The Tea House on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens: A Slice of Cake and of Life

Muldoon's Tea Rooms, a small antiquated tea house owned by Daniel and Penny, whose seventeen-year marriage is as faded as the linoleum on the floor of the shabby shop. Still patronized by their few eccentric neighbors, these customers seek refuge from their own everyday dilemmas and difficulties to indulge themselves with rich servings of delicious cheesecakes and chocolate cappuccino. There's the Crawley sisters with their snotty noses, Rose the lonely florist across the street, struggling artist Brenda with her black fringe and red letters, Sadie with her weight troubles with more popping in and in the heart of this, there's Penny and Daniel with their own little secrets.

On this shadowy corner of Belfast amidst the desserts and tea cups, the dusty curtains and the cracked furniture, stirrings of change will awaken and redefine their lives in their resolve to search that which would make them happier and what would matter most. This debut novel by Sharon Owens is a combination of light and gloomy and warmth, presenting us little stories of an array of peculiar Irish characters on a threshold of a revolution (which looking at other books by Owens seems to be quite a staple). 


The interwoven slices of their lives would leave readers amused and root for their own liked characters but it is better read without expectations and just let the story unfold by itself. They may find their own happy endings by themselves, sometimes on a sad note and sometimes in an exhilarating way. There's even a recipe of cheesecake that's much talked about in the novel at the back of the book as a bonus. If you are fond of tea rooms, people watching and a glimpse of Irish life wondering about their mundane routines which end up in tea and toast, this is a fun and quick read for you.

Title: "The Tea House on Mulberry Street"
Author: Sharon Owens
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Women's Fiction, Irish Literature
Published: 2005 Hardcover
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Rating: ♨♨♨  - Stroll out to your favorite cafe, sit by the window, order a cafe au lait and imagine yourself inside Muldoon's to be engrossed about stories of mid-life crises, of failing relationships, Nicholas Cage obsession, of hope and delicious desserts.