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.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From 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. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
