Late to the table with this review but catching up in 2024

A lovely story set 100 years ago about a young woman Gwen who joins her husband in the then Ceylon to join her husband on their tea plantation. Gwen then becomes pregnant. Secrets then begin but she is not alone in this.

This takes the reader back to colonial Sri Lanka in a time of status, Prejudice.

Thought provoking and recommended.

I’m not a reader who always engages with Historical Dramas, and on being offered the opportunity to read through The Tea Planters Wife I was initially a little put off but persevered!

And I’m glad I did.

This is a perfectly adequate romp on the surface, the kind of book that wouldn’t be out of place as a BBC One drama that would air late September. I was also bracing myself for an uncomfortable situation around race and plantations and though I wasn’t disappointed I was pleasantly surprised that the discomfort was mastered respectfully and without flippancy which alone has earnt this novel an extra star.

I must declare that my review comes from no understanding or previous exposure to the genre and a lot of my enjoyment may have come from my sheer surprise that I was still reading. I hope I find some time in my reading schedule to give a few similar novels a chance and revisit this someday to see how it fairs!

But for now… Three

I recently read (and loved) a historical mystery with interesting characters set in Southeast Asia during this timeline, so I revisited an arc of The Tea Planter's Wife. I had attempted to read this story on several occasions. It had many of the elements I love in a piece of historical fiction.

Though the setting was lush, I never engaged with many of the characters. The romances felt off. The h was naive. I was uncomfortable with some stereotypes. There were one too many communication issues.

Perhaps I was the wrong target audience, but I wanted so much more. Instead, I stopped reading. *Sigh.*

This book was well researched, well written, and with interesting characters. It gave a good sense of place - and that was fascinating to read about, as well as what seemed a pretty accurate take on that time in history.
This is a novel that wasn't afraid to shock, and to have some very sad moments. The characters were well developed and seemed pretty real, and although there were good twists, I did find it quite satisfying that everything seemed to be explained by the end.
Judging by the research done on this book, I would be very happy to read more from this author.

I’ve read several of Dinah Jefferies’ more recent works and very much enjoyed them, so I was quite disappointed that this earlier book was not quite as I had expected.

I felt that the book was overly long for the story it was trying to tell - don’t get me wrong, the period detail and the descriptions of the plants, wildlife and landscapes of Ceylon were very detailed, but this book could have been wrapped up if the main couple have actually talked to one another!

It was a struggle to feel any emotional connection to the main characters. Gwen seemed completely empty-headed and incapable, which was put down to her being young, but a privileged, educated young woman would not, I felt, have been like that, despite her age.

On balance, not one for me - Before the Rains and The Tuscan Contessa are better books by this author…

I’m very late with my review for this one, but finally got around to tackling my huge TBR pile. And I’m so glad I picked this beautiful and moving tale to read! The setting, the characters and the storyline are vividly brought to life and I felt as though I was there with them. Superb storytelling at its best. A gorgeous 4.5 stars.

I’m late to the table again with this one.
I’ve chosen my aim all year to read at least one book that’s been on my shelf for a long time. This fits that!

This is ultimately a romance story but with a clear reality, mystery and struggle thrown in.

What if you met your future husband who was all sweetness and light, treated you really well then you marry and he’s indifferent, distant and totally not like the person you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with?

She’s 19, married to a man that spends most of his time at the tea plantation. She has time to explore alone.

He’s haunted by his first wife.
Mystery and intrigue is all around her.

This was a well written easy book to digest and connect with. The emotional feelings and heartbreak were really something that I felt so strongly emulating from the pages.

And BTW I adore the cover.

Thanks to Penguin books for my copy via Net galley

Greatly enjoyed this sweeping saga of a young bride and her new husband, a widower who is the owner of a tea plantation in Ceylon in the 1920s. Was not expecting the various mysteries in this book, so it became quite the page-turner and a book I couldn't put down! I read it because I'm a tea lover, and I thought the author did a great (and accurate) job of depicting the tea industry of that time. The characters were so vivid and memorable, and this is the kind of book that would be fun to discuss in a book group. So much food for thought here. Highly, highly recommend!

This was a real page turner and a book I found hard to put down. It gave a good insight into tea plantations in Ceylon.

The Tea Planter’s Wife is a tale of a time gone by, when English tea-planters descended on Ceylon in order to try their hand at tea production. Set in the 1920s, it tells of life and society in colonial Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

It is the tale of Gwen Hooper, a 19 year old woman who leaves England in order to travel the long journey alone to meet her tea-planter husband Laurence and start her new life at his plantation in Ceylon.

Upon her arrival, Gwen finds that the man she married is not how she remembers and married life is not quite what she imagined. After the initial excitement of her arrival, Gwen finds herself confused by her husband's shifting moods and intermittent indifference.

As Gwen struggles to settle into life in Ceylon, she soon finds herself facing resentment, hardship and loneliness. This was not the life she imagined for herself as wife and mistress of the plantation.

The tale flows through a chain of events that will leave the reader gripped - there are monsoons, uprisings, family dramas and more!

I found it interesting to read about the workings of tea plantations and, particularly, the hierarchical system found amongst workers on the plantation. The book contained just enough information to give the story a sense of authenticity. I found myself absorbed by the exotic imaginings of life in Ceylon and I was interested to understand the transfer of British social norms into colonial life and society.

I thought the characterisation was well done. Gwen is an interesting heroine. We see her arriving in Ceylon as a naïve, enthusiastic and optimistic young woman, looking forward to the adventure that awaits her in a new land. Over the course of the story, we see her gradually become more worldly and weary as life seems to throws unending difficulties and hardships at her. The supporting characters - Laurence, sophisticated New Yorker Christina, Laurence’s sister Verity and the charming Savi Ravasinghe – are all intriguing. The author slowly peels back the layers to the characters, revealing the guilt, heartbreak, cunning and betrayal lurking beneath the surface.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The Tea Planter’s Wife is a story of love, secrets and betrayal, full of twists and turns that will keep the reader gripped. It is a haunting, evocative and thought-provoking read which will give you a feel for colonial life in the 1920s. I would recommend it to lovers of historical fiction/romance.

Thank you to Penguin for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

My first time reading this author. A great holiday read which made me feel as if I were in Ceylon. I so enjoyed the story that helped give insight into life in the 20's which is so different to how we live now. A story of love, loss, secrets and choices. Will definitely read this author again.

I read this what seems like ages ago, but it was a paperback edition. A novel that I still have sitting in my bookcase. Loved the story!

I was disappointed by this novel, having read so many positive reviews. I found many of the passages repetitive and the scenes felt stilted and unreal. The question of how a woman could deliver twins - one white, one coloured - was laboured and the characterisation of the jealous sister was particularly unconvincing.
However, the evocation of place was very effective, and there was a good sense of the era and culture in which the story was set.

I’ve been falling behind with Dinah Jefferies’ novels; after reading her first, The Separation, back in 2014, she has since had another three books published, none of which I had read until picking up The Tea Planter’s Wife a few weeks ago.  I regret not reading it sooner, because I loved it and am now desperate to read her other two, The Silk Merchant’s Daughter and Before the Rains.    

The Tea Planter’s Wife is set in Ceylon (the former name for Sri Lanka) in the 1920s and 30s, and begins with the arrival of newly married Gwendolyn Hooper who has come from England to join her husband, Laurence, on his tea plantation. Gwen is only nineteen years old and barely really knows her husband, a widower much older than herself.  Settling into married life proves to be more difficult than she’d expected, particularly as she also has to get used to a whole new culture and climate.  It doesn’t help that Laurence’s sister Verity comes to live with them and makes it obvious that she resents Gwen marrying her brother.  To make matters worse, Gwen is convinced that Laurence is trying to hide the truth surrounding the death of his first wife, Caroline.  
 
Feeling lonely and neglected, Gwen is grateful for the friendship of Savi Ravasinghe, a Sinhalese portrait painter, and is mystified as to why Laurence seems to disapprove of him so much.  Then something happens which makes Gwen think that Laurence was right to distrust Savi – and which throws her already troubled life into even more turmoil. 

With its evocative setting and aura of mystery and secrecy, this is a wonderfully atmospheric novel with an almost gothic feel at times.  Throughout the first half of the novel, in particular, I was constantly reminded of one of my favourite books, Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca: the naive, inexperienced young woman; the mysterious older husband who becomes increasingly distant as soon as the wedding is over; the first wife who, even in death, still casts a shadow over the household.  The similarities lessened as the story continued, though, and more themes and elements were introduced.

Ceylon, as it was known then, is a country I know very little about, so I found it interesting to read of the racial and political tensions between the various groups of people who live on the island – the Sinhalese, the Tamils and the British planters.  With Gwen being a newcomer and unfamiliar with the way of life, we see things through her eyes and share her experiences as she tries to adapt to her new home.  Gwen finds the living standards of the plantation workers particularly difficult to accept and her well-meaning attempts to improve things for them often get her into trouble.  And yet this doesn’t feel to me like an author simply projecting her own modern views onto a character from a bygone time, as often happens in historical fiction, but more a way of showing that Gwen was a decent person who wanted to help in any small way she could, with a natural sympathy for children, the sick and the vulnerable, whatever their colour or status in society.        

The setting plays an important part in the story, but so do the people, the decisions they make and the ways in which they communicate – or fail to communicate – with each other.  This is the sort of book where you find yourself becoming frustrated with the characters because they just won’t tell each other the truth…but at the same time you understand why they feel they can’t! 

Having enjoyed The Tea Planter’s Wife so much I’m pleased that I still have two more books by Dinah Jefferies to read.  I just need to decide which one to read next!

What a roller-coaster ride this book was. The descriptions of the country, the population and the tea trade provided vivid images. The highs and lows kept it grounded, with slight twists to make you want to keep reading. I was an emotional wreck by the end.

I'm a bit torn as to what to say about this book but I'll try!

This was a departure from my usual genres as I don't tend to choose historical fiction as a rule. However, the element of mystery and secrecy promised in the synopsis was enough to pique my interest.

Gwen starts the book as a rather foolish and immature young lady who is naive about many things. Her husband Laurence seems moody & rather reserved most of the time so I found it hard to completely understand how Gwen could be so besotted by him. Verity was just a vile character with no redeeming qualities who acted like a spoilt brat and was allowed to get away with it by her brother, who needed more spine when it came to dealing with her.

Throughout the course of the book Gwen has to mature as there are some traumatic events for her to deal with. However, at time she still seemed to view things very simplistically without truly considering the consequences.

I found the writing style inconsistent. Some sections were beautifully written with lots of very evocative language enabling me to visualise Ceylon brilliantly. However, other sections felt quite disjointed and there were often sudden leaps in the plot which felt a little hard to believe. Some rather major factors also felt like they were dealt with in too summary a fashion.

Despite the above I did enjoy the book and found myself reading late into the night, promising myself 'just one more chapter' so I would recommend it to friends with the caveat to persevere through some of the clunkier sections. I would be interested in reading more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC I received in return for a honest and unbiased review.

Normally, my genres are old Hollywood bios and suspense/crime/thrillers. Had read so many of the latter recently I decided on a change of pace and picked this one. I was very glad I did. It's very evocative and descriptive of Ceylon in days of British rule and the plantation owners lives versus their workers. Even the workers have a kind of class system and hierarchy between those working in the house and those in the fields. I never talk of the plot in reviews as this is easily found in the blurb and in other reviews. I did enjoy the story very much. The characters were all well written and rounded. It reminded me very much of Merchant Ivory films like A Passage to India and how two different colours and cultures are not supposed to mix and what a scandal if they do. There was a touch of mystery throughout regarding the main character's predecessor and a properness in the relationship between husband and wife (even the written sex parts were done very reservedly), again a reminder of the times. It was a very well paced book and so easy to read. Thoroughly enjoyed it and would be open to reading more in this genre (and learning a little about other cultures). I think this book would also make a good movie or at least, TV series.