04 December 2017

The Tea House on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens

The Tea House on Mulberry StreetThe Tea House on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Format: audiobook from the library

The Tea House on Mulberry Street is a nice, light bit of women's fiction. The plot follows the owners of Muldoon's Tea Rooms and their troubled marriage, as well as several other people who patronize the tea house while trying to work through problems of their own. Unlike a book such as The Friday Night Knitting Club, however, the characters don't all become friends and insert themselves into each other's lives. Because of this, I could have flipped right past the chapters of characters I didn't care to follow because their stories didn't affect other stories in the book. There was a mix of predictable, unbelievable, and a twist or two that I didn't see coming. One of the predictable storylines was still satisfying because I wanted to see certain characters get their comeuppance.

The narrator for the audiobook was very good. I appreciated hearing an Irish accent in a book set in Belfast; I still can't shake the audiobook I listened to that was set in Australia and used Aussie slang, but neither of the readers did an Aussie accent. I'd rather hear a bad accent than no attempt made at all.

The book includes a recipe for cheesecake, but if this book were on the tea house menu, it would more likely be angel food cake -- a sort of retro dessert that I don't see people eating much these days. The book was published in 2003 but it had the feel of a 1980s movie, especially at the end where the author wraps up everyone's situation. It is also not as racy as some women's fiction I've picked up that has been written in the past couple years. I would have no problem handing this book to my maiden aunt or even my friend who only reads Christian romance.

This was my first time reading a book by Sharon Owens, and I'm on the fence. It wasn't a bad book but I'm not compelled to seek out her other work. However, if it was on the free table at work (yes, my husband's job has such a thing) or I was on a cruise without reading material, I'd pick up another of her books.

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