Flight into Fantasy

Title: The Tea Rose
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Genre: historical fiction
Source: I bought it.
Reason for Reading: I thought the premise looked interesting. I like the idea of family sagas, and rags-to-riches stories, and the sequel, The Winter Rose looks amazing, too.
Synopsis:

East London, 1888–a city apart. A place of shadow and light where thieves, whores, and dreamers mingle, where children play in the cobbled streets by day and a killer stalks at night, where bright hopes meet the darkest truths. Here, by the whispering waters of the Thames, a bright and defiant young woman dares to dream of a life beyond tumbledown wharves, gaslit alleys, and the grim and crumbling dwellings of the poor. Fiona Finnegan, a worker in a tea factory, hopes to own a shop one day, together with her lifelong love, Joe Bristow, a costermonger’s son. With nothing but their faith in each other to spur them on, Fiona and Joe struggle, save, and sacrifice to achieve their dreams. But Fiona’s dreams are shattered when the actions of a dark and brutal man take from her nearly everything–and everyone–she holds dear. Fearing her own death at the dark man’s hands, she is forced to flee London for New York. There, her indomitable spirit-and the ghosts of her past-propel her rise from a modest west side shopfront to the top of Manhattan’s tea trade. Fiona’s old ghosts do not rest quietly, however, and to silence them, she must venture back to the London of her childhood, where a deadly confrontation with her past becomes the key to her future. The Tea Rose is a towering old-fashioned story, imbued with a modern sensibility, of a family’s destruction, of murder and revenge, of love lost and won again, and of one determined woman’s quest to survive and triumph.

Soundtrack: This book made me think of a piece that Irish musicians Mick Moloney, Robby O’Connell and Sean Keen put together called “The Green Fields of America” which is a medley of songs about primarily Irish immigrants to America.

My Thoughts: There will be those among my readers who won’t like this book. I was not one of these people, but I figured I would put the problems people might have out front. Fiona, our erstwhile heroine, suffers from something of a Mary Sue streak. She is anachronistically strong, indomitable, and direct. The good guys all love her. The bad guys, not so much. None of this bothered me about Fiona, because I was charmed by her, but I can see how she might bother others. Also, the romance here is not one of the more sophisticated offerings in that genre. Most of what keeps Fiona and Joe apart are external forces, and there are times when the only thing that keeps them apart is the author’s machinations.

Here’s the thing, though. I was so charmed by this whole story that, even though I recognized these flaws, I still enjoyed it. I mean, why even read a story about a woman’s rise to power and glory if you’re sensitive about Mary Sue characters?

I did like Fiona a lot. I felt that her Mary Sue qualities were more than offset by the sheer amount of crap she has to go through in the course of the novel. For the most part, she was smart and ambitious, and not at all “feisty” or silly. Ms. Donnelly takes her time showing Fiona’s rise in social status, so I was convinced it was all very plausible.

The rest of the characters are great, too. I felt like I was being privileged to watch the lives of these interesting people, and I felt as if I’d been welcomed into their confidences. I cared about a lot of them, not just Fiona and Joe, but the rest of Fiona’s family, her friends, and Joe’s family as well. I never felt that Ms. Donnelly was trotting out all the stuff she’d learned in her research, but I could tell that she had done a lot of research, because it all felt so natural and authentic. I could smell the tea, I could hear the sounds of the market where Joe first sells his produce, and I was swept away by the hustle and bustle of New York.

Though Amazon says this book is 768 pages long, it was a quick read. I even finished the last quarter of it during off time while I was hanging out on campus, something I rarely do except for books I’m loving. The plot was engaging, and though it wasn’t particularly innovative or original, I was so captivated by the characters that I didn’t care. I also loved that Ms. Donnelly introduced Jack the Ripper as an important background character. Now I want to read more about Jack, and people’s theories about him.

There is a sequel to this book, The Winter Rose , and it features a minor character from The Tea Rose, whose identity was a complete surprise to me. I’m definitely going to read it sooner than later.

Final Thoughts: This isn’t a perfect book, but it gets a high grade from me because I was engaged with the story. I loved Fiona, I loved Joe, I loved watching them triumph over the horrible things in their lives, and I can’t wait to encounter them again.

Final Grade: A-

Other Opinions

• Literate Housewife

• Fyrefly’s Book Blog
• Outlandish Dreamings