Afternoon Tea

Jody Riva La Greca's inspiration for writing Afternoon Tea is her passion for the Victorian Age. She says, "human nature is timeless, and reveals the same dimension of emotion and intrigue in any era". Her novel is about love, struggle, and differences of the haves and have-nots in society taking place in the year 1895. The setting is beautifully detailed in and around New England's picturesque towns. The plights of the characters were difficult at the turn of the century and you are enthralled by the descriptive prose laying them bare. Lawrence Gray, 83, visits the grave of his beloved wife Emily, where he places red roses every Sunday even though she had died 40 years before. A neighbor, Meg Bailey, continuously watches him from her kitchen window and is intrigued by his devotion. Fanny Brund, the town historian, invites Meg to her home for tea and goes back to 1895 where she seeks the truth about Emily Gray's untimely death. She looks to uncover a secret that may change Meg's life. Descriptions of a debutante ball, a devious 'red lady', and an old-fashioned wedding are all beautifully depicted. This was an interesting historical time when medicine was quite primitive and "tinctures" were mysterious potions which magically healed. La Greca brilliantly develops her characters to be graceful and elegant when manners were boundless, dress was significantly important, and the adventures of all classes were intriguing. The struggles of the poor are tremendous and the lives of the rich are full of imagery. This could be a modern day portrayal relating to challenges of success and the rewards of unwavering devotional love. Even though this is a by-gone era, the book enchants you from beginning to end. The author laces a romantic triangle that will tug at your heart with a surprise ending. J. R. LaGreca has captured the Victorian Era exquisitely, like a fine painting or a glass of aged wine. J. R. La Greca also is an award-winning poet and ends her book with A Grain of Sand, a poem dedicated to her sister. A must read for the amorous romantic. Clark Isaacs Reviewer

AFTERNOON TEA by J. R. LaGreca is set in New England in the late 1800's. The details for the setting add much to the flavor of the story as it winds around the quaint villages of that area, many of which can still be visited today. AFTERNOON TEA is a romantic tale of class struggle in that era between the upper and lower class citizens. As the story opens, 83-year-old Lawrence Gray is spied on by Meg Bailey from her kitchen window as he visits his wife's grave every Sunday. His wife who had died about 40 years earlier is buried within Meg's view and she becomes quite fascinated by the love and attention Gray still has for his wife after all these years. Would someone love Meg enough to bring her roses each week? Meg becomes quite inquisitive about why Gray does this and so she pays a visit to Fanny Brund. Fanny is the keeper of the town's secrets, the town historian one might call her. When Meg inquires, Brund invites her over for a cup of tea and so that afternoon, Meg learns of the wonderful love that Lawrence Gray and Emily Reed had for each other. Fanny takes Meg back to the time of Emily's death and hints at what might have been a somewhat suspicious death. Meg decides that she must discover what the secret is that has lain dormant all these years and so searches for answers to her questions. Little does Meg know that what she finds out may change her own life forever. As Meg "goes back in time" she finds that it was still a time when medicine and medical care were very archaic and strange potions were thought to cure things almost by magic. LaGreca shows a great deal of research in this part of the story including how things looked such as every young woman's special time when she would come out at a debutante ball. The description of the traditional and conservative wedding of that time is written with such wonderful detail that readers will feel like they are at the affair. The clothing, customs, and manners of that time period come to life with LaGreca's words and whether the rich or the poor are being described, one still can tell what it was like and thus gets a very real pictorial comparison of class struggle during that era. What the reader finds out is that this was not just the simple time it might appear to be. A passionate 3 way love affair takes place that will surprise you as we would not think something like that would take place back in those days. Meg discovers that Lawrence's precious Meg is set up by her father, Philip Reed, in a not unusual for the time arranged marriage...but not to Lawrence but rather to a promising young man by the name of Sir Dexter Lund. Lund is a lawyer with a good career ahead of him unlike poor Lawrence who has no education and therefore, no way to care for Reed's daughter, Meg. At least in his eyes, not the way she would be cared for. Unexpectedly, Lawrence is able to follow Emily to the home where she is now staying with her betrothed's family. And so, to be near her, Lawrence is force

Afternoon Tea is a light romance set in the Victorian New England countryside of the late 1800's. The story opens when Meg Bailey witnesses an ongoing ritual from her kitchen window of an old man bringing roses to his wife's graveside. Meg's curiosity gets the better of her and she seeks out the help of the town historian, Fanny Brund for answers. Who is this man? Why does he visit the cemetery everyday? Fanny invites Meg over for a cup of tea that very afternoon and reveals to her the love story of Lawrence Gray and Miss Emily Reed. Theirs is a love that cannot be fulfilled as Emily's father, Philip Reed believes that an arranged marriage with a promising young lawyer, Sir Dexter Lund is a more suitable match than with Lawrence, a young man with little education and no means of supporting his daughter. There is a turn of events and Lawrence is able to follow Emily, his only true love to her soon to be home with the Lund family. Once there though he unfortunately finds himself obligated to become a suitor to Miss Mallory Lund, sister of his true love's fiancee....

I found Afternoon Tea to be a wonderful book to read! If you are a true romantic this book is for you! Old fashioned story telling from 1895, New England;this book offers romantic, and mystery. A love story with a surprise ending you would not want to miss. You will feel like you are part of this era, learning about historial times.Very romantic with a triangle love story that ends in in more modern times. Romance and devotion are not lost! I hope you will enjoy the poetic writing and story telling of Jody La Greca as I did.

"Afternoon Tea" is like walking onto a painting, a wondrous escape to a magnificently alive "other time" with exquisite, meticulously researched details interlaced throughout the complex and extreme fates of the main characters. Scattered throughout the ethereal romantic story is fascinating imagery of the clothes, literature, etiquette, and surprising inventions of the Victorian Era, which enhanced the sensation of really being there. My favorite revelations were the ultra-detailed precious "keepsakes" created by "the girls" (admirers and friends) ... totally inspiring! Especially today when crafts are taking center stage and the steampunk movement is still emerging. "Afternoon Tea" allowed me to peak at love, life, fate, and paradox through another window ...