The Tea Rose

By: Jennifer Donnelly

Narrated by: Jill Tanner

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, 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 life is shattered when the actions of a dark and brutal man take from her nearly everything - and everyone - she holds dear. Fearing her own death, she is forced to flee London for New York. There, her indomitable spirit propels her rise from a modest West Side shop-front to the top of Manhattan's tea trade. But Fiona's old ghosts do not rest quietly, 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.

©2002 Jennifer Donnelly (P)2014 Recorded Books

I LOVED THIS BOOK

This was my first Jennifer Donnelly book and I absolutely loved everything about this book. The story was so gripping (I couldn't stop listening to it.) and the narrator was GREAT. Well worth a credit!!!

The Tea Rose

If you could sum up The Tea Rose in three words, what would they be?

Lovely mental vacation.

What about Jill Tanner’s performance did you like?

Jill Tanner's did an outstanding job with the narration. Her range in characters was done nicely.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

At 28 hours one sitting would be difficult, but yes the ear buds were in my ears more often than not.

Any additional comments?

I have read this trilogy 3 times and listened to The Tea Rose and The Wild Rose twice. Jennifer Donnelly draws you into 1890 London and it's hard to come back to reality. Beautiful story, the characters are alive, the details are vivid without being boring. I even went so far as to print out a 1900 London & New York maps to move around with the story.

The Winter Rose is book 2, it is not out in audio yet, why they started with book 3 then moved to book one is a mystery to me. These books need to be read in order, character developement is created in each book that brings you to the next.

PLEASE HURRY with the release of book 2. How can a new reader understand the story without the middle!

Fantastic novel and narrator

Would you consider the audio edition of The Tea Rose to be better than the print version?

Yes. I always seek out books narrated by Jill Tanner. In fact, that is why I ordered this book.

What did you like best about this story?

The historical details of the time period were fascinating to me; and of course the wonderful love story.

What does Jill Tanner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Jill Tanner makes the story come to life. She does equally well with the male and female character's dialogue which is hard to do.

Any additional comments?

Don't forget to get the other books in the series. They continue with the lives of the characters you have come to love in " The Tea Rose". I don't think the next book "The Winter Rose" is available on audio, so read that one and then get "The Wild Rose" on audio.
You will love them all.

my favorite

I've read this book a million times and can honestly say Jennifer Donnelly is my #1 author.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That was awesome! great strory, love the narrator! They really put you in the story, author and narrator.

Good listen

the only negative I found was the over use of graphic sex scenes. The story line was so good otherwise.

Lots of twists an turns

The story starts out slowly and dark. I thought about not finishing it at one point, but I am so glad I stayed with it to the end. Really quite an amazing store!

love this book!!!

love the story so so much!!!! love, murder,mystery, suspense!! cant get much better than that!

Wonderful narration and engaging story

Ms. Jill Tanner did an outstanding job of narrating. Will look for other books she has narrated.

The characters were well developed and tied to historical events during that time. Very interesting read.

Period drama with heart and action.

Excellent book and hard to stop listening to. Good action and mystery as well as personal interaction between characters with sadness and joy.
Narration very good and easy to listen to-good use of dialects.