Journal Entry 1 by Sidney1220 from McLean, Virginia USA on Saturday, July 12, 2008

Received from bookmooch.
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From Publishers Weekly
Donnelly indulges in delightfully straightforward storytelling in this comfortably overstuffed novel. In 1880s London, the squalid Thames-side neighborhood of Whitechapel is home to Fiona Finnegan, spunky daughter of Paddy Finnegan. Both are employed by unscrupulous tea merchant William Burton, but Fiona is saving to start a shop with her love, Joe Bristow. Just as her future seems assured, a string of tragedies toppledher hopes. Joe is tricked into marriage to another woman, Burton has Paddy killed for supporting a labor union, Fionas mother is murdered by Jack the Ripper and Fionas distraught brother is found dead in the Thames. Fiona had been attempting to get compensation from Burton for her fathers death, but when she overhears his boasts of killing Paddy, she must flee for her life with her sole remaining brother, five-year-old Seamie. She rushes to a seaport, but cannot get passage until the wealthy dandy Nicholas Soames offers it, pretending she is his wife. The scene switches to New York City of the Gay 90s, to the glitter of Delmonicos, the elegance of Gramercy Park and the crowded tenements of downtown. Fiona lodges with her alcoholic Uncle Michael and saves both him and his grocery on her way to making her fortune in the tea industry. But she never forgets her familys fate, and when she can, she returns to England to revenge herself on Burton. Though Donnellys indomitable heroine steps out of period character from time to time¢her easy acceptance of Soamess homosexuality is particularly unlikely¢the novels lively plotting, big cast of warmly drawn characters and long-deferred romantic denouement make this a ripping yarn. In the final dramatic settling of scores, Donnelly even ventures to unmask Jack the Ripper.
 

Journal Entry 2 by Sidney1220 from McLean, Virginia USA on Monday, July 28, 2008

Overall I enjoyed this book. There were parts that I really liked, parts that brought tears to my eyes. The author was very skillful in depicting life in the late 19th century, and it was refreshing for once to read about real characters with real problems, not the member of the aristocracy too many historical novels tend to focus on.

The middle part of the book wasn't as interesting as the beginning and the end. It talked about how Fiona became a successful tea merchant and one of the richest women in America and I didn't buy any of it. Everything just seems too easy and simple. I was never convinced of how smart everyone says she is and kept on thinking that her good fortune seemed more like blind luck than aything else. The bank won't give her a loan? A rich millionaire who just happens to be there vouches for her. She can't find a good location for her tea room? A woman sells her a house for a fraction of its worth because they both have suffered from broken hearts. Everything seems to be a bit of cliche during this part of the book, and I found myself flipping the pages to look for parts devoted to other characters in the book - Joe, Roddy. Unforunately, the author spent way too much time on Fiona and not enough on other characters who are much more interesting.

Still, the last parts of the book was a bit of a page turner and introduced a twist that I didn't see coming at all. I will be looking for The Winter Rose just to see what happens with that particular subplot.