BBC Radio 4, July 15 2022 and BBC Sounds

Young, pale and interesting…

We meet our eponymous Rose stowing away on a transatlantic cruise ship to escape… what exactly? No, it’s not a reimagining of the Dr Crippen tale, but something more insidious, and I’m not just talking about Rose’s ‘interesting’ dietary needs.

Immediately it’s apparent that Rose is ethereally beautiful and that this combined with her youth garners her some less than gentlemanly attention. It’s OK, she can handle herself, but the persistence of one of these idiots is just as unsettling to me as the horrifying consequences that are swiftly visited upon him. Now I’m not saying these guys were asking for it, but if they will go around talking like that…

I love that we’ve got a classic trope reversed here, as the young and apparently vulnerable woman is not, after all, in any danger. Or is she? Could she be running from herself, and will she too be subject to the consequences of her actions as the dark side of New York high society swallows her up.

Verdict: A clever opening twist with a conflicted femme fatale. 8/10

Claire Smith