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Half-Blown Rose

A Novel

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
An irresistible story of a woman remaking her life after her husband's betrayal leads to a year of travel, art, and passion in Paris, from the award-winning author of This Close to Okay.

Vincent, having grown up as the privileged daughter of artists, has a lovely life in many ways. At forty-four, she enjoys strolling the streets of Paris and teaching at the modern art museum; she has a vibrant group of friends; and she's even caught the eye of a young, charismatic man named Loup. But Vincent is also in Paris to escape a painful betrayal: her husband, Cillian, has published a bestselling book divulging secrets about their marriage and his own past, hinting that when he was a teenager, he may have had a child with a young woman back in Dublin—before he moved to California and never returned.

Now estranged from her husband, Vincent has agreed to see Cillian again at their son's wedding the following summer, but Loup introduces new complications. Soon they begin an intense affair, and somewhere between dinners made together, cigarettes smoked in the moonlight, hazy evenings in nightclubs, and long, starry walks along the Seine, Vincent feels herself loosening and blossoming.

In a journey that is both transportive and intimate, Half-Blown Rose traverses Paris, art, travel, liminal spaces, and the messy complexities of relationships and romance, with excerpts from Cillian's novel, playlists, and journal entries woven throughout. As Cillian does all he can to win her back, Vincent must decide what she wants . . . and who she will be.
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    • Library Journal

      February 1, 2022

      Though she's still hurting from secrets revealed by estranged husband Cillian in a best-selling memoir, fortyish Vincent loves living in Paris, where she's an art lecturer with engaging friends and a prospective young lover named Loup. But she's compelled to see Cillian again at their son's wedding, and soon she's caught between the blandishments of Cillian and Loup. With a 30,000-copy first printing; from the multi-award-winning, multi-award-nominated author of This Close to Okay.

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 11, 2022
      A woman grapples with love and the emotional turmoil that comes with it in the long-winded latest from Cross-Smith (This Close to Okay). In Paris, 44-year-old Vincent works as an art teacher. She also makes jewelry, entertains friends in a posh apartment, and is embroiled in a love affair with Loup, one of her students. Though her life may seem like an expat’s dream, she’s there because her estranged husband, Cillian, published a bombshell of an autofictional novel revealing his past relationship with another woman, which involved a secret pregnancy. Now, Vincent emails with Cillian’s ex, Siobhan, and Cillian and Siobhan’s son, Tully, with whom she unexpectedly becomes fast friends. After Vincent’s work visa expires, she is forced to choose between her former life with Cillian and the new one she’s built in Paris. Cross-Smith offers a refreshing take on a woman’s story of midlife upheaval, but there isn’t much in the way of narrative momentum, and Vincent’s vacillation between Cillian and Loup ends up feeling like the author is merely spinning her wheels. This has its moments, but it’s not Cross-Smith’s best. Agent: Kerry D’Agostino, Curtis Brown.

    • Booklist

      April 15, 2022
      In her third novel, Cross-Smith (This Close to Okay, 2021) continues to weave spellbinding tales of love and lust in the wake of adversity. Vincent, named for Van Gogh by her artistic parents, leads a monied life in Kentucky with her successful author husband (and college sweetheart), Cillian, and their grown children--until the publication of Cillian's latest book exposes a past he has kept from her, which includes a child from a relationship in his teenage years back in Ireland. Vincent escapes the explosion in Paris, where she indulges her creative side and attracts the attention of Loup, a man 20 years her junior. Their chemistry is undeniable, and before long, they're enmeshed in a very sexy affair. While Vincent is pulled in different directions by the two men in her life, she also finds her own space, discovers things about herself, and thoroughly enjoys Paris. Cross-Smith never allows Vincent's indecisiveness to come off as naivete or weakness; she is an utterly appealing heroine. Another winning novel from Cross-Smith.

      COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Kirkus

      June 1, 2022
      A woman flees her recently torn-apart marriage to Paris, where she reevaluates her life. When Vincent Wilde's husband, Cillian, a renowned author, publishes a novel that tells the thinly veiled story of their relationship--and reveals the existence of an illegitimate child he fathered at age 15--she finds solace in temporarily relocating to Paris, home of her namesake, Van Gogh. In Paris, she can be "simply Vincent, not Vincent the wife or Vincent the mom or Vincent the daughter or Vincent the sister." Vincent stays in her artist parents' lush apartment; hosts dinners attended by a cast of cultured acquaintances; and teaches a class on journaling. The pleasant rhythm of Vincent's routine is interrupted, though, when a friend introduces her to the energetic, violently attractive Loup--a 24-year-old who, like his wolfish namesake, symbolizes a force equally captivating and dangerous. Loup is instantly enamored with Vincent, and as he's woven into her social circle, the attraction between them grows stronger and harder for Vincent to resist. Meanwhile, she tries to process frequent apology letters from Cillian, who's seeking reconciliation, and strikes up a surprisingly heartfelt correspondence with her husband's estranged son. Vincent and Loup finally initiate an affair whose intensity is entirely befitting of Paris: wandering through the city aimlessly at night; meeting at Loup's band's smoky, busy shows; and discovering one another physically. But as Vincent's son's wedding approaches, ensuring a reunion between her and Cillian, she's compelled to reevaluate the person she's become during her marriage and must decide whether her time in Paris will prove life-altering or nothing but a brief, beautiful mirage. Though its plot sometimes proves predictable--the love triangle at the book's center is its almost-exclusive focus, and it presents few unexpected turns (or character developments, at least on the men's parts)--this is a smoothly written, enjoyable novel that gives due to the social and emotional complexities of middle age. Vincent is a lovable protagonist; the narrative is also interspersed with her diary entries and letters, creating a self-aware, three-dimensional character. Cross-Smith sensitively explores the many permutations of romantic and platonic love and the idea that, especially in Paris, one's love may not be limited to a single other person. Charming and lively, if somewhat predictable.

      COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Mela Lee exhibits excellent range and pacing as she portrays Vincent, a woman who is rediscovering herself in Paris while her estranged husband, Cillian, tries to win her back from afar.Not knowing how to move past finding out Cillian's long-held secret when he publishes a semiautobiographical book, she begins a love affair with a younger man. The following summer she reunites with Cillian for their son's wedding with a clearer understanding of who she has become and what she wants in a relationship. Tim Campbell performs excerpts from Cillian's book in a lyrical Irish accent. These excerpts, along with playlists and journal entries, enhance the characters' emotional lives. Lee repeats French phrases in a breathy tone, giving listeners a vivid sense of Vincent's feelings. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

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