Run Rose Run
AnnieLee Keyes shows up in Nashville with no identification, a cheap guitar, and a past she will not discuss with anyone, and within weeks her raw voice and startlingly finished songwriting catch the attention of Ruthanna Ryder, a retired country megastar who has been politely declining the industry's calls for years. As Ruthanna begins to mentor AnnieLee and help her break into a business designed to chew up young women, the ghost AnnieLee is running from closes in. James Patterson and Dolly Parton's 2022 novel is a propulsive country-music thriller with an accompanying Parton-recorded album of original songs woven through the chapters, and it leans on Parton's own lived knowledge of how Music Row actually works.
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What you might want to know about Run Rose Run
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
AnnieLee Keyes hitchhikes to Nashville with a guitar and a complete refusal to talk about where she came from. A retired country queen named Ruthanna Ryder takes her under her wing as the past closes in.
Yes. Run, Rose, Run was co-written by Dolly Parton and James Patterson and published in 2022. Parton released a companion album of original songs inspired by the novel.
Yes. A film adaptation has been announced with Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine producing. As of 2025, the project remains in development.
Run Rose Run was written by Dolly Parton, published in 2022 by Little Brown & Company.
Run Rose Run is 448 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Run Rose Run takes most readers 7 to 10 hours to finish.
Run Rose Run is a standalone novel by Dolly Parton, not part of a series.
Run Rose Run is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.