The Tea Planter's Wife
Dinah Jefferies
After
marrying Laurence a widower and tea planter, Gwen moves with him to
Ceylon to start their new life together. But, things aren't going as
smoothly as she had hoped. Verity, Gwen's sister-in-law, is
constantly trying to undermine her position and role in the
household. Christina, a wealthy American woman, has designs on
Laurence, making Gwen jealous and uncomfortable. Tensions increase
when Gwen befriends a local Sinhalese painter Savi Ravasinghe and
with political tensions in the country on tender hooks and laborers
ready to instigate trouble, running a tea plantation may not be as
easy as she imagines.
Gwen is
hoping the birth of a child will bring both peace and tranquility to
the household but the birth causes more pain and suffering and Gwen's
life becomes beset with secrecy and fear. On top of her own, secrets
Laurence's' first marriage which ended in the death of his wife
Caroline is still shrouded in mystery. One that Gwen hasn't been able
to untangle. But when she does many things will fall into place and
she might find that she is really at home in exotic Ceylon.
This is
a beautifully written novel, full of lush and vivid details of 1920's
Ceylon. Not only is the story captivating but, the hints of mystery
and secrets kept me turning page after page. This book was not only
full of memorable characters and loads of details; it was an
emotional and spellbinding read that simply swept me off to another
place and time. One that I'm not likely to forget anytime soon.
Thanks
to Blogging for Books for allowing me to read this book in return for
an honest review.
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