The Tea Rose by: Jennifer Donnelly

I have just finished a book that captivated me throughout the entire 544 pages. The Tea Rose by: Jennifer Donnelly is, in my humble opinion, one of the best books I have read in a long time. Set in late 19th century London, the story revolves around a young girl named Fiona Finnegan. Fiona and her family are poor but make due with what little wages are made. Most importantly, she is happy and in love with a boy she has known her whole life, Joe Bristow. Having grown up together, just a house away, they dream of a life together with their own tea shop and have been saving any meager coins they can spare.
Unfortunately for Fiona, her life is about to change completely and send her on a path of revenge that leads her where she never imagined. Her father is killed in a supposed accident at the dock where he worked for one of London's most powerful men, tea merchant William Burton. Fiona and her family are forced to leave their home for a rented room when money runs dry and no compensation for her father's death is forthcoming. Things go from bad to worse when her beloved Joe, after a night of heavy drinking and the scheming of his rich boss' daughter Millie, tells Fiona that he is being forced to marry Millie after getting her pregnant. Fiona is completely devastated. Shortly after she learns this, her mother is murdered, her baby sister dies from an illness and her oldest brother, Charlie is found floating in the river after running away in shock from his mother's death.
After going to stay with a family friend, taking her last living sibling with her, she attempts to confront the man who could make things a littler easier for her, her father's former boss William Burton, and get the compensation she rightly deserves. When she is turned away at the gate, Fiona sneaks to Burton's office only to overhear him discussing her father's death with another man and learn that Burton had orchestrated his murder and made it look like an accident to get rid of the man who could cost him by forming a union. Fiona is enraged and in a rush to leave, is found by Burton and his man. She screams that she knows what he did to her father and is chased from the building.
Fearing for her life, Fiona takes her brother, along with some cash she inadvertently pocketed from Burton's office, and heads to New York where she has an Uncle. When she arrives and finds things are not as she expects, she takes matters into her own hands and begins to build a life like she dreamed. Successful beyond her wildest dreams, Fiona plans to bring down Burton and avenge her father's death.
When unforeseen circumstances take her back to London, now a rich and powerful woman, she will learn more truths than she ever thought possible and turn her life onto an unexpected path.
This book has everything...murder, romance, wit and thrills. The characters are rich and everything is so well detailed that you feel part of the story. I have never been so emotional while reading a book. There are so many ups and downs that you do not see anything that is coming. The ending is totally unexpected and very pleasing...to me at least! I highly recommend checking this book out. And don't be intimidated by it's size! It flows so smoothly and quickly and you won't want to put it down.