Review of: A Rose for Maggie

Review of:  A Rose for Maggie
Author:    Kathleen Koebel (Eileen Dreyer)
Publisher:  Silhouette Books
ISBN:      0-373-60078-X
File:      F:\Writing\Novels\New Assault\Research\A Rose for Maggie.doc
Purchased:  2009-11-16  From:      www.Amazon.com
Started:    2009-11-20  Finished:  2009-11-21

2009/11/14 09:49-12:39 Saturday [Irregular Writers] We met at Borders, Concord, NH.

I presented Bogus_Report_1a.doc.  I reworked the first 1,635 words to include the three Mary gave us for November: winch, leaf, and turnip.  It grew to 1,889 words and 10 pages.
Mary suggested I read A Rose for Maggie by Kathleen Korbel to see how Koebel portrayed ‘semi-real’ people facing huge problems.

2009/11/16 18:45-20:00 Monday [A Rose for Maggie] I searched the web and found Kathleen Korbel Book Review.
http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/Info_31749.asp


2009/11/16 20:00-20:15 Monday [A Rose for Maggie] I ordered Mary’s suggestion via Amazon’s used book system.

A Rose For Maggie (Rita Award) - Kathleen Korbel
$0.01 - Quantity: 1 - In Stock
Condition: Used - Very Good
Sold by: http://www.txnancygailsbooks.com

Book                  $0.01
Shipping and Handling  $3.99
                      —————
Total                  $4.00

2009/11/20 13:15-13:30 Friday [A Rose for Maggie] My order from Amazon's used book system arrived via USPO.


2009/11/20 19:00-21:30 Friday [A Rose for Maggie] I started reading Prologue and Chapters 1-9.

It began like most typical romance stories I’ve read (I have only read about a dozen).  Almost formulaic with (page 14) “taut and glistening” belly,... “molded taut legs and a very firm backside....”  Along with “smoky, sultry voice.”
Maybe that’s just performa prose to put the work into the “Romance Genre” where Korbel does most of her stories.
But things changed about page 23 with the introduction of Maggie, a prematurely delivered Downs Syndrome daughter with a heart defect.
Those who have not experienced damaged children may not buy Allison’s penchant for secrecy.  ‘Why not be up front about it?’ seemed to be the unasked question a reader would proffer.  But I know why, and Korbel tried to spell it out for the rest of her book.  Only, in her story, she concentrated on Joe’s response.
I think the desire for privacy is more general.  It’s not that we may be embarrassed or ashamed of the kid, but that we don’t want to put everyone else on the spot to show sympathy or understanding of something that they may not have any experience with at all.  You might say it’s “Emotionally Impolite.”

Trying to equate what is deserved in life with reality;
On page 121, Joe’s internal dialogue:


“It was unfair, he thought with sudden venom.  Obscene, that this should happen to Maggie, that she should have her future snatched from her before she ever had a chance at it.  That she should suffer and struggle before she even knew why.”


This touches home.  How many times have I looked at Kimee with the same quiet rage.  These kids are just “here,” they are a “fact,” we didn’t cause their problems.  And even if we could find someone who is responsible, what good would it do?
But we can’t be bystanders.  Because they need someone to speak for them, to make the rational and loving decisions to let them live, we need to put aside ‘ourselves’ and accept the responsibility.
Now, that doesn’t mean we have to support every call for sympathy, every call to feed the hungry in Africa, or to support the United Way.  Heck, the United Way has supported causes that I would never give to.  A significant chunk of the funds raised for Africa is used for promotion, and many of their problems are caused by local politics.
No.  The best thing to do is to concentrate on the kids you can touch.  That you can make part of your life and you can be part of theirs.

2009/11/21 14:00-22:30 Saturday [A Rose for Maggie] I finished reading Chapters 10-16 and the Epilogue.

After finding out Maggie’s chances of survival for the critical heart operation is, “‘About fifty-fifty.’”;
On page 137, Joe’s reaction:


“Another punch in the gut.  Another step closer to the precipice, a mile closer to the edge of the flat world beyond which lay dragons.  Joe didn’t know this territory.  He didn’t want to.  It was tough enough bringing children up into the wild confusion the world had become.  It was unthinkable to have to face the fact that after all your effort, all the love you poured into them like rainwater and sunshine, they could die anyway.”


Oh boy!  Another sensitive nerve.  Every time we have had to choose between an operation that may slightly improve Kimee’s life, or to let her remain as nature decreed, we weighed the risks.  And, even with the improvements, we know that her time with us is still limited.  Probably ending before she finishes her teen years.  There is no sweater on Earth to warm that chill on my heart.

When Allison was about to tell Joe she can’t risk giving him children, she realized she would be sentencing him to a life without his fondest dream;
On page 184, Allison’s dilemma:


“She hadn’t thought she could hurt any worse after what she’d been through with Maggie.  She’d been wrong.  It was one thing to give up your own dreams because you don’t have a choice, to watch them wither from want and finally blow away like dust in a dry wind.  It was another to demand that someone else sacrifice his dreams just because you can’t accommodate them.”


We, Ferne and I, may pass before Kimee.  And if that happens, her care will descend upon our two remaining children.  We have chosen to care for Kimee and set aside some dreams.  But our other children have not.  They have lives just now blooming.

After an encounter with an ex-relative who considered saving Maggie as a mistake;
On page 199, Joe says:


“‘It’s the society we live in.  Now that people have a choice of whether they want a defective baby or not, suddenly no one should want to bring a baby with Down syndrome into the world.  It’s not fair to the family, to society, to the child.  Nobody seems to remember that that child hasn’t forfeited any rights simply because she has faulty chromosomes.’”


We’ve heard similar false logic.  From friends, relatives, medical people, state agencies and journal articles.  All pushing for a DNR at one time or another.
In my opinion, those urgings are supremely selfish.  Oh, they may coach their words with concern for the survivors, the family, or the state budget.  But they are ignoring the fact that it is Kimee’s life.  It may be a diminished life, but it is the only drink from the cup of life she gets.
Renee may have been responsible for her condition, and she paid a heavy price.  But not Kimee.  We can help her, so we must help her.

And, a long piece on pages 220-221, Allison faces her inner weakness’ and admits to some dark thoughts;
Allison says to her boyfriend:


“‘You were so angry with her for the way she talked about Maggie.  It sounded pretty harsh, didn’t it?  Pretty unfeeling.  And I told you to ignore her, because there were a lot of idiots like her.  Well, say hello to one now, Joe.  I’ve had every one of those thoughts.’
Joe took a step, unable to give voice to the maelstrom she’d unleashed.
She shied away as if he’d been charged.  ‘No,’ she insisted.  ‘Listen to me.  Listen to what I’ve never told anyone else because I don’t like to admit it myself.  I resent her sometimes, Joe.  I get so angry, I throw things because I’ll never go to her college graduation or hold her children in my arms.  Why couldn’t I have had a normal child?  Why couldn’t I be the one with Sylvia’s children?  Bright, happy, normal kids she doesn’t even really want.  I’d want them.  I’d love them and nurture them and cheer them on.  But I’m stuck with Maggie, who has to be cheered on in inches.  I’m trapped by that chromosome as much as she is.  I’m afraid for her every minute and I’m furious for her.  And I’m—I’m so afraid that Sylvia was right about the surgery.’
Joe was frozen by her anguish, battered by her anger and her self-loathing.  How could she have possibly hidden all this for so long?
‘But that’s normal,’ he insisted desperately.  ‘How can you not resent disappointments?  You’re only human, Allison.  You don’t really want anything to happen to Maggie.  You know that.’
‘Do I?’ she demanded, her movements jerky and sharp.  ‘Joe. I lie awake at night and wonder what would be best for her.  How can I sentence her to a life of toil and frustration?  How can I face her every time some other little girl makes fun of the way she talks or the way she looks, or another Sylvia asks something stupid like why didn’t I abort her?  Maybe the surgery’s her answer, Joe.  Maybe it’s God’s way of letting her off the hook.’”


Unfortunately I have suffered similar thoughts, especially about Renee.  Why did she do it?  Was I part of the reason?  She had so much potential, and she chose drugs.  Now, we are stuck with the aftermath.  I would get so angry.
And then, after Kimee was born, you had to get pregnant, as if she had any control in the matter.  We wanted Renee to recover, and she was, slowly.  Her menses resumed two years after her overdose, just in time to be raped.
All Intellectually Incorrect.  But, emotionally they linger, and I am chagrinned to admit them.

And, Allison is confronted with the same thing we encountered several times.  (And I am currently trying to write about it.)
On page 238, a nurse says to Allison:


“‘Dr. Goldman asked me to speak to you again about signing a no-code order on Maggie.’
“Allison saw the hesitation in the nurse’s stance.  She saw the shadows in her eyes, half outrage, half agreement.  Another person who saw handicapped children as only being a burden, as being robbed of something precious and therefore not due the same fight a normal person would have for life.  Not a bad person.  A misinformed one.”


Oh, yes.  The medicals are divided into two distinct factions.  One measures results at the emotional bottom line; is the life worth saving? and spare the survivors some pain.  Only provide comfort care for marginal patients.  With overexposure to similar cases, condescension creeps in.
The other measures the efforts of compassion; give the patient every possible shot at recovery, but if nature overwhelms technology, at least they’ve tried.  Allow the survivors the opportunity for compassion.
Mistakes happen on both sides.  Unfortunately, only the latter can be corrected.
But lately, there is a middle ground.  As Christine Gleason said of Christopher in her 2009 book Almost Home:

“There is an approach that we term the ‘trial of life,’ which in a way is something between ‘comfort care’ and an aggressive ‘do everything’ approach....”


In that approach, they let the patient (or God as some claim) make the decision for life.  The patient is observed for a while with minimal invasive care, and if it shows any positive unsolicited response, it is given full code.
Korbel wrote her story in 1991.  Then there were only two choices.  Allison chose the latter and her story had a happy ending.  But if the middle road had been taken the ending surly would have been different.
I’m of the ‘Old School’ approach.  Do everything.  But some call the ‘trial of life’ approach an advancement in medicine.
I don’t.

Thank you, Mary, for suggesting I read A Rose for Maggie.  It is a lot more than a romance novel.  (But, I did enjoy the sex scene.)

Pages:        7
Words:    1,912
Saved:    2009-12-11  23:15