Scarlet Rose by Julia Madeleine

In her day, Sylvia had it all.  Men adored her and flocked to see her dance.  She was a stripper known as Scarlet Rose and she basked in the admiration.  After all, it was no more than her due; she was made to be rich and adored.

But life doesn't always turn out the way a young girl dreams of.  Now, Sylvia is middle-aged, fat and dumpy, living on handouts from her daughter, Fiona.  She was dragged down by motherhood, kept from what she knew was her rightful place by the demands of three kids.  Now that they were grown, they owed her.  She put Fiona out as a stripper and prostitute at age sixteen.  Suzanne escaped to the streets and drug addiction while her son is in prison.  There there was her angel, her baby, another son who was kidnapped when he was four, perhaps by a former lover, perhaps by a stranger.  He is now back in town, ready to be reunited with his vision of a perfect mother and willing to do Sylvia's bidding.

When her use of her son goes awry, Sylvia flees town, forced once again by a cruel world to figure out how to survive.  Never mind that she tried to force her son to kill her daughters, ingrates that resented supporting her lavish ways.  She should have been able to get enough money from her schemes to live as she wanted.  Now, she will have to figure out a new way to get her dreams, and in Sylvia's world, if you stand between her and what she wants, your life has a short shelf life.

Julia Madeleine has created a woman in Sylvia who the reader will not soon forget.  Totally self-absorbed, the picture of narcissism, she blunders from situation to situation, using others to meet her goals and fulfill her self-image of what life owes her.  This book is recommended for readers of suspense novels.