The Tea Rose
Page 76
“Really?”
“Really. The day you let someone take your dreams from you, you may as well head straight to the undertaker’s. You’re just as good as dead.”
“Is that true?” the girl asked, wide-eyed.
“Absolutely. A very wise man told me that. A wonderful man who used to come here and watch the boats. Just like you. What’s your name, lass?”
“Daisy.”
“Well, Daisy. If you want your own tea garden someday, you’re going to have to know a lot about tea.”
“Do you know a lot about tea?”
“A thing or two.”
“Tell me!” Daisy said.
“The first thing you have to know is how to tell a good tea from a bad one. And there are a few ways of doing this. Come on, I’ll show you.”
Fiona offered her hand and Daisy took it. They walked up the Old Stairs. Behind them, scores of derricks rose and dipped, barges jostled with ferries, a chantey carried on the breeze, and the silvery Thames flowed on. Immutable, implacable. Straining at its boundaries, reaching past its shores. Always and never the same.
Acknowledgments
I am indebted to Martin Fido, author of The Crimes, Detection, and Death of Jack the Ripper and Murder Guide to London, for a midnight tour of the lanes and alleys Jack knew and for sharing his encyclopedic knowledge of 1880s East London and its people with me. Samuel H. G. Twining, LVO, OBE, Director of Twinings Tea, and Syd Mumford, a former Senior Buyer and Blender for the firm, graciously explained the mysteries and arcana of the tea trade to me and provided a hands-on lesson in tea tasting. Thanks, also, to the staff of the Museum of London’s Museum in Docklands Project for allowing me access to their library and collections. Londoners Fred Sage, a former Thames Stevedore, and Con McCarthy, an Ocean Ships Tally Clerk, walked down many a dockland street with me, sharing memories of working life on the river. Hoisting a pint with them in the Town of Ramsgate was both a privilege and an honor.
Sally Kim, my editor, is every writer’s dream come true – a mentor, an advocate, a partner in crime. She has my sincere gratitude, as does the rest of the team at St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books.
Without Simon Lipskar, agent and lionheart, The Tea Rose would never have been. He took a chance on me and my doorstop of a manuscript. He made us better and got us heard and I appreciate his efforts more than I will ever be able to say.
Laurie Feldman, Diana Nottingham, Brian O’Meara, and Omar Wohabe were there for me from day one with advice, support, and champagne. No one could ask for truer friends. Thanks, guys. Heather, John, and Joasha Dundas read early drafts of the novel and gave me valuable criticism and confirmation, for which I am grateful.
A very loving thank-you to Wilfriede, Matt, Megan, and Mary Donnelly, and Marta Eggerth Kiepura, my wonderful family, for believing in me, encouraging me, and always telling me stories.
And to Douglas Dundas, for teaching me what faith means, the biggest thank-you of all.
A Note on the Author
Jennifer Donnelly lives near New York. Her first book, A Gathering Light, won the Carnegie Medal and was one of the first Richard and Judy TV Book Club selected books.
Discover books by Jennifer Donnelly published by Bloomsbury Reader at
www.bloomsbury.com/JenniferDonnelly
The Tea Rose
The Winter Rose
The Wild Rose
For copyright reasons, any images not belonging to the original author have been removed from this book. The text has not been changed, and may still contain references to missing images.
This electronic edition published in 2014 by Bloomsbury Reader
Bloomsbury Reader is a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square,
London WC1B 3DP
First published in Great Britain in 2002 by Harper Collins
Copyright © 2002 Jennifer Donnelly
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eISBN: 9781448214624
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