The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies

The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah JefferiesDear Reader,


BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Nineteen-year-old Gwendolyn Hooper is newly married to a rich and charming widower, eager to join him on his tea plantation, determined to be the perfect wife and mother. But life in Ceylon is not what Gwen expected. The plantation workers are resentful, the neighbours treacherous. And there are clues to the past - a dusty trunk of dresses, an overgrown gravestone in the grounds - that her husband refuses to discuss. Just as Gwen finds her feet, disaster strikes. She faces a terrible choice, hiding the truth from almost everyone, but a secret this big can't stay buried forever . . .

MY REVIEW:


First off I want to thank Dinah Jefferies for sending me an early copy of The Tea Planter's Wife to review.

Wow what a story! I immensely enjoyed this sensitive, thought provoking narrative which was beautifully told. We meet nineteen year old Gwen Hooper who has just arrived in Ceylon to join her new husband at the tea plantation. The year is 1913 and little does Gwen know of what lies ahead. Her husband Laurence is distant to begin with and then his scheming sister arrives on the scene. When Gwen begins to get a hand of her new home disaster strikes resulting in guilt, betrayal and unknown secrets.
Dinah Jefferies paints beautiful descriptions that give you a real sense of the era and of Ceylon with a backdrop of the attitudes to race and prejudices of that time and explored colonialism elements which made this novel much more than an escape.

This is a story that will stay with me. It is a must read! I look forward to more from Dinah Jefferies.

I have this review posted on Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1249302289


Enjoy!

Kind regards,
Ailish

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It Started at Sunset Cottage by Bella Osborne

Image
Hello all, BOOK DESCRIPTION: Kate Marshall is slowly getting her life back on track after losing her fiancé. As an author she has been able to hide herself away from the world and its expectations – but now one of her books has been optioned for a film and Hollywood suddenly comes knocking on her door! When Kate is given the opportunity to stay at a beautiful country retreat and concentrate on the screenplay, it’s an offer she can’t refuse. Encouraged by her best friend, sharp-tongued single mum Sarah, Kate sees it’s finally time to stop letting life pass her by. Looking for confidence and inspiration in the idyllic Cotswolds countryside, the last thing Kate expects is for Timothy Calder, A-list actor and leading man in the movie adaptation of her book, to turn up on her doorstep, hoping to lie low after his latest tabloid scandal! But after a rocky start, with Tim narrowly avoiding death by watering can, they find they have a few things in common: a liking for Lady Grey tea, w
Read more

In The Shadow Of Winter by Lorna Gray

Image
Dear Reader, BOOK DESCRIPTION: The Cotswolds, 1947 The relentless winter of 1947 holds post-war Britain in its deadly grip, and Eleanor Phillips rides out from her beleaguered Cotswold farm to rescue a stranger lost in the storm. But the near-dead man is no stranger and when she recognises Matthew Croft, the old ties of a failed romance tug deeply. Her sweetheart has returned from the war… Suspicion, the police and the panicked flight of a desperate man beat a path to her door. And with a wanted man hidden in her home and stealing back into her heart, Eleanor must be on her guard—for the net is closing in on them both and enemies are all around. MY REVIEW: This story is set post World War Two, Eleanor and a young boy Freddy find a man in a foot of snow - clearly in an agitated state. Seeing him in a troubled state, they decide to bring him home. When he starts to fight them Eleanor gets such a shock when she realises that it is Mathew Croft, a man she knew before the war. They
Read more

Covent Garden in the Snow by Jules Wake

Image
    First, I would like to thank both Netgalley and Harper Impulse for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review . I was delighted to read the latest from Jules Wake as I really enjoyed ‘From Paris with Love’ and even better Covent Garden in the Snow is based around Christmas and is now my new favourite! Here we meet Tilly Hunter who works at the London Metropolitan Opera Company in the make-up department. Tilly loves working here and is really passionate about her work. The only thing she hates is using the computer which she tends to avoid and a prime example is when she sends a personal email which ends up being sent to the entire company and to make matters worse she opens an attachment and downloads a virus. Conveniently the LMOC have just hired Marcus, the new IT Director and poor Tilly is forced against her will to take lessons to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.     So once the lessons begin both Tilly and Marcus do not get
Read more