Product Description

Set in Whitechapel in 1888, The Tea Rose is a tale of a love lost and won, of a family's destruction, of murder and revenge -- and one young woman's quest to escape the poverty of her childhood and make her fortune in the tea trade. Fiona Finnegan is the spirited, ambitious daughter of an Irish dock worker. She longs to break free from the squalid lanes and alleys of Whitechapel, where she has a job in a tea factory. With the love of her life, Joe Bristow, she dreams of escaping the poverty and opening her own tea shop. But one by one her dreams fall apart as her father is killed in a dock accident, Joe is seduced by another woman, and her mother is viciously murdered - a suspected victim of Jack the Ripper. Devastated, her life in tatters, Fiona flees to New York where she sets up home with her alcoholic uncle. Slowly she builds his small grocery shop into a thriving tea house, and her new life flourishes. After years of hard work, she establishes herself as the head of her own powerful tea empire. But she cannot forget London - or Joe. Convinced that her father was murdered by his brutal employer, Fiona vows to seek revenge and ruin him once and for all. Making her way back to the streets of her impoverished childhood, Fiona must start her fight again. From the bleak poverty and filthy back streets of London to the glossy sophistication of Fifth Avenue, from East End dock workers to New York socialites, The Tea Rose is a charming, heart warming and ultimately life-affirming novel.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #199376 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 800 pages

Review
'This is a most seductive novel. You'll be charmed by the novels heroine - her intelligence, her courage, her great heart. Despite her suffering - a lost love, a tragic family - there are moments you will want to cheer. It's the kind of novel where the writing is so fluid you feel the author simply loves telling her story. This is a splendid, heartwarming novel of pain, struggle, decency, triumph - and just what we need in these times.' Frank McCourt 'I loved this vividly researched and wonderfully rumbustious yarn - brilliantly told, great fun to read.' Simon Winchester 'The Tea Rose is the kind of book that calls for a rainy day, a cozy chair and a good, steaming cup of tea. It's strong and satisfying, with a taste that lingers in the memory.' Paula Cohen 'Bold, brisk and beguiling, The Tea Rose is a splendid brew of a book.' Sam Twining 'It's so much fun...This is London in the 1880s, the London of Charles Dickens and Edward Rutherford, a teeming, messy place full of business, dirt and poverty. Once in New York, we trip from the tenements of the Lower East Side to elegant dining at Delmonico's, with hardly a paragraph to catch our breath...The atmosphere of both starring cities is created in satisfying detail. One can walk the streets and listen to the people chat in the company of Jennifer Donnelly, who has done her historical homework...She delivers.' Washington Post

A bright, plucky, and (of course) beautiful Cockney girl escapes poverty and violence in the Whitechapel neighborhood of Victorian-era London to make her fortune in New York City. In Donnelly's sprawling debut, the heroine is heroic, the villains villainous (and rich), and the heroine's love interests in need of a strong woman like her to keep them out of trouble. Seventeen-year-old Fiona Finnegan's plans to open a shop with her childhood sweetheart Joe are dashed when Joe succumbs to the wiles of his boss's daughter and ends up in a shotgun wedding. Fiona's distress is compounded by her father's accidental death at the Burton Tea Company, where he was organizing a union, her mother's murder by Jack the Ripper, and her brother's drowning. When Fiona overhears William Burton, the cold-eyed, knife-wielding owner of Burton Tea, brag that he had her father murdered, she realizes her own life is in danger and flees to America. Befriended en route by a young art collector named Nick, Fiona is put off by neither his syphilis nor his homosexuality, an open-mindedness that rings false in the Victorian setting. Taking over her alcoholic uncle's failing business, Fiona becomes a successful grocer, and, although she still pines for Joe, she enjoys being wooed by a charming, prominent financier. Then Nick faces a homophobic scandal instigated by her wealthy suitor's son. Unaware that Joe, whose marriage ended when his wife miscarried, is still searching for her, Fiona marries Nick to save his reputation and settles into what turns into a happy if unconventional marriage. While amassing a fortune in the tea and grocery trade, Fiona secretly plans to wreak revenge on Burton. After Nick's death and extensive plotting, she returns to London, reunites with Joe, and causes Burton financial ruin, which brings out his murderous side. Or perhaps he was more murderous all along than in anyone's worst suspicions. Bland, despite the gruesome-deaths quotient. (Kirkus Reviews)

About the Author
Jennifer Donnelly is a tea enthusiast and amateur rosarian. She lives in Brooklyn and Callicoon, New York, with her husband and two greyhounds. "The Tea Rose "is her first book.

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable and Engaging
When reading this book, I found it hard to stop drawing comparisons with a Woman of Substance, but I can honestly say that this book is far, far better. It is much better written, with realistic, engaging characters and an interesting, though at times unrealistic plot. The only negative point is that the book takes a LONG time to get going - it would seem to pick up and then start to drag again for the first two hundred pages or so, but this background really gets you into Fiona's head - you know whats happened to her and you know where she's coming from, and when she gets to New York it really hits its stride. This book is highly recommended, I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much.

Utterly Fantastic
This book had me hooked from the first page to the last. Jennifer Donnelly is a fantastic writer who manages to perfect the combination of a believable and captivating story with historical fact regarding London at the time of Jack the Ripper. If you're after a brilliant book to lose yourself in during the cold winter months I strongly urge you to buy this! I also strongly recommend Jennifer Donnelly's other works especially 'A gathering light' which was the first book of hers I read and was what encouraged me to read this one.

Best book ever!
I loved this book and could read it over and over again. I would highly recommend it!