Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinary!
Review: Jennifer Donnelly has written an extraordinary book for her fiction debut. Powerful and so well written, it's hard to believe this is her first novel. A thrilling saga that kept me up til all hours of the morning. A real page-turner. This talented author has the ability to weave an incredibly smooth tale. Her memorable characters with their lyrical Cockney dialect and indomitable spirits will win your heart. It's obvious the author has done her homework - rich, authentic details and vivid descriptions transport you back in time, and make you feel you are living in the story. The colorful descriptions are just perfect - not so long as to become tedious. I loved every page and couldn't wait for the ending. Now that I've finished it, I almost wish there were more pages - I no longer have it to look forward to at the end of the day! This is an exceptional book that you will not be able to put down. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to read a truly unforgettable story!
Rating:
Summary: Lose Yourself
Review: The Tea Rose is an excellent read. Yes, it is predictible. Yes, there is a happy ending. But, it is a real page turner. And eventhough there are alot of pages, it goes quick - almost too quick! The characters are all well developed and the plot is original and captivating. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: This book has made my list of top 3 Favorites.....
Review: "The Tea Rose"...Wow!! What an unbelievably touching story!
The characters in this book were so well developed and created so lovingly, you couldnt help but get yourself involved. Fiona was admirable..This woman suffered more hardships througout her life than 1 person can handle, yet she remaind optimistic..she was a fighter through and through...So many of the characters in this book were inspiring..the way they did what they had to do to survive..how they loved one another...speaking of love...Joe and Fiona were beautiful together...and I promise you that with the way this story is written..there will be times when you are so frustrated, that you will just want to rip your hair out..but oh....by the time youre finished reading you'll see that it's all been worth the wait...I cant say enough about "The Tea Rose"..DEFINITELY A MUST READ!
Rating:
Summary: I NEVER CRY
Review: I never cry while reading. Well, never, until now. Donnelly had tears in my eyes by page 37. This book is what a novel should be.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent rags-to-riches story
Review: The Tea Rose is a grand dramatic rags-to-riches saga in the tradition of the epic women's novels of the 1970's and 1980's, such as Scruples, The Thornbirds and A Woman of Substance. Fiona lives with her large family in the London of 1888. Everyone pitches in the hard-earned shillings to try to make ends meet: her father Paddy is one of the dockworkers, her brother Charlie earns a little on the side by boxing at night, her mother Kate takes in laundry, and Fiona herself comes home caked in tea dust from a packing factory six days a week. She holds back only enough to add to her savings with her childhood sweetheart Joe, in hopes that they might one day own a shop. Through the middle of the family runs the current of an eminent dockworker's union and over them looms the shadow of the Whitechapel Murderer, known also as Jack the Ripper. When a series of tragedies strike Fiona's family, she is forced to flee to America to try her own grit in the landscape of the great unknown. Jennifer Donnelly is a wonderful story-teller. The prose is detailed and specific enough to make the story real, but doesn't do anything fancy to get in the way of the characters. The Tea Rose is a completely absorbing read. Part thriller, part history, part romance, it is cut not only from the cloth of great drama, but from the fabric of human truth. Not to be missed!
Rating: 
Summary: tedious and predictable
Review: If you are a fan of Barbara Taylor Bradford, Danielle Steele, etc., this is a longer version of their type of book. I was disappointed, as I found the plot totally predictable, and the details tedious.
I thought it moved slowly, and was very long for what it was. The book needed to be tightened up, and paced more quickly.
Rating:
Summary: An epic at last ...
Review: Relentless, beautiful, thrilling, moving. An all-out, turned-up-to-11 epic -- the kind we haven't seen in years (and until now, didn't know how much we missed). I do hope another is in the works -- I'll miss every character until I can step into their world again.
Rating: 
Summary: A Compeling Modern Day Historical
Review: This is the first book I've read by Jennifer Donnelly, having been drawn in by the quote on the cover by author Frank McCourt. I only hope that the author's other works are as entertaining as this! Fiona Finnegan is a modern day heroine to inspire both male and female readers of all ages. Raised juat one degree above poverty, Fiona was poor in only material belongings. Her loving family, consisting of Paddy, her dock-hand father and union supporter, Kay, her laundress mother, Charlie, her slightly younger laborer brother, Seamie, her five year old brother, and a baby sister. But more than her family, Fiona loves blue eyed, blond haired Joe Bistrow, the boy next door and produce peddler. Together, they plan their future and escape from poverty as proprietors of a shop. Unfortunately, events conspire to tear them apart. Fiona's family is nearly decimated as her father is murdered by an anti-union plot, her mother is a hapless victim of Jack the Ripper, and her oldest brother's body is found floating in the Thames. Fiona and her younger brother Seamie barely escape a like demise when they meet Nicholas Soames who helps them escape to America. Nicholas eventually becomes the most beloved and important person in Fiona's life. He's also my favorite secondary character in the book.
Once in America, Fiona's fortunes rise as she becomes a successful business woman in her own right. Meanwhile, across the pond, Joe is also becoming a self-made man in the produce industry.
After a ten year span, Fiona finds herself back in England, in a postion that enables her to avenge her father (and mothers?) death(s). Of course, Fiona and Joe reunite and the love they once had, that burned throughout the years of separation, is rekindled.
This book is a wonderful look at the gilded age when Americcan millionaires were kings of industry. I could almost see the finely dressed upper crust as they moved through society. Not to mention the wonderful portrayal of the lower class Londoners with thier Cockney accents. I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone. I will also read more Donnelly books in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: Danielle Steele's prodigy
Review: This book is for readers who are not yet tired of the stereotypical beautiful girl/woman who undergoes hardship only to emerge, through several twists of fate (imagine that) victorious. Sad that this type of formulaic fiction dominates the shelves while so many original novels fall by the wayside.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: This book had me from the very first page. Although the setting is late 1800's in the slums of London, this story could have taken place in any poor town, anywhere in the world.
Fiona (the main character) bears tragedy after tragedy. Orphaned at the age of 17 Fiona is left with her younger brother who is just a toddler. At this point she has also lost the love of her life, Joe, her best friend from childhood whom she had hoped to marry. Just when things seem to be getting worse, Fiona escapes to New York hoping to make a new life there. What she finds is a drunk uncle who is of no help. Again Fiona is left to her own devices.
Joe and Fiona's lives seem to parallel even though they are on separate continents. Both attempt to marry into wealth and both successfully create and manage their own business, neither knowing how the other is doing. They also suffer continually from an intense longing for one another. A desire buried underneath a decade of separation.
So many times Joe and Fiona miss each other by a moment. This left me feeling hopelessly sorry for Fiona and Joe. All they ever wanted was each other and yet obstacle after obstacle prevents them from ever getting the chance to reconcile.
Fiona herself is what drew me in to this story. She takes on more than any human should have to and she perseveres. Dissapointment and loss are commonplace in Fiona's life. However she only briefly considers giving up. I wanted so badly for Fiona to find her happiness, to realize her dreams. I found myself captivated by her struggles, triumphs, her attitude, her sheer determination, and abounding love.
This story is quite heavy in the sense that it evokes many feeling from the reader. One can't help but sympathize for Fiona, seeing as life has been most unkind to her. I recommend this book to any and everyone!!
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