Hugo & Rose: A Novel by Bridget Foley

Release Date - May 5, 2015

Bridget Foley
St. Martin's Press

Book Review by Tracy Farnsworth

In many ways, I found Rose in the novel Hugo & Rose easy to relate to. She's a stay-at-home mom to a successful, very busy surgeon. Her kids are getting older, her relationship with her husband has settled into routine, and, in a nutshell, she's starting to wonder if this is all that life has in store for her. I was a stay-at-home mom and now am a work-at-home mom, and I've had those thoughts. Is this it?

The thing about Rose that makes her unique is that since an accident in her childhood, she has had a dream-time pal named Hugo. Hugo is exciting. He's an adventurer who joins her in amazing quests. This dream land with its sparkling pink sand, gigantic spider monsters and foul-tempered deer, and Hugo is something Rose looks forward to.

One day, the unimaginable happens. Rose is at a fast food joint she's never been to in the past, but she's desperate to appease her children. When she drives up to the window, Hugo is staring her in the face. It seems absurd that her dream-time friend is live and in the flesh, albeit a little older, but he is and it's amazing. Yet, as Rose gets to know this live and in the flesh Hugo, she starts to see that even he has flaws. What does Rose really want?

Hugo & Rose: A Novel definitely pulled me in. The writing flows well. I was half in love with Rose's husband. Hugo also has his charms. I liked Rose for a while, and then it reached a point where the decisions she made ticked me off, so I stopped feeling sympathetic towards her. The other issue is that I had this feeling that this would be a romantic tale and that's where I was sadly mistaken. There are touches of romance, but, at times, this feels more like a thriller. That's not a bad thing, but it's also unexpected and takes you down paths you did not see coming.