The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer. By Joyce Reardon

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer:
My Life at Rose Red
By: Joyce Reardon

At the turn of the twentieth century, Ellen Rimbauer became the young bride of Seattle industrialist John Rimbauer, and began keeping a remarkable diary. This diary became the secret place where Ellen could confess her fears of the new marriage, her confusion over her emerging sexuality, and the nightmare that her life would become. The diary not only follows the development of a girl into womanhood, it follows the construction of the Rimbauer mansion called Rose Red; an enormous home that would be the site of so many horrific and inexplicable tragedies in the years ahead. The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red is a rare document, one that gives us an unusual view of daily life among the aristocracy in the early 1900s, a window into one woman’s hidden emotional torment, and a record of the mysterious events at Rose Red that scandalized Seattle society at the time – events that can only be fully understood now that the diary has come to light. Edited by Joyce Reardon, Ph.D. as part of her research, the diary is being published as preparations are being made by Dr. Reardon to enter Rose Red and fully investigate its disturbing history.”
A summary via back of the book.

Date Started: 1/2/2024 —–Date Finished: 1/3/2024

3 out of 5 stars

Quick Review – For Those who want a hurry up and tell me yes or no:

A quick heads up to the unaware, this is a book that should be read with the intention of watching the mini series that is related to. (It makes more sense that way) But if you do not, that should be okay as well. The “diary” reflecting on the consistent to erratic entries is entirely believable to me, with her taking breaks from writing due to illness or a pause in “trust” in her diary. The “diary” belongs to a young woman Ellen, and she writes multiple entries throughout her life. Starting with her marriage to wealthy businessman John Rimbauer, her honeymoon with him, and the house they eventually move into. The house is the main subject of her entries, which slowly becomes more worrisome. The “diary” reflects her back and forth mindset regarding the safety of her home and its inhabitants and visitors. I would definitely like this book to be longer but that’s just me. I enjoyed the mini series that went along with this book and I would like more. With that being said, it is a good stand alone book. Solid descriptions and easy flow. But as for a horror book, it could be better. Its a great diary of a troubled fictional woman. But as a companion to the television series, it would be a fantastic extra bit for those like myself that cried out for MORE!

Before the review….. Let us learn a little…

Finally!

As soon as this book appeared upon my doorstep, I devoured it as quickly as I could. Now as I said above (if you read the short version) This book is a companion piece to a mini series. Now I would consider myself VERY fortunate to have watched the mini series before this book. (and I would recommend you to do so as well) So with that said I am going to quick do a review of the mini series and give you some information. SPOILERS AHEAD! Possible Heavy Spoilers. I warned you. Let’s introduce you to Rose Red.

Welcome, you are expected.

Dr. Joyce Reardon, an unorthodox university psychology professor, leads a team of psychics to the massive and antiquated Seattle mansion known as Rose Red in an attempt to record data that would constitute scientific proof of paranormal phenomena. The mansion is publicly thought to be haunted, as at least 23 people have either disappeared or died there and the interior of the house appears to change or increase in size, yet only from the inside. Reardon’s team awakens the evil spirit possessing the house, leading to several deaths and the revelation of the mansion’s deadly secrets.” –Synopsis via Wikipedia. Image: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259153/

This is an amazing mini series. The screenplay was written by Stephen King. And I will not hide my desire for him, or the author of this book to expand the screenplay of the series and make it into a series of books. I want more details, more history, more point of view. In short, I WANT MORE! Call me Rose Red because I want this to grow.

The mini series as the synopsis above follows Joyce Reardon (a semi main character) and her obsession regarding a “haunted” house called Rose Red. Her paranormal team is as follows:

photo from https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/19654-rose-red

(listed in order from left to right)

Emery Waterman – Postcognate (kind of a dick)
Cathy Kramer – Automatic Writer (a kind lady, who likes to help others)
Victor “Vic” Kandinsky – Precognate ( he also has a heart condition and takes medication for it)
Nick Hardaway – a telepath with remote view capabilities (my favorite)
Rachel “Sister/Sissy” Wheaton – Annie’s sister, no abilities sadly
Annie Wheaton -a telekinetic (front and center with the doll)
Joyce Reardon– taking the scientific data, crunching the numbers, funding the whole thing
Steve Rimbauer – tagging along to ensure nothing terrible happens, it is his family’s property. He also has a relationship with Joyce. (which is implied that she is only with him because of his connection to Rose Red)
Pam Asbury -Psychometric (she describes it as a touch know, she touches stuff and can get feelings, moments, etc)

Joyce is a college professor at Beaumont University who used to be a regular psychologist, then she switched to now teaches classes on psychic phenomena. Much to her colleague’s irritation. Her purpose of the trip is to gather evidence, any and all evidence she can to show them and the world that there are things in this world that you can not explain with logic or reason. The show goes through her obsession with the house and the history of it as well. She calls it a dead cell, which she claims will be safe for her crew to enter and investigate. She has ulterior motives, she wants to wake up Rose Red and she does. And Rose Red is hungry. The show goes through flashbacks (which is tied to the book) and the horrors that await them and unsuspecting trespassers.

I love this mini series, it is in two parts (very old school TV, ah life before Netflix dropping whole seasons on us.)

Because of the mini series I was able to envision who Ellen was. I was able to see the enchanting Julia Campbell (Ellen), and her companion Tsidii Leloka as Sukeena. Theirs were the faces I saw and the voices I heard through the joys and anguish that seeped through the pages. It made the thoughts that Ellen wrote down in her diary much more real. The Book and TV Series have the exact same scenarios that are described by Prof. Reardon in the show via flashback, and are further described by Ellen with more details.

Image Found: https://stephenking.fandom.com/wiki/Sukeena?file=2158_a_4458.jpg

The Long Review – For people who like to have a lot of information and some spoilers.

As soon as this book appeared upon my doorstep, I devoured it as Rose Red devours women. A wonderful insight into the mind and slow madness of its owner, Ellen. I would have really liked though if the book continued on, a compiled diary perhaps of her daughter in law (wife of her son Adam) and their stay at Rose Red. Or perhaps they could have included personal letter of the staff or visitors of the home and their experiences. Or perhaps even some entries from Sukeena herself. Any or all of these things I would have enjoyed.

Deep down I wish the book could grow on its own, like Rose Red could. The book was fairly accurate with its descriptions of events that happened in the Rose Red series, and I adored the additional details. The book covers the beginning of her marriage to John, honeymoon, going over details of building the house, living there and all the strange disturbances that happen. It is hard I must confess to write a review of a book that is hard to not spoil since both the book and the series is in the forefront of my mind, and I am such a spoiler when it comes to them.

Now on to the Questions!

Spoilers!

Why did Joyce decide to leave out parts of the diary? yes it does give a brief explanation on why, I can not remember at the top of my head but something regarding privacy, since the parts she omitted where probably sexual due to the contents before hand.
Why are there entries missing? If she really did like the actress that disappeared (mentioned in the mini series) why isn’t mentioned in the diary?
Why didn’t she include more about her son?
What was the real reason about the house being able to live on its own? I don’t think the Indian burial ground is a good enough answer for me, or that the land was always a bad place.
Why was the house so attached to her and not John? Because she was a woman and more “susceptible” ?
If Sukeena was her closest friend why didn’t she understand her better? Why did she dismiss her fears?
When Sukeena went missing, why didn’t she try to contact her like she did April?
If the house really wanted to have Ellen all to itself, why start kidnapping? Especially women that had affairs or relations with her husband, why would Ellen want them as company in the house?