THE ROSEMARY SPELL

Rosemary and her friends explore memory and relationships through Shakespeare's works in Zimmerman’s debut novel.

Books engulf Rosemary Bennett's life. She and her mother, Claudia, a professor of English and a Shakespeare aficionado, live in the old house of their village's poet, Constance Brooke. While her father’s books remind her of his absence, the rest of her bookshelf recalls fond memories with her best friend, Adam, and his sister, Shelby. Adam and Rosie work together on a school poetry project about Brooke, whose Alzheimer’s makes it hard to remember her faithful visitors. Shelby’s busy high school life is making it hard for her to remember Rosie and Adam too. But when Shelby falls victim to a magical hidden book in the cupboard, Adam and Rosie must fight to keep her and her memory alive. Zimmerman invites readers into a layered and magical mystery across generations of literature. She deftly weaves the difficulty of loss into a tale of triumph, Rosemary’s strength of character keeping her buoyed through the emotional tumult she must navigate to save her friend. The sober subject matter demonstrates Zimmerman’s understanding of what young readers face in real life, and the addictive flow of magic and suspense will keep pages turning until the very end.

A spellbinding story about friendship and the power of prose.