The War of the Roses: A Novel - Hardcover

Adler, Warren

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0446512206 ISBN 13: 9780446512206

Publisher: Grand Central Pub, 1981

Synopsis

The War of the Roses has overtime emerged as a synonym for modern divorce and its emotional aftershock. It has since its publication spawned numerous film and stage adaptations, endless discourse on the dynamics of divorce as well as becoming part of the legal jargon describing the proceedings that follow.

Adler's iconic tale takes us from suburban bliss to an deadly territorial battle. Jonathan and Barbara Rose are at first glance the perfect couple. Jonathan has a stable law career; Barbara is an aspiring gourmet entrepreneur with a promising pâté recipe. Their large home holds the rich antique collection that originally brought them together, as well as the loving familial bond that intertwines them with their children Eve and Josh. When Jonathan finds himself suddenly gripped by what is presumably a heart attack and Barbara confronts the loveless spell lingering between them, the sun-soaked sky that was once the Rose family union drifts into a torrential downpour. Their mutual hatred becomes ammunition in a domestic warfare that escalates in the most unpredictable ways while they helplessly eye their dwindling nuptial flame. In the chaos that unfolds Adler allows a moment of much needed contemplation on the shape of today's matrimonial bonds.

The War of the Roses illuminates the relationship-shattering materialism, contempt and selfishness of husband and wife by posing a timeless question, how far are we willing to allow our material possessions the power to define who we are? Are today's marriages haunted by the struggle to get even?

About this title

From the Author:

The idea for The War of the Roses came to me at a dinner party in Washington in 1979. One of our female friends was dating a lawyer, who was her guest at the party. At some point, he looked at his watch and announced that he had to get home or his wife would lock him out of the house. When asked why, he said he was in the process of getting a divorce and was living under the same roof and sharing facilities and that part of the agreement was a strict set of rules on comings and goings and the division of living quarters.
It is always difficult to describe to people, how a story idea enters a novelist's consciousness. By the time I began to write The War of the Roses I had already published nine novels and my antenna must have been feverishly searching for a new idea. The dilemma expressed by this dinner guest might be called the "eureka" moment.
The story quickly formed in my mind and, with the exception of a brief conversation with a Judge who was an expert in domestic law, I did no other legal research on the subject of divorce. Oddly, many people have become convinced, including that dinner guest that somehow I had burrowed into the legal files of their various divorce actions and I cannot tell you how many times over the years people have accused me of "stealing their divorces." I tried countering this accusation by explaining that a novel's story grows out of a novelist's imagination and the amalgamation of his or her observations and experiences, but to little avail.
For some reason movie interest was immediate and the book was quickly optioned to Richard Zanuck and David Brown, two wonderful producers for whom I wrote the first script. For unknown reasons, which is the only way I can describe the Hollywood process, they could not put the movie together and the book and script were re-optioned by yet another creative producer James L. Brooks who had read the script first, then the novel and in the end produced the movie.

From the Inside Flap:

The Book that inspired the blockbuster hit The War of the Roses starring Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito.

About this edition

• Publisher: Grand Central Pub
• Publication date: 1981
• ISBN 10: 0446512206
• ISBN 13: 9780446512206
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 263