I discovered this picture of a black rose, and was immediately swept back in time. All at once I recalled Thomas B. Costain’s The Black Rose. The Black Rose is one of my favorite books of all time. Even the movie of the same name starring Tyrone Power does not do the book justice. It is a story of a young man’s journeys through Antioch, Cathay, Bombay, Venice, and Marseilles.
One reviewer on Amazon.com writes, “Admittedly, as Costain notes in his forward, he meant the book to be more about Edward I and Bayan of the Hundred Eyes, but became more caught up in the legend of Thomas a Becket‘s parents: an English knight married to an Eastern girl.” It is this love story that envelopes the reader, depicting the romance and dangers of those times.
This book came down to me through my mother. My hardbound copy is tattered and frayed, and in dire need of being rebound. But I don’t know that it would be worth it. Even the paperback copies are expensive, so I am hoping to see a Kindle edition sometime (I don’t have anymore room in my bookshelves).
Check out the site at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Black-Rose-Thomas-Costain/dp/1568497016