Fiona Finnegan may be a poor tea worker in London, but she and her boyfriend Joe have big dreams. They want to own their own shop rather than work for other people and they know exactly how to do it. But while their dreams are big in their heads, and their love consumes their hearts, other factors are working against them. For one thing, Jack the Ripper is wreaking his vengeance on London whores, but no one knows when he’ll strike other women instead. And another woman has her sights set on Joe, a woman who can offer him more than Fiona in terms of wealth and prospects. Everything collides against her and Fiona finds herself en route to the United States, where she’ll finally learn to run her own shop and eventually confront the ghosts of her past.
After I so enjoyed both A Northern Light and Revolution, I knew I wanted to read more by Jennifer Donnelly, and all recommendations coming in told me that The Tea Rose was the book to read. Luckily, I already had it – so if you’ll recall, I made it one of the books I aimed to read by the end of 2010, and I succeeded. I think reading the other two books first was a bit of an injustice to it, but it was good and absorbing in its own way.
For a start, this is an epic saga of Fiona’s life, which is fairly obvious from its length. We follow her from her teenage years, which are hard-working but relatively peaceful and full of dreams, into the turmoil of her twenties, and then into her accomplished thirties – at which point she has to go back and face her demons. There’s no question that it was an absorbing story and that I was eager to find out what happened next to Fiona – it didn’t drop my attention once over the course of its 550 (large) pages.
At the same time, it feels a bit less polished than Donnelly’s other works. It’s the kind of book where Fiona is responsible for all great inventions, in that way reminding me a bit of that series by Jean M. Auel (but without the constant caveman porn), where Ayla even manages to invent a sewing needle. Fiona constantly has ideas that set her apart from everyone else, and while I enjoyed the core story, I felt it was just a bit too much. I didn’t think one woman revolutionized the store, and then went on to revolutionize tea, in quite the same way, and it almost made it more difficult to relate to Fiona because she was just too extraordinary. Joe is similarly just too perfect; sure he makes mistakes, but his character isn’t really flawed and his genius wins out. In this way it was nothing like Donnelly’s other books, which I did feel had realistic and flawed characters. It is a first book and, having read later work, feels that way.
Still, for a first book, it is very good; the period details is fantastic and it’s immediately absorbing. I’m going to continue reading the series, especially considering I already own The Winter Rose, and I have high hopes for where Donnelly will go next. The Tea Rose is recommended for those who enjoy sagas set in Victorian England and New York City.
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I liked this a lot but the constant near misses and coincidences got to me after a while! I did however love, love, love The Winter Rose, and I am so excited that we are finally getting the third book in the trilogy, The Wild Rose, this year.
Marg´s last post …Teaser Tuesday- Gunshot Road by Adrian Hyland
I’ve been desperate to read this recently but sadly don’t own it (yet).
I love 1920s and 30s settings especially in New York so have high hopes; thank you though for stating your reservations and pointing out that it is a first novel, which often justifies a lot (good to read too that the series improves).
Thank you for reminding me of how badly I want to read this one! I am adding it to my wishlist ASAP before I have time to forget.
I have had this book on my shelves for the longest time, though I forgot who recommended it to me. Now that I have been hearing that The Winter Rose is so good, and that she is due out with another one, I really want to take the time to read this. It’s set in a really interesting time and place in my opinion, and I think I’d enjoy it a lot. Wonderful review, I am glad to hear that you liked it!
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I’m really looking forward to trying Donnelly’s work, but I’ll probably start with Revolution since it’s already on my shelves.
Caveman porn, haha!
heidenkind´s last post …Too Many Books In the Kitchen
Oh, Fiona’s got a bad case of Ayla Syndrome, no doubt! I hope you enjoy The Winter Rose! I liked it better than this one, although its main character is also a little Ayla-ish, what with being the lone woman doctor in the 1900s and inventing the women’s rights movement and all.
Fyrefly´s last post …Diana Gabaldon – The Exile
The setting of this one alone makes me think I’ll enjoy it! I’ll keep it in mind that it’s a first novel and adjust my expectations accordingly, though.
Nymeth´s last post …For the Win by Cory Doctorow
That sort of thing (the main and supporting characters being responsible for every single thing) drives me sort of crazy, so maybe I’ll stick to Donnelly’s YA novels.
Jen – Devourer of Books´s last post …Tale of Two Cities Readalong- The Marrying of Many Projects
Wow that cover is stunning! I do love historical sagas like this and I haven’t heard of this before so I am going to check this one out!
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LOL — you hit on one of the reasons why I gave up on the Cave Bear books. Really? One person responsible for all technological advance?
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Even with some flaws, this still sounds like a really great book to me. I haven’t heard of Jennifer Donnelly much before and have yet to read any of her work but now I’m definitely interested. And what better place to start than the beginning?
Jennifer´s last post …My Disney World Escape