfilled a childhood dream of going to drama school in London, and her life as an actor began at age forty. She has a lifelong passion for literature and can often be found browsing bookshops during any spare moments. Wane enjoys taking her listeners on a journeys in time and space and bringing the characters on the page to life in their imagination. She lives with her family and collection of books in Hertfordshire, just outside London.

Coming soon...

Editorial Reviews

10/23/2020

Gr 8 Up—Modern-day American reporter Taylor Romano travels to Oxford for a journalism program and meets the mysterious Lady Maebeline Knight, who promises to share information about Taylor's deceased father, indicating in a letter that all is not what it seems. Lady Maebeline dies before sharing more information, sending Taylor on a quest to decipher how the diary of a Titanic survivor—budding photographer Ava Knight—connects to the supernatural mystery of her father. While Taylor and Ava never meet, readers must connect the clues to determine how Maebeline ties into both of their stories. The narrative is told in alternating viewpoints between Taylor and Ava, and multiple plot threads will draw readers in. However, those expecting a traditional historical novel about the Titanic may be in for a surprise. The resolution of the novel is satisfying even if it's not happy for all characters. Cowles peppers literary, pop culture, and historical references (Ava encounters the famed Haitian engineer Joseph Phillippe Lemercer Laroche on the Titanic) throughout. Ava is described as Black Irish with a "golden skin tone" while Taylor's ethnicity is not clearly stated. The supporting cast is from a variety of backgrounds, including Indian and Serbian characters. VERDICT Titanic meets Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys in this historical magical realism mystery. Best suited for readers who have patience, enjoy multiple points of view, and can keep track of multiple timelines.—Ashleigh Hvinden, Carlsbad City Lib., CA

School Library Journal