Roses by Leila Meacham

Although this book has received a lot of good press, I found it incredibly disappointing. The writing was poor (full of clichés and plodding) and the characters were off-putting (they seemed to be poorly developed, and the only one I found myself liking was killed off by the influenza). More to the point the book struck me as misogynist (heaven forbid that women want a career when she could have a perfectly good husband and children) and racist. Don't waste your time.