"Elena Ives has invited us to join her in experiencing the joys, pain, love, fear and longing she expresses in her writing." A reader from Portland, Oregon, comments on CITY OF ROSES, by Elena Ives, published by Meadowlark Press. Rose City Cinderella —Thorns and all
Byron Holgrave is a well-known Portland physician. His late father was a US senator, and Byron is a member of one of Oregon’s most wealthy and prominent families.
Margaret McKenna is a housekeeper. Her father was an out-of-town sailor, one of thousands who celebrate at the Portland Rose Festival Fleet Week every year, but when he sailed away, he left something behind– a daughter. Margaret, born nine months later to an alcoholic, emotionally crippled woman, is a member of one of Oregon’s most disadvantaged families – but Margaret and her brother and sister have one asset: the prayers of a godly grandmother.
Byron is the medical director of the trauma unit of a Portland hospital — where Margaret mops floors — and also devotes long hours to scholarly medical research. When a chance event catapults Byron’s humanitarian actions into public view, however, the notoriety only brings emptiness, loneliness, and the aching reminder that there are no accolades from the only source that matters to him, Margaret.
As a reader from Oregon City, Oregon, commented, "Here is Cinderella in the ashes and the prince in clouds of glory."
"There is something irresistible about the archetypal Cinderella character," said CITY OF ROSES author, Elena Ives. "She is actually a very complex person. It has to be clear to the reader why Prince Charming chose her. After all, he’s Prince Charming. He can have anyone. Cinderella has got to be very unique, or it just isn’t believable."
Ives describes herself as an "unabashed romantic" who can become "intoxicated by Jane Austin." However, she is unapologetic about the novel’s heartfelt documentation of today’s societal pressures versus Christian ethics, which is woven throughout CITY OF ROSES in a style reminiscent of best-selling Christian author, Randy Alcorn.
"In writing courses, they teach, ‘If you want to send a message, call Western Union,’" she said, "but even a quick glance at great literature shows that’s not necessarily true. For example, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen didn’t hide their obvious concern about the social problems of their times. Many of the situations that made their characters sympathetic and compelling were caused by external societal injustices."
Ives, author of CITY OF ROSES and MORE PRECIOUS THAN RUBIES, lives in Oregon with her husband, Don.
CITY OF ROSES is available from the following Internet booksellers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders, or can be purchased through the publisher at MeadowlarkShoppe.com
City of Roses
by Elena Ives. 5.5 x 8.5, softcover, 241 pages. ISBN: 0-9773591-0-7. $12.95. Publication: Winter 2005-2006
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