Synopsis
Rosemary Woodhouse and her struggling actor-husband Guy move into the Bramford, an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and old elderly residents. Neighbors Roman and Minnie Castavet soon come nosing around to welcome them and, despite Rosemary's reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises she keeps hearing, her husband starts spending time with them. Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Rosemary becomes pregnant and the Castavets start taking a special interest in her welcome.
As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castavet's circle is not what it seems.
Before Reading
I always wanted to read this book. I saw the movies years ago, and then a miniseries came out in 2014 I believe. I found the book on Book Depository two years ago and finally got a chance to read it a couple of months. I didn't really read the synopsis all the way through, I just went based on what I remember from the show.
Book vs TV Show
I decided to compare the book between the miniseries show instead of the movie because the movie adaptation was spot on with the book. The TV show was good, there were a few differences. Casting I would say was good. Casting I would say was good. Zoey Saldana can play any type of character she is given. Patrick Adams did Guy Woodhouse pretty well.
Instead of Guy being an actor, he's an inspiring author who works as English Professor, and Rosemary was a ballet dancer. I don't remember if the book ever mentioned Rosemary has a job, so I liked that small detail.
In the book, the Woodhouse family lived in New York and moved into the Bramford, but on the show, the couple moved from New York to Paris, into an apartment called La Chimere, which was described just like the Bramford. Rosemary and Guy meet the Castavets when they moved into the Bramford, but on the show, while Rosemary is on a walk her purse, she finds Margaux Castavets' wallet and decided to return it and Margaux along with her husband invites Rosemary and Guy to their party, so I understand that everything is not going to be the same from the book.
Final Thoughts and Ratings
My final thoughts and rating on the book are 4.5/5 stars. I really liked the dark aspects i.e Satan, Rosemary having a demon baby, a husband getting roped into a cult by their neighbors, and having his career skyrocket because of the cult, and Satan wanting a young woman to be his baby momma.
I hope to read more books that have cult stories, and I finally read a classic book - well it's a classic on Goodreads. The one thing I didn't like from the book was how the author describes Black/African Americans using the N-word, I understand that the book was released in the 1960s so there's not much I can say, but besides the racial slur, everything was okay.
The movie was 8.5/10 stars it matched every detail of the book for a book-to-movie adaptation is good.
I give 7.5/10 stars for the miniseries on Tubi for free. There are only two episodes which are one hour and some change. I wish it was at least 45 minutes so that all the details showing the audience will not be so much and make you want to fast forward through both episodes. I feel like Zoe and Patrick did a good job with these characters.
I meant to post this review back in February, but time got away from me, but I'll see you guys in the next post hopefully either the end of this month or in May. Later!