Only the Beautiful

In February 1939, Mrs. Grissom, a social worker with County Human Services, comes to the Calverts’ vineyard in California to take young Rosanne Maras away. For the last year, the Calverts have served as Rosie’s guardians and employers following the death of her family in a car accident. Now, as Rosie packs her things, she recalls a conversation in which she promised her mother that she would always be careful and find a way to be happy in life. She gently packs her precious amaryllis bulb, which her old friend Helen once gave her. She bleakly assumes that she is being sent to “[a] home for unwed mothers” because “no one else will take [her] the way [she is]. Seventeen. Orphaned. Pregnant” (6).

However, Mrs. Grissom does not take her to a home for unwed mothers, but to a psychiatric institution in Sonoma, California. Once there, Rosie is roughly handled, sedated, and admitted as an unwell patient who is unable to care for herself due to her youth and (alleged) poor judgment. Rosie refuses to reveal the name of her baby’s father, and the doctor interrogating her asks her about the allegation that she sees colors in her vision, matched to shapes, which no one else can perceive. (Rosie is later revealed to have a rare neurological condition called synesthesia.) Rosie is devastated to learn that someone has revealed this secret about herself. To avoid unwanted attention from the doctor, she tries to pretend that seeing shapes in her mind was part of a game that she used to play as a little girl, but the doctor isn’t convinced. As Rosie panics and begs to be released, she is sedated against her will.

The narrative flashes back in time to the previous year to describe the moment when Rosie first arrives at the vineyard-based home of Truman and Celine Calvert. Rosie and her family previously worked in the Calverts’ vineyard, but Rosie’s family was recently killed in a car accident, leaving their daughter an orphan. The Calverts have recently dismissed their maid and are now offering Rosie this position to mitigate the difficult circumstances in which the girl finds herself. While she is only 16, Rosie agrees to the offer, and the narrative reveals that she has dropped out of school due to her neurological condition of seeing colors and shapes in her mind upon hearing sounds.

As she recalls, “The colors in my mind were always fighting for my attention, and there were so many sounds at school. Too many. It had been so hard to concentrate” (19). Now, Rosie assures Celine that school doesn’t appeal to her, and Celine is happy to employ her full-time. After laying out the house rules and explaining Rosie’s new responsibilities, Celine thanks Rosie and assures her that her presence in the home will be a welcome one, for Celine has never had the privilege of being a mother to a daughter.

The novel returns to the narrative present, with Rosie having been committed to a psychiatric institution. Rosie awakens from her latest sedation to find that she has been clothed in a generic robe and placed in a locked room. A nurse arrives to take her to a different room, and Rosie contemplates her desperate need to escape. She is assured that her personal belongings are safely kept in an office, but someone has thrown away her prized amaryllis bulb. Falling into despair, Rosie is chaperoned to her permanent location on the third floor, in a ward reserved for women. The nurse explains the basic rules and expectations for the residents, telling Rosie that she can even choose to have a job if she likes. After seeing the place where she will now be staying, she heads down to the cafeteria, which is filled with hundreds of people of all ages.

The narrative reverts to Rosie’s time with the Calverts. During her time as the Calvert’s maid, Rosie feels completely under the direction of Celine, whom she sees as being the primary person in charge of running both the home and the vineyard. Reflecting on the differences between Celine and her husband, Rosie perceives Celine to be a strong, capable, and indifferent woman, while she finds Truman to be quiet and reserved, but much more approachable than his wife.

One evening, Celine has one too many drinks and confides in Rosie that she had always wanted a daughter. If she had had one, she would have named the girl Francie. As she states, “My Francie and you might have been friends when you were little. […] I’d look out over the vineyard, and I’d see you two playing together. Pretending to be princesses with daisy-chain crowns in your hair” (39-40). Celine falls asleep, and Truman carries her to bed, making sure that Rosie understands never to mention the night’s events to Celine. The next morning, Celine doesn’t seem to remember her confession at all. She informs Rosie that her son Wilson is coming home from college to visit.

The narrative returns to the present moment in the Sonoma institution. Rosie tries her best to blend in and behave as a cooperative and happy resident, but she is constantly searching for a means of escape. She chooses a job working in the kitchen, hypothesizing that there may be some way to escape when food deliveries are made. In the dormitory, a girl named Charlotte befriends Rosie, but one morning, Rosie wakes up to discover that Charlotte has undergone a surgical procedure. Three days later, Charlotte disappears, never to be seen again. Soon afterward, Rosie is told that she will be starting therapy sessions with Dr. Townsend. Still determined to find a way to either escape or be released, Rosie resolves to pretend that the shapes and colors she sees are a simply childhood prank, not something that she ever experienced.

The narrative reverts to Rosie’s time with the Calverts. Celine is distraught to discover that Wilson will not be staying as long as he initially planned. Truman tries to calm Celine. Rosie is also upset to learn that Wilson isn’t staying long. Later, Rosie talks with Truman about Celine’s disappointment, and Truman admits that he and Celine always wanted to have more children, but Celine miscarried their second child.

As she washes dishes, Rosie tells Truman about her sorrow over losing her own little brother. They also talk about Truman’s sister, Helen, who now lives in Europe. Rosie has only met Helen twice, but ever since she was a child, Helen would send her notes and letters detailing her adventures abroad. Helen’s latest letter describes how she is doing in Vienna. Helen explains that the government there disapproves of people who have physical disabilities, like Brigitta, the girl for whom Helen is currently a nanny. Later that night, as Rosie is going to bed, she wonders what it would be like to be kissed and wonders if there is any chance that Wilson might be interested in her when he arrives.

The narrative returns to the present moment. Rosie has her first therapy session with Dr. Townsend, in which he repeats many of the questions that she evaded during her intake, particularly those about the father of her child. Dr. Townsend informs her that the institution’s physician expects her to give birth sometime in July. Finally, Dr. Townsend broaches the subject of the colors that she claims to see. Rosie tries to pass this off as a childish fantasy on her part, one that was designed to garner attention. However, the doctor doesn’t believe her. Rosie finally admits to truly seeing the colors, hoping that her cooperation will lead to a quicker discharge. Instead, Dr. Townsend conducts an electro-encephalogram (EEG) on her and monitors the readings as she describes everything that she sees.

The narrative reverts to Rosie’s time with the Calverts. Wilson arrives home to the vineyard and greets Rosie. The two were childhood friends when they both still lived on the property, and now, Wilson asks her how she likes her new job. When the family sits down for dinner, however, Wilson asks why Rosie isn’t eating with the family, and Celine states that she is trying to prepare Rosie for a life on her own, saying, “We are not her foster parents. […] We are just her custodians until she can make her own way” (73). However, Wilson insists that Rosie eat with them, so Rosie changes out of her maid’s uniform and joins the group. During their conversation, Wilson asks about something that Rosie told him when they were young, trying to recall if Rosie had once claimed to see ghosts. Terrified that Wilson will somehow reveal her secret of seeing colors and shapes in connection with sounds, Rosie tries to change the subject, but Wilson is not convinced by her denials and evasions.

The narrative returns to the present moment. Rosie continues her therapy sessions for the next month and a half, and they are always the same. In the meantime, a woman named Ruth is taken away for surgery, but this time, Rosie peeks at her medical chart and learns that the procedure is called a “salpingectomy” (78). Soon afterward, a new girl named Belle arrives, and she and Rosie quickly make friends with one another. Belle tells Rosie that she has been sent here because she is accused of being a sex addict. Rosie confides that she sees colors and is planning an escape. Belle wants to escape too and agrees to help in any way she can.

The narrative reverts to Rosie’s time with the Calverts. Lying in bed after having dinner with Wilson, Celine, and Truman, Rosie wonders why Wilson would remember a conversation that they had as children. The next morning, Wilson confronts her and tells her that he remembers the exact details of what she told him. He recalls that she admitted to seeing colors in her mind. Rosie denies this and ends the conversation, but later in the day, Truman assures Rosie that she is safe and can confide in him if she needs to. Rosie believes him and admits that she does in fact see colors. She tries to describe the experience, stating, “I see them in my mind. Like if I told you to picture a running horse, you would see it inside your head. […] But no one has to tell me to picture the colors. The sounds make them come, all on their own” (87). Afterwards, she makes Truman promise to keep this information a secret, even from Celine.