Loving Jennifer Donnelly

What a treat it was to receive Jennifer Donnelly's new book, The Winter Rose in pre-pub. The story was FANTASTIC! Set around the turn of the century, the story revolved around a bookish young lady who had just become a doctor. Restricted by the mores of the times, she finds herself striking out against the old, male establishment. Of course, there was a love interest, a mob boss named Sid Malone. This relationship provided just the right amount of dramatic tension in a book that one simply cannot put down!

Reading The Winter Rose led me to also read A Northern Light, and The Tea Rose, Donnelly's first novel.

A Northern Light is generally categorized as a young adult novel and has won many awards as such, including a Printz honor. Set in upstate New York around 1900, A Northern Light is the story of a bright, talented young farm girl, who, because she is motherless, bears much of the burden of taking care of her family and her father. She wants to go to college, and is accepted, but is conflicted by a romantic relationship with a boy on the neighboring farm. Donnelly uses an actual murder from the time as a plot device, with our heroine being entrusted with some letters from the victim. Those letters lead her to a moral dilemma; should she burn them, or turn them over to the police? This book fits in as a young adult novel because of the theme; how decisions that you make can profoundly affect your life.

The Tea Rose is the story of Fiona, born among the working poor in the East End of London. As a worker in the tea warehouse, she has a fine nose for the product and all its variations. Her father is killed in an 'accident,' and the family plunges into poverty. When Fiona's mother is killed by Jack the Ripper, Fiona in desperation goes to the tea company owner for help. She overhears the owner talking about her father's murder and flees. Of course, this story is a lot more complex than this little capsule can show, but we don't want any spoilers, do we?

I'm looking forward to Donnelly's next novel.