This document provides a summary of a manuscript titled "The End of the Rainbow" by Sarra Manning. It describes the main plotlines involving two runaway characters, Rose and Jane. In 1943, 17-year-old Rose escapes her family in Durham and goes to London to find work. In present day, Jane runs away from her wedding in Las Vegas and impulsively marries a man named Leo. Leo is later called back to London when his great-aunt Rose falls ill. He convinces Jane to accompany him under false pretenses. When they arrive, Jane learns they are visiting Leo's aunt Rose and becomes immersed in her backstory, which involves working at a club during WWII and finding love with an

1. The End of the Rainbow
Sarra Manning
Reader Report by Ashley Carlson
October 26, 2014
Logline:
This manuscript tells the story of two runaways. Rose is a seventeen-year-old girl who escapes her
family responsibilities and the horrors of war by going to London. However, London is tougher than
she thought. The war is pushed in her face every day. She is hungry and alone, so she resorts to less
than moral ways of earning a living. However, readers know she made it somehow because her nephew
Leo is called to return home due to her illness that is caused by age. Leo is in Las Vegas when he meets
Jane, a runaway bride still looking to marry. This situation is not the first time Jane has run away; as a
teenager, she escaped abuse. After an hour of talking and drinking, they do get married. The next
morning provides lots of regrets for both of them. They agree to end the marriage, but Leo blackmails
Jane to come with him to London. He thinks his aunt will be less judgmental and austere if he brought
home a wife. He arrives on Rose's doorstep and is hesitant, but Jane pushes him forward. Rose has
cancer and will die soon, but is still angry with her nephew for his drug use. Jane helps mend this
family, and even though it was originally about money, comes to love Leo. She becomes part of the
family, and her terrible childhood of poverty and abuse can no longer haunt her.
Synopsis:
The setting for the prologue is London in the fall of 1943. It introduces a female character in a train
station. She has just gotten off a train in which she met seven soldiers, and they made “Snow White”
references. Now that she did not have company she watched and wondered at the many people of
London. Durham, where she came from was much smaller. She looked around at the people; they were
either rushing around or greeting friends and family. As she is standing in the train station, she sees two
American soldiers and asks them to take her to Rainbow Corner. The prologue then shifts to the
London train station in the year 2000. There is a similar runaway to the girl from 1943; it is clear she
has been abused. A man in a suit from the train offers to take care of her.
Chapter one starts in present day Las Vegas. A runaway bride walks into a bar and sits down next to
a man named Leo. Leo could not help but notice her beauty. She acknowledges Leo, and he notices that
she has a British accent. When the bartender comes over, he asks the bride a lot of sensitive questions.
She asks for champagne, but the closest she could get was a martini. She and Leo sat in silence mostly,
but she mentions that her 27th birthday is the next day. She then says that her plan was to be married by
twenty-seven and proceeds to ask Leo to marry her. He suggests they talk some more and then see how

2. they each feel about the proposal.
Chapter two happens in 1943; the young girl is still trying to convince Danny and Phil, the two GIs
to take her to Rainbow Corner. They suggest the YWCA first but eventually agree to help if she doesn't
lie to them anymore. They exchanged names, but the girl shortened Rosemary to Rose, just to be safe.
They make sure she is comfortable on the ride, but she cannot get Durham out of her head. One of the
guys notices and asks why she is sad. Phil tried to flirt while Danny seemed annoyed. Rose was almost
too busy to notice as she took in all the new sights. Two MPs stopped them, and Rose was worried they
might identify her as a runaway, making Danny more suspicious. The pair check into the place with
Rosie, saying she is Phil's little sister. When they had a room, Danny said you're welcome to Rose and
left, but Phil stayed behind. He told her he was interested in her; they spent time together. They dance
and then go to a diner; Rose experiences many things for the first time, including Coca-Cola.
Eventually, the two fell asleep while Phil talked of his home in Iowa.
Chapter three is back to present day Las Vegas. Jane and Leo finally give each other their names and
get to know each other more. Jane likes him because when they shake hands he is polite and doesn't
make any jokes about her name. She has sat with him for half an hour and is confident she knew
everything she needed to about him. They flirted and talked about their lives. Jane's fiance was a big
business man and had left their wedding because of incorrect paperwork. Leo was an artist who didn't
make much money, but enough to live. After an hour, Jane asked Leo to marry her again, and because
he thought she was beautiful, he said yes. They found a nice chapel with a gazebo and got married.
Jane thought they should celebrate with champagne, but neither of them had much money. Jane said
they could find someone to buy it for them, so they went to a casino and told their fake sob story. Two
couples who were celebrating anniversaries insisted that Leo and Jane enjoy the champagne. When the
couples leave, the newlyweds get drunk. Leo goes to the bathroom because he feels his need for drugs
kicking in; he usually spends time with married women and lives a fast life. After he felt more like
himself, he found a one thousand dollar gambling chip before leaving the restroom.
In chapter four, Jane has time to think because Leo has been in the bathroom so long. She thinks
what the day was supposed to be and gets a little sad. Leo comes back with the gaming chip, and they
play roulette and won thirty-six thousand dollars. Leo wanted to gamble more, but Jane wasn't having
it. He got her some food and then went to snort more coke. They got an upgraded room and became
fiercely intimate there.
Chapter five takes place in 1943 London again. Rose has found a job and a home; she thinks about
her old home sometimes but never calls to check in with her folks. She continued looking for a better
job and stopped trying to go into Rainbow Corner; she couldn't bear to do the things those girls did.

3. There were lots of things in London Rose had never seen, such as negroes. She danced with them, and
that made the poverty and sadness of her life go away for a little while. She met some girls there who
were familiar with the rainbow room. She was able to make friends with Sylvie, but the other girls
didn't care for her.
In chapter six, readers come back to Vegas. Jane wakes up with a pounding head, a sore body, and
lots of regrets. She thinks about Andrew and how he had said they couldn't marry because he needed to
focus on work. Then Leo woke up; they discussed an annulment as he helped her undress. She took a
bath and called home, but she had no messages from Andrew. Leo looked at his phone to see he had
missed a call. He called back, and a woman named Lydia, whom he called his one true love answered.
She asked him to come home because some family member was ill, and even though he was supposed
to divorce Jane, he agreed to come.
Chapter seven takes us back to Rose. Her new friend Sylvia takes her to interview for volunteer work
at the Red Cross. Then they go to Rainbow Corner and find a man named Mickey, who can help Rose
get new identification. He says she owes him a favor if he helps. Rose was able to stay at Rainbow
Corner, and also started writing her folks. Three weeks later Sylvia informed Rose that she was to meet
Mickey at the billiard room with money to get her papers. She got there, and he wanted more.
However, Rose resisted, got what she came for, and left. An officer in Uniform held the door for her,
and she thought of all the soldiers she had seen who would not return from the war.
In chapter eight, Leo tells Jane that she has to come with him to London. He holds the money over
her head, and she can't go straight back to Andrew, so she agrees. Leo needs her to keep up appearances
with his great aunt who is sick. When the two arrive at their destination, Jane finds out they are there to
see Leo's great aunt Rose.
In chapter nine, they are invited inside Rose's home and taken to join the small party she was having.
Leo shrinks back from the room of six people, so Jane takes the lead. She introduces herself and tells a
made-up story of how she met Leo. When asked why they chose to have their honeymoon in London,
Rose's illness is brought up. She acknowledges it but quickly brushes it off. She tells Leo and Jane that
they will be staying in her home. Jane is then escorted to freshen up for dinner; once there, she receives
a call from Andrew. Once Jane exits, Rose is very cold with Leo. He busied himself talking to others in
the room; however he was thinking back to his childhood. Rose would come to visit his family when he
was a toddler; back then he was mostly ignored. When he was five, she visited, and he told her she
reminded him of Cruella de Ville from “101 Dalmatians.” While everyone else was horrified at the
child's observation, Rose was tickled. She took more of an interest in him then, and when he turned
eighteen, he went to live with her and to study art. He wondered what he would have to do for the two

4. of them to be close again.
Chapter ten flashes back to 1944; Rose had been in London for four months. Christmas had come
and gone with only practical gifts from her family, but her group of friends shared their gifts. It was a
good holiday. She was headed out of Rainbow Corner one night when she clumsily bumped into a
group of GIs. They wanted her to stay and dance, even though her shift was over. She almost tripped on
a step on her way out but was caught by Danny, one of the first GIs she had met in London. He decides
to walk with her, and she finds out that his friend Phil was killed. She leans into him for consolation,
and he kisses her. Before they part, he promises to meet her the next day but does not show. He finds
her once she and her friends have started walking. They are skeptical of him, so they keep a close eye
on Rose. He joins their nightly routine and after the sixth night Rose knows she loves him.
Being in Rose's house brings back memories for Jane, memories from after she had run from the
abuse. Charles had taken her in at the train station in London that day. He had given her a bed and food,
but she was sure he wanted something. Slowly, it began to feel like home. When Jane comes down for
dinner, she meets Liddy and is interrogated by Rose. She tells the story of a tragic childhood with no
family and then retires early. Andrew calls while she is getting ready for bed; she keeps it short. When
Leo comes in, she pretends to be asleep; it only takes Leo five minutes to be asleep as well. The next
morning, Leo comes down to find Lydia and Rose at breakfast. They talk about Jane's beauty, Rose's
cancer, and Leo's drug addiction. Rose says Leo's mother is in town; she wants them to make up, and
he has second thoughts about coming.
Chapter thirteen takes readers back to a young Rose, who is sad because Danny had to leave London.
Her friends try to cheer her up, but she is afraid he might be hurt. Mickey comes to Rose for the favor
she owes him. The favor is that she and Sylvia double date with two men named Edward and Bertie.
They go to a fancy restaurant, and Rose orders tons of food. When they go back to Bertie's place, she
becomes ill. In chapter fourteen, Jane and Leo keep busy every day seeing the sights because Leo does
not want to run into his mother. One day they arrive, and she is there. Leo runs away, and Jane is left to
pick up the pieces; this is when she finds out about his drug habit. Leo is walking around the town and
runs into an old friend from art school. They get high together, and Leo returns home. When he tries to
get into bed, he startles Jane. They begin to fight, and Leo sobers up. He tries to console her, but she is
frightened and strikes him, as well as tells him not to come near her without permission.
Chapter fourteen is back in 1944; Rose is walking and thinking. She had received news of her sister
having a child and Danny getting leave in April. She runs into Edward; he asks for her help on a
project. He has bought houses for refugees after the war and needs help making them livable. She
agrees and has nothing but good intentions. Later, she receives a telegram from Danny asking her to

5. meet him. In the next chapter, Jane is headed to the airport and Andrew calls. He tells her he can't wait
to pick her up from the airport, and has decided to step away from the business side of things. He will
earn a wage and not billions like she thought. Then the scene changes to Leo; he is confused and hurt.
He tries apologizing to Rose and Lydia for being a disturbance the night before, but neither will hear of
it. Lydia says maybe it's best if he leaves.
Jane has checked herself into a hotel room and leaves a message for Andrew saying he is better off
without her. She only ever cared about the money and now had to reinvent herself. Leo tries spending
the day with friends but has a terrible time. He runs into Jane again, and they talk about why she is not
in New York. They both agree to stay married now and go back to Rose's.
The next chapter is in 1944. Rose goes to meet Danny, and he tells her he has gotten them a hotel
room. She has prepared for this moment because the other girls have given her birth control and other
things for the occasion. Danny gives her a ring, but once they are in the room, she refuses to have sex
with him. She is a virgin and afraid. Danny waits until she is sleeping, and she wakes to him forcing
himself on her. He consoles her after, and she asks why they can't get married now; he tells her he does
not want to make her a widow, so they will wait until after the war. In the next chapter, Jane and Leo
are trying to do better; Leo is sober, and Jane isn't lying. What Leo doesn't know is that Jane has two
secret properties and safety deposit boxes with money. She sells her jewelry and visits her lawyer to
discuss how she can get the most out of her marriage. She joins yoga classes, and Leo works for his
aunt.
Rose asks Leo and Jane to visit the place where she stores her art. While there, Leo sees a painting
that brings bad memories back. He dwells on it all day until Jane gets him to tell her. Jane says he
should give the painting to Rose as a symbolic gift. Then the scene shifts back to 1944. Danny was
gone, and Rose felt wrong. Her friends expressed their doubts about Danny, saying they hope he hadn't
given her an STD or a baby. Rose tried to remain in a state of denial with love and promises. Rose ran
into Edward at Rainbow corner; he inquired after her collections for the refugees, and she felt bad that
she hadn't started yet. She started to collect donations the next day as a way to keep her mind off
Danny. They even visited Phyllis' parents to see if they could get better stuff there.
Chapter twenty-three begins with Jane and Leo in bed; Jane is unable to sleep. She couldn't help
thinking of all the people she had hurt, and how she did not want to hurt Leo. She got out of bed and
started walking around the house when she heard Rose calling out in pain. She came to her and gave
her pain pills that did not quite work. Rose didn't want her mind foggy. Jane then threatened to have her
sent away to a home if she didn't get stronger pills. The next morning Leo told his aunt to see the
doctor, and she did, but she wanted an apology from Jane. Jane apologized, but Rose was still icy until

6. everyone decided a trip down memory lane was in order.
Chapter twenty-four is in 1944 when the refugees begin to arrive. Rose had not heard from Edward,
but he sent a note thanking her for the donations and asked her to come to the house. When she got
there, seven Jewish refugees were standing with blank faces. Rose gave out chocolates and teddy bears.
The older woman said thank you with tears in her eyes. Edward asked Rose to come again, and she
agreed. Back in present day London, Rose has a business dinner. She insists everyone dress up, and
when the men arrived, Jane realized one of them was Charles. They said hello, but he did not out her.
The evening went well, even though Leo was suspicious of Charles. The evening ended terribly with
Rose hunched over the table.
The next chapter is in 1944 at the apex of the war. Rainbow Corner was empty, and Rose misses
Danny. Months went by, but then Edward came back and took her to dinner at The Ritz. They talked
about the refugees and what Edward had been up to; then there were two blasts. Afterward, Edward
walked Rose home. Unfortunately, the home showed the most damage. There were sheets with bodies
under them, and Rose knew they covered her friends. In the present, Rose's episode at dinner prompted
a visit from her doctor to discuss options Rose refused. She insisted she was fine and even convinced
Jane to get her outside. Once there, she talked about her past until it was too cold to stay out. The scene
shifts to 1944 again. Rose is asked to help identify her friends and give their information. Edward stays
with her, and they go to his place and get intimate. Rose feels extremely guilty because she is promised
to Danny; Edward confesses his love for her.
Chapter thirty tells of the final decline of Rose's health. She didn't go to the office anymore because
she was so frail. Jane went to see Charles to make amends, but neither could talk about the past. When
she returned, Rose was in a worse state; she didn't recognize anyone and had to be given an injection.
Lydia said it was time to get the list of final things she wanted and to call Leo's mom. Back in 1944-
1945, Rose returns to Rainbow Corner and is peppered with sympathy. She discovers that some
belongings had been saved. She went to Maggie's funeral and wake. Rose and Mickey went to Sylvia's
funeral; they treated her like family. She was unable to attend Phyllis' funeral because of work, so she
met with her mother the day before. Her father came to try and take her home, but she belonged in
London, even though she knew Danny was gone too.
On the ride to get Rose's prized possessions, Leo and Jane talked truthfully. Lydia told them that all
Rose wanted was a trunk; it was a tight fit in the car. When they got back, Rose was still sleeping. Leo
told Jane his memories and began to cry. She comforted him and decided she wanted to make love to
him. It was playful and kept their minds free of heavier things.
In 1945, the war was over. Rose went to Edward after celebrating with others on the street. Edward

7. tells her he is Jewish and is going back to Germany to serve justice. He asks Rose to help the refugees
around the city. He also tells her that Danny was a fraud; he went back to America where he has a wife
and children. The next morning Leo and Jane tell Rose they got her trunk. Rose talked about owing
Mickey but was mostly not lucid. The doctor was not hopeful, so Jane decided to distract Leo with sex.
The next time Rose was awake, she looked through a photo album with Leo and Jane. There were
pictures of her girls in it that she thought had been lost, but Rainbow Corner had located it and sent it to
her. Rose refused to go just yet, and she told Jane she had forgiven Leo. She wanted Jane to stay with
Leo until he was okay.
Back in 1945, it was time to say goodbye to rainbow Corner; Edward was still away, but Rose did
write him. Rose didn't know what she was going to do with herself. She went to an isolated courtyard
to cry, and Edward walked up to her. He was back, and he wanted her to go to New York with him. She
was so glad he had come back, and in the next chapter she utters those same words to Leo. She
continues to get worse until she makes Jane promise to help her die. When it came down to the act,
Jane was too weak, and Leo said he would be the one to help.
The next chapter is in 1974. Edward and Rose were together. They never married or had any
children. That night, as Edward was dying, Rose told him she loved him for the first time. Back in the
present, Leo is prepared to inject morphine into his aunt. She says she is ready to be with her friends,
and she finally goes. While Leo and Lydia discuss plans, Jane is hiding under a bed with her grief. Leo
finds her, and she tells him of her past, how her family was poor, and she was abused until she
murdered the abuser and ran away. Leo loves her, just as she loves him for all his faults, and in the end
they make a happy life together.
Commentary:
The author wrote this manuscript in an interesting way. The title could not be more perfect. It clearly
alludes to the end of Rainbow Corner, an important part of Rose's life. It also speaks to the end of the
extremely colorful and full life she lived after her experiences there. Choosing to use British dialect
makes it credible and authentic for the chosen setting. There is a mystery to be solved straight from the
beginning, and that keeps readers intrigued. The girls introduced in each chapter are runaways, but why
and how are they connected? Each section is divided properly, giving readers enough info to want more
and keeping the plot moving. The character development is interesting; it happens slowly, and each
character is complex. For example, Jane and Leo appear to be an entitled rich girl and a bad boy;
however, Jane is resourceful, and Leo is nervous. Jane is a character that many women could relate to
because every girl has felt the pressures of her life plan crushing her. Life doesn't always go as planned,
and Jane's story illustrates that in an understanding way.

8. Reading about Rose in 1943 is confusing. There was a different culture back then that is difficult to
fathom if you did not live in it. These chapters are quite short and could be improved if they were more
about Rose. Her character development is lacking in chapter five when compared to other characters in
the piece. At the end of the of the first 100 pages, readers find out how Rose connects to the present day
story. This revelation builds suspense because it is at the end of the chapter, like a cliff hanger. It is
endearing how Rose and Jane relate through similar experiences. The history and stories are easily
understood through empathy. The plot will leave a lasting impression on whoever reads it because the
author's images of the war are poignant. The author chooses universal positive themes like family,
friends, and love. However, the manuscript does not shy away from the harsh realities of life like
suffering, poverty, death, addiction, lies, abuse and assisted suicide. It is important to include both the
good and the bad in a story to showcase the human condition to its fullest. This book also has
something for everyone it seems, and would be very appealing as a film. There are some style errors
that should be reviewed.