About the book: #1 International bestselling novel set in 1920s Ceylon, about a young Englishwoman who marries a charming tea plantation owner and widower, only to discover he's keeping terrible secrets about his past, including what happened to his first wife, that lead to devastating consequences
My Thoughts: I fell in love with this story from the very beginning. I love the scenery descriptions and how the author describes the smells. The relationship with Gwen and Laurence was very bizarre and annoying to me. She is 19 when she marries an older man and she has that teenage naivety that is very aggrevating to me. The sister throughout this whole novel, I just wanted to shove off a cliff because I have one of those annoying sister in laws who expects everyone to take care of her and her child. My heart broke when after Gwen gave birth she had to do the thing to stay married.
I learned from this novel that tea and racism is universal. Racism will never go away because it is ingrained in us. It also shows me that the mothers who gave away children to save face and keep their husbands happy and to save their reputation were cowards.
I can't wait to read more from this author.
About the author: Dinah Jefferies was born in Malaysia and moved to England at the age of nine. Her idyllic childhood always held a special place in her imagination, and when she began writing novels in her 60s, she was able to return there – first in her fiction and then on annual research trips for each new novel.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
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