The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

Title: The Tea Rose

Author: Jennifer Donnelly

Genre: Historical fiction

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, 2003

Source: Library

Fiona Finnegan, a worker in Burton's tea factory, knows tea so well she can tell you what it is just by smelling it. Her dreams stretch beyond the factory to owning a tea shop of her own, and the handsome Joe Bristow wants to help her do it. However, as circumstances change and twist down unexpected paths, Fiona will take a turn away from Joe and into a life she never expected.

Oh, Jennifer Donnelly. You just have this way with you. At the beginning of this book, I was disappointed. The huge tome flitted back and forth between characters' perspectives in third person omniscient, a style I don't really care for that seems all too pervasive in historical fiction. I missed the strong, personality-filled first person voices of Donnelly's two young adult novels. And the drama that gave Revolution and A Northern Light so much passion at first seemed mawkish and over the top, with Fiona's loved ones dropping like flies. I almost felt like I didn't have to turn the page - I knew that someone was going to die, or some plan was going to fall through, or the money had run out, or the cows hadn't come home. After about 150 pages, I was ready to throw in the towel.

And then, somehow, Donnelly lured me in. Despite my annoyance at all the drama, despite my sense of being jarred as perspectives switched from character to character (all in the third person, mind you), I became emotionally invested in the story. Despite my lack of interest in the business world, or the fact that it did seem ludicrous that Fiona was thrust into society with the monopoly giants of her time. Despite the fact that it seemed absolutely silly to me to claim that she'd invented iced tea as a sales tactic to the South. Despite the fact that for much of the book Joe Bristow seemed like an absolute word-I-can't-say-in-a-public-space and I couldn't understand why she just wouldn't get over him.

Okay, that is a fairly long list of "despites." However, at the end of the book, I couldn't stop thinking of it. Once again, Donnelly pulled her trick of weaving in a historical event with astonishing believability - this time, with Jack the Ripper, a subject I was surprised to see lending itself so well to the story as a whole. She also had her invented historical character woven into the plot, although in this case it was Fiona herself, a tactic I don't think works quite as well with a main character. And by the end, Joe had grown up a little bit, and I was able to accept him. I honestly never loved him, but I was able to grant him the right to Fiona's heart.

The real pull for me in this story, I think, was Nicholas Soames, Fiona's best friend and right-hand man. He was the reason I couldn't get the story out of my head days after finishing it. For some reason I am absolutely entranced by stories of strong, platonic friendship love between men and women. Maybe it's because my own life romance grew out of a platonic friendship into something more. It's the element in a love story that will always seal the deal for me, even if the relationship never becomes a true love story. Nicholas and Fiona's relationship was unconventional in every way, but it solidified what would have been only a weak inclination toward the book.

The Tea Rose is definitely a first novel, lacking the polish and passion of the other works I've read by Donnelly. However, it still made a lasting impression, and I look forward to finishing the trilogy. I'm only giving it a 3.5 because I expect better from Donnelly, but don't let that keep you from reading it.

3.5 stars

Warnings for the sensitive reader: Some f-bombs from dock workers, 4-5 sex scenes I had to skim over because they were too graphic for me

Sunday Salon: SiS Wrap-up and Paris in July

I'm not even going to link my Spring Into Summer Readathon info to Squeaky Books because I read so little, but I do want to write a final update. With a test coming up tomorrow (which I've studied only a shameful hour for) and my mom in town, reading just wasn't my first priority, as much as I had hoped to participate in this readathon. Yesterday I wound up reading another 40 pages of The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly and then jumping into Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin and reading 150 pages. I started the second book because I was babysitting for my niece with my husband and my sister-in-law had set out a few books for me to look through. This was one of them, and I knew she had really enjoyed it, so after my niece was in bed (7:00 pm... the little ones go to sleep so early!) and my husband had turned on a movie, I jumped into it and read for about an hour. It is pretty entertaining so far, and I might finish it before I go back to The Tea Rose just because I need something light for the next few days of ultimate school stress. So I didn't finish anything and only read about 260 pages. However, it was enjoyable and I'm glad I got in a little extra reading.

Secondly I want to bring up Book Bath's Paris in July event. This also went on last summer, but I was a newbie book blogger who had no idea that other book blogs even existed, much less challenges and book events. When I saw this event over at Gabriel Reads, I knew I had to participate. Ever since I spent a few months in Paris back in 2008, I have been missing it and dying to get back. There are also several books on my TBR that have to do with Paris, including a recent recommendation from a good friend of mine. So, in July I am trying to read four "Paris" books so I can have one review a week. They are:

The Last Time I Saw Paris by Lynn Sheene

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (which I have been reading for months, but as it is my arch-nemesis, it takes some time to get through).

I also want to do a photo feature on Sundays (usually my day off of blogging) just highlighting some beautiful places in Paris. I already did a book series on Bookish Spots of Paris (you can find those posts by clicking on the side bar) so I will just highlight some beautiful spots without focusing on the bookishness or lack thereof.

I am probably going to put a Parisian spin on my monthly features - for Poetry Corner I am going to try and read one of Victor Hugo's poems in French, for Literary Lyrics I'm going to highlight a French song, and for Quotables and Short Story Spotlight I will also try to find something. I'd also like to do a piece on French cooking. So it should be a busy but very fun month and I'm excited to share my love of Paris with you. At The Book Bath's blog linked above you can find a list of all the participants and/or join yourself!

I hope you are all having a fabulous Sunday. It's rainy here in Utah but that may be a good thing as I am hoping to get as much blogging as possible out of the way this week so I can catch up on all the schoolwork I didn't do tomorrow.

I also want to do a photo feature on Sundays (usually my day off of blogging) just highlighting some beautiful places in Paris. I already did a book series on Bookish Spots of Paris (you can find those posts by clicking on the side bar) so I will just highlight some beautiful spots without focusing on the bookishness or lack thereof.

I am probably going to put a Parisian spin on my monthly features - for Poetry Corner I am going to try and read one of Victor Hugo's poems in French, for Literary Lyrics I'm going to highlight a French song, and for Quotables and Short Story Spotlight I will also try to find something. I'd also like to do a piece on French cooking. So it should be a busy but very fun month and I'm excited to share my love of Paris with you. At The Book Bath's blog linked above you can find a list of all the participants and/or join yourself!

I hope you are all having a fabulous Sunday. It's rainy here in Utah but that may be a good thing as I am hoping to get as much blogging as possible out of the way this week so I can catch up on all the schoolwork I didn't do tomorrow.

SiS Readathon Update #1

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure how much reading I will get done. My mom is in town rather spur of the moment, and I also have a test that I need to study for on Monday. However, I'm squeezing in what I can! So far I've read for about an hour this morning. I started The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly. This is a chunkster, which I've heard is a bad idea for readathons, but I'm really excited to get into it and I don't think I will be reading long enough to get sick of it. So far I've read 62 pages. The print is really small and the pages are really big, so my page count and book count won't be very impressive, but I'm still having fun!

Also, one of the little challenges was to make a worldle, so I made one for the blog. I like making pretty pictures. :)

YA Friday: A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Title: A Northern Light

Author: Jennifer Donnelly

Genre: YA, historical fiction

Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books, 2003

Source: Library

Mattie Gokey spends most of her time keeping her family together. After her mother passed away, it's been hard to keep food on the table and all her sisters healthy and clean. However, she dreams of books and writing, hoping to attend college. Her teacher and best friend both push her to pursue her dreams, but family responsibilities and a potential romance have her wondering where her path should lead. Set against the background of the murder featured in Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, Mattie is required to make life-changing decisions.

Oh, Jennifer Donnelly. How I love you. And I have the first book in your adult trilogy sitting on my bookshelf right now. I'm curious to see how she writes for adults, because her YA books definitely have me hooked. I think the element of her books that I enjoy most is just the intelligence she uses to weave everything together. Mattie's life is the center of the action, but surrounding it we have the murder, which in some ways parallels some of Mattie's insecurities, and the mysterious Emily Baxter, one of Donnelly's invented historical figures that I wish was real so I could read her poetry. (A similar invented historical character is Amade Malherbeau from Revolution).

Donnelly is a master at creating strong characters. Mattie was very distinct from Andi, the main character in Revolution. In my (ever humble) opinion, if a writer plans on using the first person all the time, their different characters had better have different voices. I think this can be a difficult task to accomplish, but Donnelly does it well, bringing to the table a girl less troubled than Andi, a girl determined to keep her promises while breaking under the desire to fulfill her own dreams. At times she frustrates me, spending time with a dorkus (using words like "dorkus" is probably one of the reasons bloggers get pegged as unprofessional, but no other word describes my feelings adequately) like Royal who waves away her dreams by talking about soil and planting. Mattie isn't perfect - she is a teenager, after all, and who didn't make at least one stupid mistake in their teenage years? However, as she struggles through her oppressive circumstances, she begins to discover who she really is. The other characters are also fantastic, especially Weaver, Mattie's best friend, a boy who will not accept discrimination from others, no matter what the consequence.

Another element of this book that I adored was the sheer bookishness. (Remember what I said yesterday about authors always putting bookish elements in their books? I think for Donnelly it is sheer love of books). Mattie loves words and tries to use a new word every day. I loved the way she turned big, obscure words to fit her situations. I also loved her description of Emily Baxter's library - who hasn't felt that way on their first time in a beautiful bookstore or library?

There were dozens of names I didn’t know. Eliot. Zola. Whitman. Wilde. Yeats. Sand. Dickinson. Goethe. And all those were in just one stack! There were lives in those books, and deaths. Families and friends and lovers and enemies. Joy and despair, jealousy, envy, madness, and rage. All there. […] I could alsmost hear the characters inside, murmuring and jostling, impatient for me to open the cover and let them out.

Much as I am gushing about Jennifer Donnelly, the book wasn't perfect. I struggled with the back-and-forth between Mattie's time at the hotel figuring out the murder, and her time at home trying to get to the hotel. I thought it was an interesting device, but I didn't understand the point and found it to be generally distracting. And while I liked Mattie herself a bit better than Andi in Revolution, this book didn't hold the same intensity and passion for me. It was a good book - a great book - but it didn't cause me to put down the book and just think when I was done with it.

All and all, though, this is an excellent read. The bookish will especially enjoy Mattie's obsession with words and her enchantment with new books.

4 stars

YA Friday: Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Title: Revolution
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Genre: YA, historical fiction
Publisher: Delacorte Press, 2010
Source: Library

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly tells two parallel stories. The first is that of Andi, flunking out of her senior year, floundering in a broken family after the death of her younger brother, and solaced only by her guitar. The other is that of Alexandrine, a young revolutionary in eighteenth century Paris. The girls' stories combine in a terrifying and moving adventure that teaches both the meaning of rising above a world that can be dark.

This is one of the smartest books I have ever read. Page after page, I was blown away at Donnelly's finesse in bringing together Andi and Alex's stories. The plot is complex and multi-layered, but never obscure or confusing. She interweaves the two main story lines with a third character that intersects them both - the (unfortunately fictional) classical guitarist Amade Malherbeau, subject of Andi's senior thesis and Parisian contemporary of Alex. The story is structured into three parts, following Dante's Divine Comedy and prefaced by quotes - Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. Andi's Brooklyn world and Alex's Paris world are both meticulously detailed, making the story come to life in a vivid way.

The characters Donnelly created were also compelling, although the plot is the star of this story. Andi's friend Virgil is a fascinating character, someone who has already achieved what seems to elude her - the ability to have stability and grace in a mixed-up, unfair world. Virgil is edgy with his graveyard cab driving job and his intimate knowledge of the catacombs, yet sweet with his need for music and concern for Andi. I also loved Malherbeau, the guitarist Andi studies, although I think if I explain why I will spoil some of the best surprises of the story, so please read it and find out exactly why I loved him. Alex was also an interesting character - she was propelled by many different motives, and played many different roles, a fitting life for an actress. She changes drastically from the beginning of her account of the revolution to the end, and makes an interesting case for herself as one who is by no means innocent but seeks to redeem herself.

I liked Andi, too, but she became a little tiresome for me from time to time because of all her anger and raging and pill-popping. However, it wasn't the character that annoyed me - it was her personality. Does that make sense? I think Andi had to be that way, and Donnelly did a great job of realizing her. She's just a frustrating character at times. However, she especially goes through a lot of growth in the novel, which is always a good sign for me.

As I said before, Donnelly does a fantastic job of incorporating small details to make the world come alive, especially the eighteenth century of Paris (I've never read such vivid descriptions of smells). However, occasionally the writing annoying to me in a nit-picky way. This may be because Andi was narrating in the first person for most of the story, and occasionally Andi would start to bother me. Some of the descriptions are told in a breathless, fragmented style that seemed a little melodramatic for me. Example:

One note, just one note. That's all I need. But it's hard tonight. So hard that I stop playing. And look up at the sky instead. It's black. No moon. No stars.

Like I said, nothing technically wrong with this, but it didn't work for me. But Donelly definitely redeems herself with some gorgeous and unique passages, like this one:

Vermeer and Rembrandt and da Vinci put together couldn't do it. Even if they got the shade right - a clear, startling Windex blue - they'd still fail because Truman's eyes were totally transparent. That whole windows to the soul thing? That was him. When you looked into his eyes, you could see everything he thought and felt and loved. You could see Lyra and Pan. The Temple of Dendur. Bottle rockets. Garry Kasparov. Beck. Kyuma. Chili cheese dogs. Derek Jeter. And us.

Nit-picking aside, this book blew me away and was quite possibly one of my best reads this year. It was one of those books that, after I finished, I didn't want to start reading another book because I just wanted to keep thinking about this one. It made me want to learn more about the French Revolution and Amade Malherbeau (until I googled him and found out he wasn't real... sadness). Cheesy tidbit - I went to the piano and started playing through some of the Bach preludes I played in high school because Andi always talks about playing Bach. It is a book that makes a powerful impression.

Readability: Very readable.
Plot: 5
Characters: 4
Writing: 4
Personal Response: 5
Overall: 4.5