Jennifer Donnelly: The Winter Rose
An Epic Tale of Crime and Passion
Donnelly's latest book is the second part of the trilogy begun with The Tea Rose, but can equally be read as a stand-alone novel. Does this long book merit your time?
London, 1900
The novel begins in Victorian London, where the year is 1900 and idealistic young doctor India Selwyn-Jones is attempting to establish herself as a respected female medic. She wishes to do much good for London's poor and unhealthy residents, and dreams of opening a free clinic to provide treatment for the needy.
Meanwhile, East London is under the control of local villain Sid Malone, and attractive but violent gangster who must maintain his bad-guy image if he is to retain control of his kingdom. A chance encounter with India sets in motion a complicated chain of events that eventually leads all the main characters to Africa, where the final dramas are played out.
Mixed Reviews
The book has sold well in the UK, but reviews have been mixed, and it is perhaps significant that the most fulsome praise for the novel comes from romance novelist and saga-writer Barbara Taylor Bradford: 'There's a hint of mystery, lots of interesting characters and locales such as India, Africa and California, with turn-of-the-century London at the centre of an engaging book. Recommended.'
Certainly Donnelly has done her homework, painstakingly recreating the feel of Victorian London. Although born and resident in the US, Donnelly lived in London when she was a student, and was inspired to write her trilogy after a visit to the East End. She creates empathy for the poor residents of the London slums, but is sometimes very heavy-handed in her depiction of the contrast between the haves and the have-nots: Joe Bristow, for example, is a particularly unconvincing character, whose speeches about wealth distribution and education for the poor come across as amateur polemic.
Too Long at Almost 1000 Pages
The book is also over-long, the paperback edition weighing in at a hefty 724 pages. Herein lies the novel's main problem: Donnelly simply doesn't have the skill to keep the narrative moving at a sufficient pace to maintain the reader's interest across such a long book. Some of the characters are vividly drawn, such as Ella Moskowitz and her family, but others fail to lift themselves off the page (Joe Bristow, Gemma Dean). There is also some rather unrealistic dialogue, Donnelly seeming to assume that the Victorian cockney used the word "luv" pretty much every other word.
There are some nice moments, however, and those who enjoy historical romances will find much to enjoy: the heroine who turns from an ugly duckling into a swan; the baddie who turns out to have a heart of gold; the callous villain who uses and abuses women and kills whenever it suits his circumstances (due, of course, to a troubled childhood). Many will feel this novel has one cliche too many, and will begrudge the time needed to reach the end of this turbulent tale.
The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly is published in the UK by Harper Collins (2006), ISBN 0-00-719132-4
