The Bitter Root

"Osmond House, a red brick and gray stone monstrosity decorated in gaudy iron scrollwork, stood like a preening peacock that had strayed into a barnyard of flustered hens..."

Located in the New Jersey countryside, the grand but cold late Victorian mansion is at the center of this complicated, compelling tale. Three generations of strong, independent Osmond women, driven by inner needs and desires but bound by strict Victorian standards, are all too often at the mercy of the men in their lives. What aopear to be lives of elegance, grace and ease do, in fact, include much uncertainty, psychological torment, tradegy and grief.

The Bitter Root weaves a complicated web of strict morals, secret desires, family scandal and world events. Rural France and England, New York City, Paris, Panama and WW1 all play a part in this multifaceted love story.

Born in New York City, Florence T. Gilbert studied theater, literature and art, affording her the well-rounded education her educated parents desired. Marriage to an Air Force officer quelled an acting career while affording her the priceless experience of living abroad. To answer the creativity pulsing within, she became an accomplished artist, speacializing in portraiture. After the war, she settled in Lexington, Kentucky, where her home became a showplace for the exotic antiques collected in her travels.

Always having "nibbled" at writing, she has at last said yes to the epoch buried within. This, her first published novel, is the result.

Now 94, Ms. Gilbert resides in Largo, Florida, where she continues her painting and her newest career as a novelist.