Customer Reviews

The Tea Rose

5 star:		(160)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Wow! Finishing this book was the one thing I dreaded. The Tea Rose was a captivating, heartfelt, and engaging read. I was lost in this fascinating, atmospheric world of 19th century London, and would love to go back sometime and revisit the wonderful characters that Jennifer Donnelly created.

The Tea Rose tells the story of 17-year-old Fiona Finnegan and her beau, Joe Bristow. Fiona, a worker in a tea factory, and Joe, a coster in his family's produce business, have big dreams of opening their own tea shop one day. Saving money from every paycheck into an old cocoa tin, Fiona and Joe slowly get closer to realizing their dream. But things don't always work out they way they're planned -- the unionization of labor workers, a serial murderer on the loose, and a scheming buxom blonde play their part in destroying everything Fiona and Joe has worked for.

There is so much more to this novel, however, but I don't want to ruin the fun for readers to discover for themselves. There are many supporting characters that add complexity and texture to this story, and Jennifer Donnelly has done an exceptional job of bringing them all to life. The writing is concise and the perfect balance of dialogue and description. I loved every page, especially since there was always something new and exciting happening. The best book I've read so far this year, and most likely one that will be hard to top.

After a promising beginning, author Jennifer Donnelly slowly moves this saga into the land of soap opera. The first portion, introducing characters and setting, are very well done. The hard-scrabble lives of the underprivileged in London in the 1880's come alive. I didn't even mind the Jack the Ripper plot, until the author stretches believability by bringing that subplot into the limelight. Part Two of the book begins a section that should be labeled "Part Too" because everything is too overdone. Fiona is too lucky, too ambitious, too beautiful. There are too many coincidences. Part Three is also too much. Fiona invents iced tea. Her sexless marriage is a "pure" love. Fiona invents tea bags. Really. Then the author descends into quintessential soap opera land, pitting Fiona against pure evil. The denouement of the love story between Joe and Fiona is overshadowed by the extreme melodrama. Donnelly has a pleasant writing style that cannot overcome the predictable. She allows action to overtake characterization. When all 544 pages were finished, I was left feeling like the time invested had paid no dividends.

There is something for everyone reading The Tea Rose. There is romance, action, murder, destruction, greed, ambition and even revenge. There are great characters in this story that you will not forget easily, especially Fiona Finnegan who is the central figure with great strength and fierce ambition.

From Whitechapel in East London in 1988 to New York City in all it elegance and glory, and the a return back to East London ten years later, we see Fiona Finnegan grow from a young girl into womanhood and we root for her, for she touches our lives, and we hold her close to our hearts as she faces a mixture of disappointments, stumbling blocks and successes, meeting each the only way she knows how.......with an enduringly tough spirit.

This is the first of Jennifer Donnelly's work that I have read and may I say it was extremely pleasurable for me. I hope there will be more from Ms. Donnelly for us readers who also have enjoyed the Tea Rose to the hilt. This book deserves more than five stars. Highly recommended!!!

Heather P Marshall

I would give this book 10 stars if I could. In lieu of that, I'm recommending it to everyone I know as the "must read" book of the year. Not only does this have as romantic a love story as you could ever want, but it also features an epic sweep of Victorian London and late 19th century New York, a diabolical killer, and an all-consuming plot for revenge. At the center of all of this is Fiona Finnegan, an endearing heroine who lifts herself from the slums of London to become the queen of tea merchants residing in an upscale 5th Avenue mansion.

The story telling is so intimate and compelling that I did not want to ever put this one down. Fiona captures your heart when you first meet her clutching twelve pounds, two shillings, and a dream in a battered cocoa tin. When she finds her perfect love affair shattered by another woman's wanton seduction and a vicious murder decimates her family, Fiona's staunch character is tested to its limits. A barrage of even more tragic events leads her to a heart-stopping escape to New York and more problems to overcome. In addition to Fiona, the secondary characters are so well drawn that you feel connected to them immediately. Her loving father Paddy, her mam, brothers Charlie and Seamie as well as Uncle Michael, her dear friend Nicholas, and many others will capture your imagination. But it is Fiona's love for the unforgettable Joe Bristow and her steadfast goal of destroying her father's killer that will keep you glued to the pages and relishing every delicious moment of this story.

After reading the rave reviews about the Tea Rose, I purchased this book and I must say that it really didn't live up to my expectations (and they weren't even that high to begin with).

Now I realize I will receive quite a bit of flack for an unfavourable review of such a popular book but nevertheless, I am writing this because I would like to save others the time and money that they need not waste on this widely popular novel that reads much like my mother's tired old soap operas.

For the record I found Donnelly's prose to be skillful, vivid, and descriptive but I suppose the subject matter just did not interest me as I found the story painfully predictable. More specifically, I found the storyline concerning the romance between the protagonist and her 'significant other' just too familiar, paralleling plots that can easily be found in any soap opera. What ends up happening to Fiona and Joe (the main characters) was just way too predictable for my liking. Trust me on this one... if you've watched soap operas or even caught a glimpse of Melrose Place in the 90's, the story will be all too predictable. To make it worse I just found the heroine not all that captivating and the story all too unoriginal. I'm all for overcoming hardships but I literally found myself accurately guessing what would happen next and that's just no fun. Really it wasn't rocket science to guess what would happen next. A heroine longs for the day she gets to marry her handsome, witty, and rugged fiance. Then, another female character who is richer, prettier, blonder, and has larger bosoms than our heroine comes along........ well really, its not rocket science what her purpose is in the story or what the author will build up to. Just think of what happens in your mother's soap operas to keep the good girl away from her man and you've pretty much got the story down.

For what it's worth, historical fiction is my great love and I am constantly in search of books with intriguing and strong female characters. I am a fan of such novels as Slammerkin, the Thirteenth Tale, the Birth House, Alias Grace, Forever Amber, Pillars of the Earth, the Vanishing Point, Fingersmith, etc. and often I check out amazon to read reviews that would help me make up my mind about which books to purchase next and I really must say that if you're looking for something better that your run-of-the mill soap opera romance please, please think twice before you buy this one. I wrote this review because as a student I do not have a lot of money to spare on books for leisure and this book really left a bad taste in my mouth as I was completely deceived by the wonderful reviews it got. On the other hand, if a historical romance containing all the beloved cliches that many people seem to enjoy is what you're looking for then by all means please grab a copy as soon as you can. Donnelly is masterful with words- it is the story itself and the all too predictable plot that I found unbearable.

(If you have read the books I listed above and are looking for another historical fiction novel that is up to par, you would be wise to choose Karen Maitland's Company of Liars which has a terrific plot set-up and many great twists and turns to savour and enjoy.)

Jennifer Donnelly quickly grabs your attention and totally captivates you with the story of star crossed lovers, Fiona Finnegan and Joe Bristow. I loved this book so much that I found it very difficult to put down and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning reading it.

Fiona and Joe are the perfect couple who share the same dream of opening a shop and they are very much in love. However, their circumstances change for the worst when Joe is tricked into a marriage to another woman and Fiona must flee to New York with her 4 year old brother to escape from the men who murdered her father. This is a story of true survival after life throws you a curve ball and it lives on in your mind for weeks after you have turned the last page. The Characters in this book are very well written and I really began to care for them, especially Fiona.

I'm anxiously awaiting a second book by Jennifer Donnelly and will purchase it as soon as its released. I highly recommend reading The Tea Rose to everyone.

The Tea Rose shows a different side of Victorian London, a side where aristocrats and their society balls don't exist. East London in 1888 was a rough area to live in, especially when there was a serial killer on the loose who called himself Jack the Ripper (a fictional account of the actual murderer). The area is full of criminals of all walks, prostitutes prowling the streets, wanting a bit of money to survive, and new industrialists and merchants opening factories and taking advantage of their peasants. But despite all of that, Fiona Finnegan keeps her dreams alive. She and her boyfriend Joe Bristow save whatever bit of money that is leftover from their limited wages with the hopes of one day opening their very own shop, the one that will get them out of poverty and help their families live better. But then disaster strikes and Fiona's life is never the same. After her parents die in horrible, tragic ways, and Joe betrays her, Fiona flees to New York City with her little brother, hoping her uncle will help get her on her feet. Fiona's struggles have only just begun and her life becomes a roller coaster ride of grief, heartbreak, survival and hard work that helps her triumph and seek revenge against the man who had killed her father. There are many twists throughout the novel.

This is one of the most compelling historical novels I have read. Fiona's story enthralled me from beginning to end. She goes through hell and back and comes out victorious. This rags to riches story is truly inspiring, poignant and memorable. It also paints a less savory side of Victorian London -- the dark, seedy, unromanticized side of a very interesting time period. The side where the Cockneys work their bloody fingers to the bone for a few shillings an hour. I like that Jennifer Donnelly illustrates this lifestyle with unflinching honesty. And I also like the backdrop of Irish immigrants in New York City. I enjoyed the backdrop of Old New York very much. The characters are also wonderful. Joe, Michael, Will, Mary, Nick and all of the others are very well developed. Fiona and Joe's love story is quite poignant, but it is Nick's story that touched me the most. He is such an awesome character. Those are all great aspects of the novel, but there are things that I did not like as well, scenes where you have to suspend disbelief if you want to get through the story. I don't like the circumstances in which she meets Nick and Will respectively. They are contrived and blatant plot devices that help Fiona get ahead. The aforementioned sort of plot devices go on throughout the novel, and that is why I give The Tea Rose four stars instead of five. All in all, this is one of the best historical novels I have read. Jennifer Donnelly is a great new author and I look forward to reading A Northern Light most highly. In the meantime, I recommend this gem.

While Jennifer Donnelly has received well-deserved rave reviews for A Northern Light, it's this book, my first Donnelly read, which got to me. More saga than romance, the first part of The Tea Rose follows charming heroine Fiona Finnegan, a teenager living in 1888 Whitechapel. She has precious little, but she has her dreams, and her true love in childhood sweetheart Joe Bristow.

But things eventually turn horribly wrong for the two. Joe, because of his own mistakes, is forced into a loveless marriage; Fiona loses not only her fiancé but most of her family as well, and then almost loses her own life. Fleeing from the man responsible with 5-year old brother Seamie in tow, she rebuilds her life in New York, finding a new surrogate family of relatives, friends and neighbors, and eventually becoming an extremely wealthy woman. While one review points out that there are some unlikely behaviors, especially Fiona's acceptance of another character's homosexuality, I never felt that was the case. I believe someone who has lost as much as Fiona has would not be likely to turn away from her friends.

The third part of the novel picks up in 1898. Both Joe, of whom we are given occasional glimpses, and Fiona, are extremely successful financially but lonely and in many ways lost emotionally, still pining for each other on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Will they be given another chance at love? Will the guilty party pay? Well, what do you think?

Donnelly has done her research, and manages to convey atmosphere and mood extremely well. With the exception of the slightly slow start, this is a real page-turner, and a very moving read. At over 700 pages (in the edition I read), it's also a real find for the speed-readers among us. Can't wait for the promised sequel!

Also Recommended: A Northern Light, of course.

I enjoyed this book but it's not an historical fiction, it's an historical romance. And it wasn't exactly historically accurate. Fiona Finnegan our heroine is completely unencumbered by 19th century sensibilities, she seemed like a 21st century girl.

I don't want to be a book snob... but this is not typically the type of book that I read. However, I did enjoy it. I enjoyed the thread involving Jack the Ripper, I enjoyed the unexpected surprises, I enjoyed the history of the period and certainly would have enjoyed more of that. I enjoyed the sweet, sappy romance, however I would have preferred less sexually explicit love scenes. I thought they detracted from the quality of the story.

It was a bit predictable and rather unbelievable but still enjoyable none the less. I would make the comparison to Danielle Steele, this is similar but better. And I think people who read this type of fiction would probably love this book. By this 'type' of fiction I mean those formula novels that always seem to end the same way...Nicholas Sparks, Danielle Steele, etc.

I recently read Jennifer Donnelly's A Northern Light, which I enjoyed very much (the quality was a bit higher). I wanted to read her latest novel The Winter Rose (which I recently purchased through bookcloseouts on line). But when I realized that the Winter Rose was a sequel to The Tea Rose I thought I should read this one first.

I did enjoy this, it was entertaining and easy to read and I will be reading The Winter Rose.


9/16/07
P.S. I recently read The Winter Rose and I loved it. I wasn't able to post my review of it here because it hasn't been released in the US yet. But I thought that it was very well done! I'd give it 5 stars.

This is one of the best books I have ever read, which, from someone who reads at least four books a month, is saying a lot. From the moment I started this book, everything else had to be put on hold; I simply couldn't put it down.

Set in the late 1800's in England, this book centers around the life of Fiona Finnegan, a 17 year old woman who faces more tragedy and adversity than any person should ever have to deal with. In the beginning, we are introduced to the love of her life, Joe. The relationship these two share is a pure and beautiful love that seems destined for great things. They have plans to marry and open a store together one day, until a painful event tears them apart.

We also meet Fiona's family, whom, aside from her baby brother, are tragically taken from her. Her father is about to become the leader of a Union party strike, and as a result, the evil of one man comes to fruition. The family has little money, with everyone pitching in, and when Fiona discovers the truth about what happens to her father, she is forced to flee England for America with her little brother.

The relationship between Joe and Fiona was one string that tugged me through the entire book, as well as the determination and tenacity of Fiona. The friendships and relationships Fiona developed after leaving London were amazing. She had such an impact on every life that she touched, the reader included.

Fiona takes herself from rags to riches, opening a chain of highly succesful shops. At the same time in London, Joe does the same. It is amazing as a reader to watch these two live their parallel lives, unaware of the longing they each share for one another. Of equal importance is other relationships Fiona has with men, all of which prove her love for Joe is real as is his for her.

There are so many parallel sub plots running through out this book -- too many to mention, too much that could be given away. From beginning to end, this book was one of my most satisfying reads ever. I thought I would be sad to see this book end, but it was tied up so beautifully that it felt complete.