Product Description

At the turn of the twentieth century, Ellen Rimbauer became the young bride of Seattle industrialist John Rimbauer, and began keeping a remarkable diary. This diary became the secret place where Ellen could confess her fears of the new marriage, her confusion over her emerging sexuality, and the nightmare that her life would become. The diary not only follows the development of a girl into womanhood, it follows the construction of the Rimbauer mansioncalled Rose Redan enormous home that would be the site of so many horrific and inexplicable tragedies in the years ahead. The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red is a rare document, one that gives us an unusual view of daily life among the aristocracy in the early 1900s, a window into one womans hidden emotional torment, and a record of the mysterious events at Rose Red that scandalized Seattle society at the timeevents that can only be fully understood now that the diary has come to light. Edited by Joyce Reardon, Ph.D. as part of her research, the diary is being published as preparations are being made by Dr. Reardon to enter Rose Red and fully investigate its disturbing history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58911 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04
• Released on: 2002-04-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 277 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780786890439
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
A mysterious and haunting spirit lurks within the walls of Rose Red, the setting for Stephen King's upcoming ABC miniseries tie-in by the same name. Built on a Native American burial ground in early 20th-century Seattle, the mansion which is constantly under construction sets the scene for a multitude of inexplicable disappearances and ghastly deaths. While moody oil tycoon John Rimbauer refuses to acknowledge that the house has a mind of its own, his young wife, Ellen, dramatizes these eerie events with great detail in her diary, often personifying the house as if it were a living being. (Or, perhaps, a non-living being?) While the evolution of Ellen's character from innocent and submissive to frighteningly powerful is a slow process, the language and questioning nature of her entries entice the reader as the mystery of Rose Red is brought into full bloom. Ellen also reveals frustration and disappointment with her marriage namely her husband's unfaithfulness and alarmingly frequent involvement in voyeuristic activities as well as a growing confusion about her sexual identity and attachment to her friend and African handmaid, Sukeena. In addition to extensive dialogue that makes the diary seem a tad more like a novel than someone's personal confessions, Ellen's entries are accompanied by a handful of explanatory notes put in by the "editor" and supposed professor of paranormal studies, Joyce Reardon. The people mentioned in the diary, as well as Reardon, are all characters in Rose Red, which was created directly for television by the bestselling author. As to who penned the actual text of the diary? That remains as much of a mystery as Rose Red herself.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review
"A clever, beautifully detailed fiction." -- USA Today

Customer Reviews

Interesting companion to the upcoming mini-series
This fictional diary is a companion to the upcoming ABC mini-series - Stephen King's Rose Red, to air three nights at the end of January. Stephen King wrote the original teleplay about Joyce Reardon, PhD, who investigates a long-believed haunted house in the Seattle area with the help of an autistic 16 year old girl. This diary provides additional background to the story, supposedly written by Ellen Rimbauer, mistress to Rose Red, the haunted mansion. It is written in the tradion of The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, of Twin Peaks fame. I would be extremely surprised to discover that Mr. King himself wrote this account, due to the overly dramatic, extremely feminine tone and viewpoint. Mr. King's writing is much more straight forward,and usually his stories are told with a distinctly male voice. I enjoyed this book. Because it is in journal form, it is easy to forgive the overly dramatic nature of some of the passages, and some of the writing problems. It is, in my opinion, a brilliant marketing stragegy a la the Blair Witch Project on the part of Hyperion Books and the producers of the mini-series. The book comes complete with references to a website for the fictional university where Dr. Reardon holds her chair, and provides pictures and additional background. As a fan of Haunted House stories, and horror in general, I was very satisified with the overall experience of The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer.

Clever Marketing Ploy
Rose Red is definitely a good read and a clever marketing ploy. The writing is first rate, and reminds me very much of Stephen (or possibly Tabitha?) King's. ... for confirmation that this is an elaborate hoax. Beaumont University does not exist(check the listings in any collegiate dictionary), and every link return's to the "exerpts" from the book.

Who wrote it? My money is on one of the King's (see page 190 for a clue). I found other clues that convinced me the book is a hoax on pages 119 and 225. Ther are probably others, but my history is not good enough to recognize them.

If you accept that this book, combined with the website and upcoming miniseries, is fiction, then you're in for a rich and titillating read(I confess--I fruitlessly searched the website for the supposedly edited entries mentioned on page 221). To whoever is responsible for this clever marketing ploy: great job! A multimedia first I believe.

Um, I would not go in there Dr. Reardon, if I were you...
This faux-diary will remind many of the brilliant publicity campaign orchestrated for "The Blair Witch Project," although it certainly does not reach the depth and detail of that infamous effort. For me, "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer," the back story for the upcoming "Rose Red" mini-series whipped up by Stephen King is more reminiscent of "The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer" from "Twin Peaks." The different is that the latter came out AFTER the first season and only served to obscure what was happening in that bizarre little town. "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer" certainly sets the stage for the mini-series. We know a lot of what happened and we have some theories as to what is going on in that strange mansion overlooking Seattle, but the mystery is not even close to be solved.

The character of Ellen Rimbauer also reminds me strongly of Edna Pontellier, the heroine in Kate Chopin's 1899 classic "The Awakening." Both deal with the issue of a woman embracing her sexuality at the turn of the century and while both tales are tragedies, Ellen's is of a different fate. Her character is the strongest part of the "Diary," and if you are expecting the traditional heroine afflicted by a haunted house, you are going to be in for a surprise. The book suffers from the necessity of leaving massive holes in the narrative so that the cat does not end up entirely out of the bag. There are a couple of photographs and several relatively crude drawings that add little to the aura of authenticity (although I have seen better in both regards elsewhere associated with this enterprise).

This is a relatively simple division: If you are going to watch "Rose Red," then you should read "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer." Yes, on one level it is a blatant attempt to make money off of our interest in anything Stephen King. But on the other hand, it is a solid back story and if it does NOT inform our enjoyment of the mini-series, I really will be surprised. After "Rose Red" is aired, most of the fun and a large chunk of the value of reading this faux-diary will be gone.

So, who do I think wrote the book, Stephen or Tabitha? I certainly think he could do it and I suppose at some point a figure will emerge from behind the curtain and we will learn the truth, but it does not matter to me if this turns out to be Richard Bachman revisited. For now, we can just be content to go along for the ride. Besides, I am curious as to why so much seems to happen on the 15th of the month and will overlook the fact that if they indeed believe everything in the diary to be true, then Joyce Reardon, Ph.D. and his team of investigators are idiots to attempt to wake up Rose Red. But then there would be no mini-series, right? WARNING: Do not pursue the URL to discover the "other" diary excerpts, considered "too graphic and disturbing" to be printed in this volume by the "editor" until you have finished reading the diary.