Reviewed by Vicki Carver
Maeve Binchy readers will be glad to know about a first-time writer from
Ireland who has captured Binchy's writing style.
The Tea House on Mulberry Street is a new novel by Sharon Owens who
resides in Belfast, Ireland. Penny and Daniel Stanley have been married
for seventeen years. They jointly own and operate Muldoon's Tea Room, a
run-down but beloved tea room in Belfast. Penny and Daniel's marriage is
becoming lackluster.
Penny wants to renovate their business and have a child. Daniel seems
preoccupied with stashing money in the bank and seeking new recipes for
pastries which will entice existing and new patrons.
In true Binchy style Owens includes a vast array of characters who
frequent Muldoon's. There is struggling artist Brenda Brown who has a
serious infatuation for actor Nicholas Cage. Sadie Smith, an overweight
housewife, finds solace in the culinary delights she devours at Muldoon's.
Her frustration with her cheating husband Arnold and his demanding
parents lead Sadie to desperate circumstances.
Identical twins Beatrice and Alice Crowley provide comic relief as they
discover a shocking revelation concerning their mother's past. Henry
Blackstaff is trying to cope with his overbearing wife's desire to build
a huge conservatory on the back of their house to provide a meeting
place for her society meetings.
The Tea Room on Mulberry Street is difficult to put down and moves along
at a fast pace.
The plights of the vast cast of characters eventually are resolved and
the reader ends the book wondering what Owens will be writing next.