Review - The Tea Planter's Wife





The Tea Planter’s Wife by Dinah Jefferies is a read that is worth you losing a weekend. Great and realistic characters against an unforgettable backdrop of 1920s Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) will leave you wanting more. I chose the book from the library for the obvious Tea connection, yet I came to love the book for the fact that it was a well written and thoroughly engaging story. Gwendolyn Hooper is on her way to exotic and mysterious Ceylon to meet up with her husband, Laurence, who is a Tea planter. Along the way, she meets the dashing and handsome Savi Ravasinghe and is taken away by his good looks and charm. Yet, all of that fades when she finally arrives in Ceylon and is seduced by its beauty and colour. She quickly becomes mistress of the manor and “second in command”, yet that proves to be tested in the form of Laurence’s sister, the eccentric and somewhat enigmatic Verity, and the flirty and overly sexual Christina, an American who once had a “ thing” with Laurence after the death of his first wife, Caroline. Yet, Gwen shows that she refuses to bend against such characters and is even given to go against the grain with regard to the treatment of the natives who work in and around the manor. To Gwen, people are people, no matter the skin colour. Some time later, Gwen finds herself pregnant, of which is a blessed event. Yet, when the day of delivery comes, Gwen stumbles into a horrific moment, one that will haunt her for years, while she also begins to wonder about her lovely husband. Is he everything she thought him to be or worse? In reading this novel, the reader will watch Gwen change from somewhat naive British young lady to a married woman who will do what is right . . . even it is almost costs her sanity.

To be quite honest, I don’t really go for “chick lit” novels, and I am sure that many people will scoff at me using such a term. However, when I began reading The Tea Planter’s Wife, I knew that this was more than just fluff reading. This novel tackles a myriad of subjects including race relations in Ceylon, a glance at the world in the 20s and 30s, interracial relations, family secrets, the Tea industry during this time, and what it meant to be a woman in the Roaring 20s. I was very happy to see that Jefferies did talk about the processing of Tea rather than gloss over it. Tea played a role within the story - it made and broke lives and changed destines. When the stock market crashed an d left Laurence and Gwendolyn with an unknown future, Tea (and Christina) came to the rescue. The interracial relationships were not thrown in as an afterthought - they too had a place within the story, one that grounded the characters and made them more realistic. As much as I did enjoy reading about Gwen, I truly enjoyed reading about Verity. I felt both sorry for her and angry at her - her background and current life were not too kind to her and the effects showed. Yet, I still had some hopes for her and her future. Perhaps she would “do right” in the end. I immediately looked up Jefferies’ website to see if she had any other Tea related novels; sadly, she did not yet her other books looked quite interesting. I will definitely check them out at the library and I highly recommend everyone to do the same. This novel made such an impact on me that I quickly ordered some Ceylon Tea from Upton Tea Imports - yes, I do have a LOT of Tea but Ceylon calls to me and I must answer with cup in hand.   

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