The Tea Rose

The Tea Rose
by Jennifer Donnelly
★★★★

The Tea Rose is a big fat soap opera of a book. It's historical fiction, but it's also a romance. It's 1889 and Fiona Finnegan and Joe Bristow are on the cusp of adulthood. Both in their late teens, they are from poor families in the East End of London, but they're both dreaming big. The pair are in love and can't wait to open their own grocery store and start the rest of their lives together.

Of course things are never that simple. There's a rich man's wife, Millie, who has her eye on Joe. There's a push for Fiona's father's work to unionize and a dangerous group that opposes that change. On top of all of that Jack the Ripper is on the loose and everyone is running scared.

It's a big novel that crosses from England to America and back again and over years of time. It's easy to sink into and it was just what I needed when I picked it up. Yes, there are absolutely too many coincidences and unbelievable elements, but that's half the fun with a book like this. You just embrace the melodrama and go with it. 

Fiona was a great character, strong and resilient, determined to succeed against all odds. She, along with her best friend Nick, really made the story for me. There's one moment in the story that didn't sit right with me. Fiona does a complete 180 and it doesn't make any sense in the context of her character, but the ship quickly righted itself and I forgave the hiccup.

I love the historical elements woven into the story. It's incredibly readable but at the same time you are getting snapshots of real historical events, like the Jack the Ripper murders, immigration to New York City, and even a bit a glimpse of the painting scene in Paris in the late 1800s.

BOTTOM LINE: A bit of a guilty pleasure book, very enjoyable. I'll definitely be reading the next book in the series, The Winter Rose, but I'll save it for when I need to lose myself in a thick novel.

Revolution

Revolution
by Jennifer Donnelly
★★★★

This book has been popping up everywhere, but it was Sandy’s recommendation that made me finally pick it up. I listened to the audio version which was the perfect format for this.

The novel gives us two separate stories. First there is Andi, a teen living in Brooklyn who is struggling with the death of her younger brother, Truman. Overwhelmed with grief, she’s been falling behind at school and has been thinking about committing suicide. Her estranged father whisks her off to Paris over Christmas break to try to get her back on the right path.

Andi’s passion is music, specifically guitar. She’s incredibly talented and spends her time in Paris busking and researching the famous French composer, Amade Malherbeau. In the midst of her research, she finds the journal of Alexandrine, a young woman who lived during the French Revolution. Alex’s story is the second one to unfold. Her journey leads her to become the nanny to Louis Charles, son of King Louis XVI.

Donnelly managed to perfectly capture the voice of a broken teenage girl. She makes Andi both sympathetic and frustrating. You want to slap her and give her a hug at the same time. That voice made the whole book ring true for me.

My only real issue with the book was the ending, I didn’t love. But at the same time, I’m not sure how I wanted it to end. It felt a bit rushed and forced in the moments leading up to the conclusion. I did love the final pages which give a roundup of who ended up where, that felt right.

In so many ways, this book is a love song to the power of music. It has the power to rise above time and grief, and it binds people together despite their differences. That’s what I’ll take away from it and I’m so glad I read it. I’m looking forward to trying Donnelly’s Rose trilogy, which I’ve heard great things about.

“I’m wishing he could see that music lives. Forever. That it’s stronger than death. Stronger than time. And that its strength holds you together when nothing else can.”

“History is a Rorschach test people,” she said. “What you see when you look at it tells you as much about yourself as it does about the past.”