Rose in a Storm is a gripping account of a border collie mix who saves her farm through a devastating 5 day blizzard. It is a fictional story, so if all the factual events do not ring true, leave that to liberties of the genre. But what does ring true, and steals the heart of any sympathetic reader, is the character of Rose. It is impossible not to fall in love with her. And that love sweeps all incredulity aside…at least, on first reading.Perhaps the most endearing part of Rose’s story is her attachment to Katie, and her memories of this now-dead human who elicits true love, not just epic loyalty and a fierce work ethic. Rose’s attachment takes on a mysterious quality, as Rose seems to sense Katie’s spiritual presence almost as if she were still alive. Rose has her ritual of meeting Katie at their favorite haunt and engaging in imaginary conversations. Rose is throughout depicted as acutely aware of the needs of all the other animals, with an instinctive empathy for their feelings. But more than that, Rose can enter the minds of all the farm animals and converse with them in imaginary language. Rose can divine her own origin, and she meets her own dead mother who instructs her about death and when it is time to die and when not. At least on first reading, these imaginative elements of the story seemed to fit right in with the other-worldly, dream-like quality of the sustained brutality and ordeal of the storm. There is an almost hypnotic aspect to repetition that punctuates the time line. At least on first reading, these elements did not detract from the emotional impact of the story.When I love a story, I want to know more about its possible derivation in reality. Jon Katz is best known for biographical books about his dogs, and Rose was a real dog. But what I also find is that what appears to be imaginative fiction in this novel actually reflects the author's belief in the ideas of psychics who claim to speak to the dead and read the minds of animals as if they were able to speak to us in human language. I must confess, I cannot quite swallow this type of spiritualism. It even became something of a spoiler on second reading. But this insight into the mystical events of the story probably does explain one dramatic element which seemed forced and confusing on first read. The mysterious appearance of the wolf at the final climax has no place in the story understood as something possibly real. In the final dialogue between Rose and Katie, Katie asks, Tell me, was there really a wolf? Hint, hint. What starts out as a story of canine heroism turns into something unreal and unknowable.Altogether, this novel is deeply affecting, profoundly sad, not redeemed by its mysterious and perhaps unsatisfying ending. Rose the character is irresistibly lovable, unforgettable. And for a tease, who cannot love the wild dog as much as Rose?