Sharon Owens “Mulberry Street Tea Room”
Teahouse on Mulberry Street is the first novel by the British writer and journalist Sharon Owens. This is a kind and very human story, where there was a place for broken hearts and a Christmas miracle. The main setting where the storylines of the characters intersect is a small cozy tea shop on Mulberry Street. Here everyone can find a hot drink and a warm conversation, fragrant pastries according to homemade recipes and a drop of warmth.
A slightly naive and infinitely touching book by Sharon Owens goes well with the New Year holidays: it slowly restores faith in the best if you have lost it, helps you relax and reboot if you need it.
“Teahouse on Mulberry Street” plot
The writer has located her tea house on a not quiet street in Belfast, her visitors are mostly residents of the surrounding houses, tourists rarely wander here, although for delicious pastries and a cozy atmosphere of a cafe, it would be worth putting it on all the tourist maps of the city. The events described in the story take place in the early 2000s, but human dramas are so universal that it is easy to imagine them in the 2020s and 1960s.
In a quiet, cozy tea house, a private community of regular visitors has formed, for which it has become a safe haven and an opportunity to hide from life’s hardships. They are all very different, some don’t know the others, but they all share a love for this place, hot tea and cherry cheesecakes (the recipe is at the end of the book).
Central characters
Sharon Owens easily manages many characters, mixing their fates with unexpected plot moves. The world around the tea shop on Mulberry Street is not perfect, and each visitor to the cafe has its own problems – some have smaller ones, others have huge ones, but who has the right to evaluate someone else’s life?
Definitely not the owners of the teahouse, Penny and Daniel, they have a kind word for everyone and sincere advice, if necessary. No one will be judged here, and everyone will try to understand, but a split is brewing inside this ideal couple from the outside. Penny dreams of children, and Daniel is not ready to become a father. Penny has been putting up with his excuses for several years, but these years have not brought her closer to a complete family and a happy life.
Among the regulars of the tea shop on Mulberry Street there are many interesting and in their own way colorful characters:
Henry is the heir of an old family, he did not have to work for money a single day in his life. He loves a cozy tea room very much, often goes there to chat with Penny and Daniel, but there is drama in his life – for many years Henry has been hatching the idea of a novel, but he does not dare to sit down at a typewriter.
Aurora is Henry’s wife, an assertive woman who is not used to postponing her dreams for later.She is very proud of her book club, but she probably fills a hole in her soul with it – Aurora and Henry’s marriage is not called successful.
Another strong character in the novel is Rose, the owner of the flower shop. When she had to choose: a favorite thing or a capricious husband, she chose the first and did not lose, although the decision was difficult.
Sandy has no time to realize her ambitions at work, because she is forced to look after her husband’s elderly parents. Together with caring for two tomboy sons, this is almost an unbearable burden, but Sandy is not used to complaining about fate. Everything will change only when she finds out what her husband was doing while she sacrificed her life for the sake of the family for years.