Rose Waverley is the main antagonist of The Haunting of Braidwood Manor book. She is the mother of Eleanor, Clarissa, Thomas, and Simon. She is first seen in Chapter 4.
Appearance
Rose Waverley is seen as a spirit burned to the bones by fire. The only notable trait that still exists is evidence of brown hair. She is left in a charred skeleton form, and is capable of throwing fireballs and controlling flames.
Personality
Described as unwell by her eldest daughter, Rose Waverley was afraid of everything. Her concerns stretched to the wellbeing of her children as well, with her condition worsening after the departure of her husband for war.
When her husband went away to war, she went insane thinking that he would never come back and poisoned her three youngest children to spare them the pain. When Eleanor found out, Rose slit her throat before throwing herself in the furnace and shutting the door. Tragically, this was all for nothing, because her husband survived the war and was the one who found their bodies. He became depressed and drank himself to death. Being consumed by rage and sorrow after death, Rose was never able to learn the truth until moments before her permanent demise. Upon realizing so, Rose becomes remorseful for what she has done and accepts her second death, although she is unfortunately yet justifiably unforgiven by her children (mainly Eleanor).
Chapters
The Haunting of Braidwood Manor
The Haunting of Braidwood Manor
- Chapter 3: Lock and Key (Mentioned)
- Chapter 4: Behind Closed Doors
- Chapter 5: Secrets
- Chapter 6: Confessions
Relationships
Eleanor
Eleanor is Rose's oldest daughter. The two seem to have a strained relationship. She slit Eleanor's throat after Eleanor found out what she did to the younger siblings. When Rose dies a second time, she remorsefully gives up her rampage but Eleanor does not forgive her, and instead resentfully tells her mother that she will never see William again when regarding her afterlife. It is unknown what their relationship was prior to Rose’s murder of the Waverly children, although given the fact that Rose was a paranoid woman for her family who thought that killing her children would spare them the pain in case their father didn’t come home, it is likely that Rose cared for her in a way before murdering her.
Clarissa, Thomas and Simon
Clarissa, Thomas and Simon are Rose's children. She poisoned their hot chocolate drinks so they won't have to go through the pain of losing their father. Rose was a very paranoid woman who constantly worried for her family’s wellbeing, so when she realized the chance that her husband would not survive war, she went insane thinking that she would be sparing her children heartache by killing them. Her younger children remember her fondly (or rather the good memories they had when their parents were part of their lives), unaware of her murderous deeds. After learning the truth, her children lose trust in her and move on to the afterlife without her, while Rose remorsefully sends herself to Hell.
William Wavereley
William was Rose's husband. She became increasingly distraught after he left for the war, wrongfully coming to the conclusion that he had died in the war. As a result, she kills her children and then herself, hoping to spare everyone the pain of losing him and reunite with him in the afterlife. However, unknown to Rose, William survived the war and came home to find his family murdered, never finding out the truth. When she dies for a second time, Rose finally learns the truth and, realizing that she killed her family for nothing, collapses in remorse and begs for William to forgive her, before sending her spirit to Hell.
Other Looks
Trivia
- Rose was originally a Norman form of German's Hrodheid; "Hrod" meaning "fame" and Heid meaning "kind" or "type". Original spelling (from the Normans) was Roese or Rohese. The flower's name came from Latin's rosa.[1]
- She shares the same name as Rose Blake from The Crown & The Flame series and the default name of Princess Julivert from The Princess Swap.
- The surname Waverley is of English origin and means "Quaking aspen".
- Eleanor implies that Rose's actions stemmed from a mental illness.
- In Chapter 6, Eleanor tells her "Where you're going, you'll never see him". It's possible that William may be in Heaven, while Eleanor was telling her mother "Burn in hell", for having done murder and filicide. This is also likely due to the fiery deaths Rose faces.