The Winter Rose

Barbara Taylor Bradford

I loved this book. It is truly seductive, hard to put down, filled with mystery, secret passions, unique locations, and a most engaging heroine. India Selwyn Jones is a new breed of woman in London in 1900, a doctor practicing in the grim East End, and she captivates from the first page to the last.

The Strand

Jennifer Donnelly is one of the most uniquely gifted authors working in the world today, and her new novel, The Winter Rose, only confirms her place among the elite writers of epic historical fiction…Lyrical and captivating, The Winter Rose is an astounding work that will speak to your heart.

Booklist

…the action never lets up, from back-alley beatings and gunrunning, to bordellos, society drawing rooms, and the corridors of elitist government. This is a page-turner…Mix Gangs of New York, Romeo and Juliet, and Oliver Twist, and get a passionate tale propelled by sophisticated plotting, cleverly disguised motives, and intriguingly entangled characters.

Publishers Weekly

In epic style, Donnelly alternates India’s story with Sid’s, Freddie’s, Joseph’s and Fiona’s, leading the reader through turn-of- the-century England from the Houses of Parliament to ale houses and whore houses, and from London to Africa and beyond… Donnelly’s passion and energy will keep readers turning the many pages, rooting for India and the gruff underworld boss she loves.

Library Journal

A historical page-turner along the lines of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s A Woman of Substance. Recommended.

Eve magazine

So vividly imagined that it’s like time-travelling back to 1900.

Yours magazine

A vivid and entertaining read…it’s a brilliant story.

www.hagsharlotsheroines.com Book of the Month

A great read with fabulous characters, plenty of historical drama and romance, as well political intrigue and moments of sumptuously gothic excess.

Herald Sun, Australia

A HUGE epic of a novel following the fortunes and the downfalls of several families from both sides of the tracks in early 20th-century London. Against a well-researched background of political unrest and the beginnings of the union movement, it brings this period vividly to life. The heroine is India Selwyn Jones, a headstrong young woman who defies her aristocratic parents to become a doctor. She is determined to use her knowledge to make a difference in the lives of London’s poor. But then she meets Sid Malone, an attractive but notorious gangster, and finds herself gradually drawn to him. In a word: page-turner.

Rights sold in France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, and the UK.

A Northern Light

Carnegie Medal Winner, United Kingdom

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner

Borders 2004 Original Voices Award Winner

Named a Printz Honor Book by the ALA

Awarded a De Gouden Zoen Honor, The Netherlands

Named a Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults by the ALA

Named a Best Book of 2003
Publishers Weekly, Booklist, School Library Journal, The Irish Times, The Times (London), The Financial Times and The Albany Times-Union.

Chosen by amazon.com as a top teen title for 2003

New York Times Book Review
Jennifer Donnelly has populated her first young-adult novel with a community of distinctive characters who ring rich and true, and grounded it in the often horrific realities of rural life a century ago. We don't just root for Mattie; we come to understand and cherish her.

The Christian Science Monitor
A Northern Light is a quintessential coming-of-age story ... exceptionally well told. Honest and unflinching in its portrayal of loss, poverty, racism, and pregnancy, it nonetheless avoids melodrama and polemic. And its witty and oddball supporting cast (a renegade poet teacher, an encouraging schoolmate, and a handsome but dull next door neighbor) add complexity and color to Mattie's journey. The best thing about this book, however, is Mattie's smart, vulnerable voice. We share her desires, if not her unique challenges, on every page.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Haunting and powerfully written ...

The San Diego Union-Tribune
...(a) truly great novel, Donnelly's first for young adults...Elegantly structured between present and past, the story looks deeply into Mattie's life and where and when she lives it, at racism, poverty, loss and circumstance. It's an epic attempt, thoughtfully conceived and artfully executed.

Booklist, Starred Review
... (an) ambitious, beautifully written coming-of-age story ... Many teens will connect with Mattie's fierce yearning for independence and for stories, like her own, that are frank, messy, complicated and inspiring.

School Library Journal, Starred Review
This is a breathtaking tale, complex and often earthy ... Donnelly's characters ring true to life, and the meticulously detailed setting forms a vivid backdrop to this finely crafted story

The Toronto Star
Donnelly's rewarding, multilayered novel is written with delightful earthy vigour. She ranges from broad humour to frank, incisive literary criticism. But it's honest, passionate Mattie who carries the tale, as she strives to see clearly and act well. Funny, moving and intelligent, A Northern Light offers valuable perspective on the women who came before.

Adele Geras, in The Guardian
This is a wonderfully rich, involving and beautifully written book. The back cover blurb call is ëthe debut of an incredibly assured and confident literary voice.' My sentiments exactly.

The Glasgow Hearald
A captivating book with a universal, timeless feel.

The Bookseller
A sensitive, powerfully written first-person narrative set in New York state in 1906, full of contrasts in scene, tone and character... It is a striking first novel that will haunt readers long after closing the book.

The Times (London)
This is surely one of the year's best young-adult novels ... The novel is about race, class and wealth, about dreams and compromises, the nature of duty and the history of women. Above all, it's a book to lose yourself in.

The Financial Times
Ö(a) mesermerising story of a young girl's growing awareness of love, life and liberationÖThe story of Grace Brown is a true one; and the skill with which Donnelly, in her first book for young adults, weaves it together with that of an unforgettable young heroine is deeply impressive.

Sunday Telegraph
Nobody got fed while I read ... if George Clooney had walked in to the room I would have told him to come back later when I'd finished. When I slept I returned to it in my dreams. It's an extreme reaction to a book that is on the surface as placid and gentle as the lakes and hills of the turn-of-the-20th-century Adirondacks where it is set but then this novel is the very definition of "all-consuming". Mattie is a heroine on a par with Jo in Little Women or Cassandra in I Capture the Castle. Donnelly captures period and place with almost supernatural skill, and even the most minor of characters are so vivid that you find your self talking out loud to them.

Daily Mail
A breaktakingly good first novel ... The dead woman's and Mattie's stories intersect and expand like ripples on the surface of the lake.

Irish Post
This stunning multi-layered story deals with coming of age, the compatibility of writing and having children, sex, family relationships, racism, the plight of immigrants and almost inescapable trap of poverty. Packed with unforgettable characters and packaged in an equally stunning cover ... a book to treasure.

Sunday Tribune, Ireland
A book that encapsulates so much life between its covers it leaves the reader with a huge sense of regret on finishing...with a host of believable characters in a place that throbs with atmosphere, this multi-layered novel is a compelling read for adults and teenagers.

The Independent Magazine
The first novel by an American writer of promise.

South China Morning Post
... unquestionably one of the year's top reads. It is a spellbinding and moving story ... Donnelly brilliantly conjures up in gripping details of rural life ... she also creates a cast of characters who are compelling and utterly believable. All this results in a novel that sweeps you up with its originality and scope ... an unforgettable book to lose yourself in and to thoroughly enjoy reading.'

Book Sense #1 Teen Fiction Pick
This amazing novel chronicles the life of Mathilda in upstate New York. Told in alternating times of early spring and late summer, she is torn between going to college and keeping her promise to her dying mother to stay and take take care of the family. This is absolutely the best book I have read in years. See the entire Book Sense list.

Chosen by the Junior Library Guild as a 2003 selection.

Selected by Borders bookstore for its Original Voices program.

Scott Turow, Author of Reversible Errors and Presumed Innocent
A Northern Light is a remarkable debut, a book that sweeps across the genre boundaries of murder mystery, romance, and historical fiction -- resulting in an original novel that is both gripping and touching.

M.T. Anderson, Author of Feed, a National Book Award Finalist
A lyrical evocation of a vanished age ... Every page of Mattie Gokey's story has its surprising little insight: an image, a meditation, or some unexpected revelation. She is truly a narrator in love with language, and her enthusiasm for the word is infectious.

Rights sold in Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden and the UK

Available from Listening Library as an audio book. Read by Hope Davis. (Listen)
 

The Tea Rose

People Magazine
Steeped in melodrama, revenge and a maddeningly star-crossed romance, The Tea Rose is a fine yarn ... Bottom line: Guilty pleasure.

bookreporter.com
Ms. Donnelly's work is in a class by itself. From the slums of Whitechapel to the glittering streets of New York in the Gay '90s, readers are in for a rollicking good time with an unforgettable cast of characters.

Washington Post
So much fun ... the atmosphere of both starring cities is created in satisfying detail. One can walk the streets and listen to the people chat in the company of Jennifer Donnelly, who has done her historical homework.

Romantic Times Book Club Top Pick
In the tradition of an epic historical novel, Ms. Donnelly's tale pulls the reader into its emotional depths and refuses to let go. Fiona Finnegan is a remarkable heroine, remaining true to her principles no matter the cost.

Publishers Weekly
Donnelly indulges in delightfully straightforward storytelling in this comfortably overstuffed novel...the novel's 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. (Oct. 1)
Forecast: This epic historical novel has more muscle than most and comes equipped with blurbs from Frank McCourt and Simon Winchester. Rights have been sold in France, Germany and Italy, and Donnelly will embark on an author tour.

Booklist
In the tradition of Barbara Taylor Bradford, Donnelly has written the saga of one woman's remarkable rise from poverty to wealth. Growing up in London's bustling East End, feisty Fiona Finnegan is a member of a respectable working-class family. When her beloved father becomes involved in organizing a dockworker's union, he is brutally murdered, forcing her mother and siblings to abandon the comfort and security of their modest home. After her family is shattered by tragedy and she loses the love of her life, Fiona flees to America, vowing to destroy the man she holds responsible for her father's death. During the course of an eventful 10 years, she forges a tremendous business empire based in the tea trade and acquires the financial means to wreak her painstakingly plotted revenge. Returning to London, she must face the heart-wrenching ghosts of her own past in order to reshape her destiny and reclaim her future. Steeped in romance and authentic period detail, this exquisite melodrama will appeal to fans of epic historical fiction.

Frank McCourt, Author of Angela's Ashes
When you start reading The Tea Rose, give yourself plenty of time because this is a most seductive novel. You will travel from the rough, often savage, backstreets of London to the glossy sophistication of New York's Fifth Avenue. You'll be charmed by the novel's heroine, Fiona Finnegan -- by her intelligence, her courage, her great heart. Despite her suffering -- a lost love, a tragic family -- there are moments you will want to cheer. It's the kind of novel where the writing is so fluid, you feel the author simply loves telling her story. This is a splendid, heartwarming novel of pain, struggle, decency, triumph -- and just what we need in these times.

Simon Winchester, Author of The Professor and the Madman
I loved this vividly atmospheric and wonderfully rumbustious yarn ... brilliantly told, great fun to read.

Samuel H.G. Twining, LVO, OBE, Director of Twinings Tea
Bold, brisk and beguiling, The Tea Rose is a splendid brew of a book.

Paula Cohen, Author of Gramercy Park
The Tea Rose is the kind of book that calls for a rainy day, a cozy chair, and a good steaming cup of tea. It's strong and satisfying, with a taste that lingers in the memory.

Rights sold in Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, and the UK.

Humble Pie

Kirkus Reviews
A dynamite union of a debut author with a veteran illustrator teaches a wry lesson ... Gammell's unmistakable illustrations, full of mischief and all of his splattery details, hold just the right amount of waggish exaggeration and expression, and suit the antic wit of the telling perfectly. Yum.

Publisher's Weekly
... an impish sense of fun that will have young readers happily following along and cheering for Theo's comeuppance.

Booklist
...fresh and funny...

Copyright © 2006 Jennifer Donnelly