When Does "The War of the Roses" (1981) Take Place?
"The War of the Roses" is a comedy novel written by Warren Adler that released April, 1981. So when is "The War of the Roses" set?
It takes place in the year:
We know this because Jonathan Rose and Barbara Knowles meet during the May 1960 AD prologue and Jonathan says, "Harvard Law is damned expensive. I start in the fall." So Jonathan is going into graduate school in the fall of 1960 AD. The real-world Harvard Law School is a 3 year program and, in chapter four, Jonathan hazily remembers "They were on their honeymoon at the Groton Inn"... and "It was too hot for June." and "He still had two years to go at Harvard Law"... So they probably married in June of 1961 AD (13 months after they met), just before this honeymoon, when he still had 2 out of 3 years of studying left. At one much later point, Jonathan says to Barbara, ..."eighteen years of marriage is safety." So 18 years have passed since they married in 1961 AD.
1979 AD
We know this because Jonathan Rose and Barbara Knowles meet during the May 1960 AD prologue and Jonathan says, "Harvard Law is damned expensive. I start in the fall." So Jonathan is going into graduate school in the fall of 1960 AD. The real-world Harvard Law School is a 3 year program and, in chapter four, Jonathan hazily remembers "They were on their honeymoon at the Groton Inn"... and "It was too hot for June." and "He still had two years to go at Harvard Law"... So they probably married in June of 1961 AD (13 months after they met), just before this honeymoon, when he still had 2 out of 3 years of studying left. At one much later point, Jonathan says to Barbara, ..."eighteen years of marriage is safety." So 18 years have passed since they married in 1961 AD.
3 - 2 = 1
and
1,960 + 1 = 1,961
and
1,961 + 18 = 1,979.
More specifically, at the very beginning of chapter two, the narrator specifies, "A reddish spear of light from the slipping September sun bounced off the metal tools laid neatly in the box." so it is September of 1979 AD at the start of the main action.
Additionally, the book opens with a flashback prologue in chapter one during which the unnamed narrator tells us, ..."her name was Barbara Knowles; she was a student at Boston University; she had wanted to spend the summer as a volunteer for Kennedy to help him win against Nixon, but she couldn't afford that." The real-world campaigns of United States of American president John F. Kennedy and US Vice President Richard M. Nixon culminated in the US presidential election held on November 8th, 1960 AD. So it must be the summer of 1960 AD during the prologue.
More specifically, the narrator continues, "Most of the tourists who had crowded into Chatham on Thursday and Friday, hoping for a pleasant Memorial Day weekend"... The Memorial Day holiday is celebrated on the last Monday in May so it is currently May of 1960 AD in the prologue.
It was adapted to film in 1989, for the stage in 2016?, and to film again in 2025 as "The Roses".
