Rachael Rosing

by Howard Spring

"She will not play Iris," said Rachel. "I shall play her." "For God's sake!" said Hansford superstitiously. "Don't tempt the Fates!" He looked at her sitting there, white and imperturbable. A shiver went over him, as though a breath from a cold purposeful iceberg had stirred through the room. "Be humble," he said. Rachel, who laughed rarely, laughed. He did not like the sound of it. It was like ice tinkling to pieces.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

251 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1935

About the author

HOWARD SPRING was an immensely popular and successful writer, who enjoyed a large following of readers from the 1940s to the 1960s; and though, since his death in 1965, he has become rather neglected, his books are still worth seeking out for their terrific storytelling and the quality of the writing. He was certainly painstaking and professional in his approach. Every morning he would shut himself in his study and write one thousand words, steadily building up to novels of around one hundred and fifty thousand words. He rarely made major alterations to his writings (all completed with a dip-in pen!).
Howard Spring started out as a journalist, but from 1934 produced a series of best-selling novels, the most successful of which were My Son My Son and Fame is the Spur.
He was born in Cardiff in 1889 in humble circumstances, one of nine children and the son of a jobbing gardener who died while Howard was still at school. He left school at the age of 12 to begin work as an errand boy, later becoming an office boy at a firm of accountants in Cardiff Docks, and then a messenger at the South Wales Daily News. Spring was keen to train as a reporter, and was largely self-taught --he spent his leisure time learning shorthand and taking evening classes, where he studied English, French, Latin, mathematics and history. He mastered English grammar by studying a book on the subject by William Cobbett.
He worked his way up to become a reporter on the South Wales Daily News, and then in 1911 he joined the Yorkshire Observer in Bradford. By 1915 he was on the Manchester Guardian –proof that he was a young man with much talent. Soon afterwards he was called up for the Army Service Corps, where he served as a shorthand typist. After the war, he returned to the paper in Manchester and worked as a reporter on a paper that allowed journalists to write and express themselves. In 1931, after reporting on a political meeting at which Lord Beaverbrook was the speaker, Beaverbrook was so impressed by Spring's piece (he described the man as ‘a pedlar of dreams’) that he arranged for Spring to be offered a post with the Evening Standard in London, where he eventually became a book reviewer –a successor to Arnold Bennett and J.B. Priestley.
At the same time, Spring was developing his ambition to become a full-time writer. He thought he could do a lot better than many of the so-called authors whose books he was asked to review! His first book, Darkie and Co, came out in 1932 (in this period he wrote a number of children’s books for his sons), followed by his first novel, Shabby Tiger (September 1934) and a sequel, Rachel Rosing (1935).
His first major success came in February 1938 with My Son, My Son (originally titled O Absalom, but, happily, changed when William Faulkner used a similar title in the United States), and in 1939 he was able to move to Cornwall to become a full-time writer (he and his wife, Marion, eventually settled at The White Cottage in Fenwick Road, where they remained for the rest of their married life). In 1940, his best-known work, Fame is the Spur, the story of a Labour leader's rise to power, was published. This is without doubt a superb novel, and probably the one book by Spring that is still being read more than 40 years after his death.
During the war years Spring wrote two other novels, Hard Facts (1944) and Dunkerley's (1946), and, subsequently he published There is No Armour (1948), The Houses in Between (1951), A Sunset Touch (1953), These Lovers Fled Away (1955), Time and the Hour (1957), All The Day Long (1959) and I Met a Lady (1961). Spring also produced three volumes of autobiography--Heaven Lies About Us (1939), In the Meantime (1942); and And Another Thing (1946)—which were later published in one volume as The Autobiography (1972). His last book was Winds of the Day (1964).
It is relevant to note that many of his books had Manchester settings, which led to him being referred to as ‘The Manchester Man’, and

Reviews

[Runningrara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The very entertaining sequel to Shabby Tiger, that unfortunately needs a bit of a re-edit to remove some very out-moded wordmanship.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bet on the cat: the dog it was that died.

[Michelle Good · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title character claws her way to wealth and fame, unfortunately.

[Mackenzie Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Howard Spring’s second novel that was first published in 1935 and is a follow up to Shabby Tiger, but rather than include the entire cast from the first novel this story follows the trials and tribulations of Rachel Rosing immediately after the previous book ends.
Rachel’s temperament is fleshed out much more in this book. We’re presented with a character who is astonishingly beautiful and knows it and is prepared to do almost anything to escape her impoverished past. In the previous book she had almost snagged a knight of the realm, only to find her dream’s dashed because of an indiscretion. The reader has some sympathy with her initially, but as the story moves along that soon wanes when her truly manipulative personality is exposed. This is another novel brimming with interesting and diverse characters and an engaging storyline.
Yet again a must read for lovers of the very best in fiction.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-reading Howard Spring #2, "Rachel Rosing" - written only one year after "Shabby Tiger" and already the writing has become more taut and developed more pace. I read this almost in one sitting, even though I could remember how it ended. The characters show Howard Spring's insight into what drives and motivates people and the interaction between them is beautifully developed.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not so immediately - nor so fondly - remembered as 'Shabby Tiger' but this due to Rachel's unattractive character rather than any lack in her portrayal, the story or the writing which was a smooth and effective as ever.

[Vi Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 3.5 star read for me. I enjoy Howard Spring's lucid narrative style that makes all his books a pleasure to read. However I found this tale of an impoverished young woman whose only asset is her extreme beauty a little predictable.