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Prisonser in a Red-Rose Chain
*Winner of the 2000 Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best First Book
*Shortlisted for the 1999 QSPELL Prize for Best First Book
It is by no means clear just how much control Jeremy Davenant has over his own destiny. For he's convinced that the blueprint of his future already exists - on a page picked from a random book. Romantic, fatalistic, quixotic, he blithely teaches with forged credentials at a Montreal university while waiting for his life to unfold. Yet one glance from a dark lady in the street below, and his life veers into chaotic mischance and obsession.
The trouble is, Jeremy's world is full of signs. The Page - ripped out of an encyclopedia and given to him in childhood by his "uncle" Gerard is supposed to chart out his life, and somehow the Zulu tyrant Shaka, the Indian love epic Shakuntala, and the city of Shakhtyorsk in the Ukraine all start to feature in Jeremy's life - along with William Shakespeare and, of course, his Dark Lady.
But Milena's life requires as much decoding as the Page, and Jeremy stumbles after her into farce, terror, and, for a brief spell, bliss.
*Shortlisted for the 1999 QSPELL Prize for Best First Book
It is by no means clear just how much control Jeremy Davenant has over his own destiny. For he's convinced that the blueprint of his future already exists - on a page picked from a random book. Romantic, fatalistic, quixotic, he blithely teaches with forged credentials at a Montreal university while waiting for his life to unfold. Yet one glance from a dark lady in the street below, and his life veers into chaotic mischance and obsession.
The trouble is, Jeremy's world is full of signs. The Page - ripped out of an encyclopedia and given to him in childhood by his "uncle" Gerard is supposed to chart out his life, and somehow the Zulu tyrant Shaka, the Indian love epic Shakuntala, and the city of Shakhtyorsk in the Ukraine all start to feature in Jeremy's life - along with William Shakespeare and, of course, his Dark Lady.
But Milena's life requires as much decoding as the Page, and Jeremy stumbles after her into farce, terror, and, for a brief spell, bliss.
- GenresFiction
395 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1999
5 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
About the author
Jeffrey Moore
37Ìýbooks31ÌýfollowersBorn in Montreal, Jeffrey Moore was educated at the University of Toronto, the Sorbonne (Paris) and the University of Ottawa. He is currently a freelance translator and Lecturer in Translation at the Université de Montréal. He works for museums, theatres, dance companies and film festivals around the world, and has an extensive list of published translations to his credit, including Magritte, Century of Splendour and Lost Paradise-Symbolist Europe.
Prisoner in a Red-Rose Chain, his first novel written over several years in Canada, Scotland, England, Hungary and Bali, was a finalist for the QSPELL Literary Awards and winner of both the regional and international Commonwealth Writers Prize 2000. The Memory Artists (2004) won the Canadian Authors Association Award (Best Novel), and was shortlisted for the Rogers' Writers Trust Award, Sunburst Award, Hugh MacLennan Prize and Wordsworthy Award. Both novels have been published in some 20 countries and optioned for film. His third novel, The Extinction Club, was published by Penguin Canada and Quercus (UK) in 2010 and by Arcade (U.S.) in 2013. It was shortlisted for the Hugh MacLennan Prize (Best Novel) and Arthur Ellis Award (Best Mystery) and longlisted for the Dublin IMPAC Award.
He currently divides his time between Montreal and Val Morin, Quebec.
Prisoner in a Red-Rose Chain, his first novel written over several years in Canada, Scotland, England, Hungary and Bali, was a finalist for the QSPELL Literary Awards and winner of both the regional and international Commonwealth Writers Prize 2000. The Memory Artists (2004) won the Canadian Authors Association Award (Best Novel), and was shortlisted for the Rogers' Writers Trust Award, Sunburst Award, Hugh MacLennan Prize and Wordsworthy Award. Both novels have been published in some 20 countries and optioned for film. His third novel, The Extinction Club, was published by Penguin Canada and Quercus (UK) in 2010 and by Arcade (U.S.) in 2013. It was shortlisted for the Hugh MacLennan Prize (Best Novel) and Arthur Ellis Award (Best Mystery) and longlisted for the Dublin IMPAC Award.
He currently divides his time between Montreal and Val Morin, Quebec.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 24, 2012
For my award winning reading workshop book I chose Red-Rose Chain by Jeffrey Moore. It won the Commonwealth Writers Award for the best first novel. It was his first book and was published in Canada to widespread critical acclaim before it was chosen for the award. The books main character is Jeremy Davenant who is a man that thinks that his life has been planned out for him since the day he was born. He is a professor at Montreal University but he never got his teaching credentials so he is illegally practicing. He is obsessed with "signs" in his life and suggests everything has meaning to him. He then meets a woman who he thinks he falls madly in love with, but he doesn't really know who she truly is. He spirals after he encounters her and never stops thinking about her. Throughout the book Jeremy finds out little by little who Milena is.
It is a beautifully done dark satire on the view of a normal american romance. It shows the fine line of love and obsession and I would recommend it to a reader who likes different perspectives. For an age advantage I would say one should be at least 15 years of age to really understand the concepts in the book. Moores style of writing is encouraging and easy to follow along. Although it looks like a long read it's worth the time. I really enjoyed this book but the beginning to a while to get really into it. I gave it 4 stars because it did take me a few chapters to be fully committed to it but once I was I loved it. This book shows the challenges men go through and the fight when meeting a new woman; how to know if she's the one.
It is a beautifully done dark satire on the view of a normal american romance. It shows the fine line of love and obsession and I would recommend it to a reader who likes different perspectives. For an age advantage I would say one should be at least 15 years of age to really understand the concepts in the book. Moores style of writing is encouraging and easy to follow along. Although it looks like a long read it's worth the time. I really enjoyed this book but the beginning to a while to get really into it. I gave it 4 stars because it did take me a few chapters to be fully committed to it but once I was I loved it. This book shows the challenges men go through and the fight when meeting a new woman; how to know if she's the one.
October 8, 2014
It took a while for me to get into this book but it's actually quite funny.
June 28, 2017
You know how you have a couple books that you just come back to over, and over, and over again? Ones you fall in love with? This is one of those books, for me. I read it ages ago, I think it was shortly after it first came out, and I've re-read in many times since then. The characters are great (especially Uncle Gerard), the book is hilarious, and the writing is sublime: vivid, alive, engaging, precise. I left Montreal a long time ago, but this book takes me back to that time and place, which is another great thing about this book - it's accurate. Anyone whose ever lived in Montreal (especially as a young adult) would agree with me.
The people who gave it bad reviews are Bad Reviewers; sorry to be harsh, but it's true - saying things like "this book sucked because the characters are dark" makes you a Bad Reviewer. Why? Well, because there's a difference between whether you LIKED a character and whether that character was well-written, and Bad Reviewers can't tell the difference. You don't have to enjoy a book to appreciate that it is written well; you don't have to like a character to appreciate that they're well-written, alive, and jump off the page. I've read a ton of books that I didn't actually like, but I could still tell/appreciate that they were well-written. Just because something is not to your taste doesn't mean no skill went into it.
Anyway, I digress! This is one of the best novels I have ever read. I have a handful of novels that are absolute favourites, gems that I refuse to lend to anyone out of the fear that I won't get them back. This is one of those books. Read it!
The people who gave it bad reviews are Bad Reviewers; sorry to be harsh, but it's true - saying things like "this book sucked because the characters are dark" makes you a Bad Reviewer. Why? Well, because there's a difference between whether you LIKED a character and whether that character was well-written, and Bad Reviewers can't tell the difference. You don't have to enjoy a book to appreciate that it is written well; you don't have to like a character to appreciate that they're well-written, alive, and jump off the page. I've read a ton of books that I didn't actually like, but I could still tell/appreciate that they were well-written. Just because something is not to your taste doesn't mean no skill went into it.
Anyway, I digress! This is one of the best novels I have ever read. I have a handful of novels that are absolute favourites, gems that I refuse to lend to anyone out of the fear that I won't get them back. This is one of those books. Read it!
August 21, 2017
One word, BORING. This book has very little story, I was more than half way through and I was "waiting" for the story to actually start. The main character is not likeable or relatable, other reviews praised the characters for being dark but I found the main character so uninteresting that I think dark is too complimentary, he was obsessive and pathetic. I found getting to the end of this book extremely long and tiring which just shows how little I enjoyed it. I am baffled at how this book has so many good reviews.
February 26, 2015
I wish we could do a 0.5 rating because I would very much so like to give this book a 3.5!
This book is brilliantly written or at least i think so and i absolutely love how the author tries to confuse us with all the mystery that really is not mystery but just a technique to keep the reader in suspense which i believe was a fail, it was obvious. I also love the main character's cynical, pessimistic, self-deprecating personality which is absolutely contradicting to his view of the world and how he acts and his fate in destiny and that everything in life will eventually come together in his favor. It makes him very human and very real and in-turn we find ourselves rooting against and with him because he is not a standard formula not a very commercial character, i loved hating him.
I feel i need a mourning period after finishing this book, i dragged it on for so long not wanting to finish it because i related very mush so with what the main character was going through (his obsession i mean). I am exactly that obsessive and possessive even over things i have no right to feel that way about but yet i still do. Its funny how our humanistic flaws keep us sane and yet drives us over the edge at the same time. It is for sure a book devoid of innocence and some ideas thrown in can scar you if you tend to be overly sensitive and sympathetic, it has definitely left me with imagery that will take sometime to push past. Overall it was a good read and i would recommend it.
This book is brilliantly written or at least i think so and i absolutely love how the author tries to confuse us with all the mystery that really is not mystery but just a technique to keep the reader in suspense which i believe was a fail, it was obvious. I also love the main character's cynical, pessimistic, self-deprecating personality which is absolutely contradicting to his view of the world and how he acts and his fate in destiny and that everything in life will eventually come together in his favor. It makes him very human and very real and in-turn we find ourselves rooting against and with him because he is not a standard formula not a very commercial character, i loved hating him.
I feel i need a mourning period after finishing this book, i dragged it on for so long not wanting to finish it because i related very mush so with what the main character was going through (his obsession i mean). I am exactly that obsessive and possessive even over things i have no right to feel that way about but yet i still do. Its funny how our humanistic flaws keep us sane and yet drives us over the edge at the same time. It is for sure a book devoid of innocence and some ideas thrown in can scar you if you tend to be overly sensitive and sympathetic, it has definitely left me with imagery that will take sometime to push past. Overall it was a good read and i would recommend it.
February 23, 2016
Buffo, vitale, superstizioso, imbranato. E' Jeremy, il protagonista! La sua forza è la sua normalità , la capacità di convivere con le proprie debolezze.
L'autore narra le vicende di Jeremy e di come la sua vita cambi radicalmente dopo l'incontro con Milena, la sua donna del destino... o almeno così crede lui! Si perchè più che donna del destino, Milena sembrerebbe incarnare alla perfezione la donna di picche...
Nonostante tutto Jeremy è convinto che la loro unione sia predestinata, profondamente voluta dal fato (lo dice anche la Pagina magica! Che non è altro che un foglio strappato da un'enciclopedia, ragalatogli molti anni prima da zio Gerard durante un gioco a mosca cieca...)
Brillante e divertente, una lettura non impegnativa.
L'autore narra le vicende di Jeremy e di come la sua vita cambi radicalmente dopo l'incontro con Milena, la sua donna del destino... o almeno così crede lui! Si perchè più che donna del destino, Milena sembrerebbe incarnare alla perfezione la donna di picche...
Nonostante tutto Jeremy è convinto che la loro unione sia predestinata, profondamente voluta dal fato (lo dice anche la Pagina magica! Che non è altro che un foglio strappato da un'enciclopedia, ragalatogli molti anni prima da zio Gerard durante un gioco a mosca cieca...)
Brillante e divertente, una lettura non impegnativa.
October 16, 2013
3.5 STARS
Interesting, but not one that I'll ever be compelled to re-read. I didn't particularly care for the ending, but maybe that was the desired effect - for me to feel as frustrated as Jeremy.
Interesting, but not one that I'll ever be compelled to re-read. I didn't particularly care for the ending, but maybe that was the desired effect - for me to feel as frustrated as Jeremy.
June 19, 2015
I hated this book and couldn't believe it won a prize. Dark stupid characters.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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