The Rebel Rose

Description

The book was originally published anonymously, in 1888. Two years later, it appeared under the title The Rival Princess: A London Romance of Today, authored by Justin McCarthy and Mrs. Campbell Praed.

The Rebel Rose features as a central character a descendant of Queen Mary of Scots, namely Mary Stuart Beaton. With strong royalty claims, she goes to London hoping that the court will approve and accept her demands.

Mary finds London to be cruel and deceiving. Her trust in the people who are close to her is shattered. She is disappointed to find herself in the middle of the ploys mastered by her personal guardians. Moreover, she has to deal with a deceitful woman from the high society of London.

All the trials she has to go through are most likely to wear anyone down. But Mary Stuart Beaton is a strong, confident woman who has her wits about herself. She is well aware of her worth, and, despite being called The Pretendress, she shows great determination in proving herself.

Mary is not discouraged by all the people who are against her and the claims she makes, quite the contrary – she turns out to be an admirable and upstanding opponent. She does not condone scheming, even if she could benefit from it.

Justin McCarthy was an Irish novelist, historian and politician. He was born in Cork, in November 1830. He was a passionate writer of historic novels, his most famous being History of Our Own Times. He became close friends with Rosa Campbell Praed, a talented Australian writer that had moved to England. Despite the 20 years difference between them, their friendship lasted until McCarthy died, in 1912. Except for The Rebel Rose, they have also co-written The Right Honorable, The Ladies’ Gallery, and The Grey River.
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