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A review by cemoses
The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies
4.0
This book is more for readers of historical fiction than mystery. To parts of the book, I would give a five star rating parts of the book I would give a three start rating (hence the four star review).
The positives of the book is that it gives a dynamic and beautiful picture of British Ceylon. I was truly intrigued about how the British tried to make a little Britain in a remote part of the world. The book was enjoyable to read and the ending gave me a jolt. Furthermore, the book is not an homage to the British Empire; the reader becomes aware of problems.
One negative of the book is that we don't see the heroine's courtship with her husband. Problems in her marriage start right away. It would have been nice to see what their initial romance was like.
This may be a cultural issue since I am twenty-first century American woman and the book is about an early twentieth century English girl. Another problem I had with the book is that I found iit hard to believe that nineteen year old girl would be happy living on a remote island away from her family and friends. She seems spend a lot of time on her own and I see most nineteen year olds as wanting to have a more lively environment. This may be a cultural issue since I am twenty-first century American woman and the book is about an early twentieth century English girl; it could be that the wives of the British Empire were tough.
Another aspect of the book that I found unsettling was it superficial resemblance to Daphne du Maurier's book Rebecca. In both books, young women marry older men after a short courtship. In both books the husband had a first wife who dies in somewhat mysterious circumstances. In both books there is a housekeeper who knew both the first and second wife. When I was reading the book I kept on thinking about the book Rebecca. Obviously, if you have not read the book Rebecca this will not be a problem for you. However, if you have read Rebecca this book is different and try not to think about the book Rebecca; this novel.
However, despite the above reservations, I still found it an entertaining page- turner of a book where I could escape from my ordinary everyday life into Ceylon.
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The positives of the book is that it gives a dynamic and beautiful picture of British Ceylon. I was truly intrigued about how the British tried to make a little Britain in a remote part of the world. The book was enjoyable to read and the ending gave me a jolt. Furthermore, the book is not an homage to the British Empire; the reader becomes aware of problems.
One negative of the book is that we don't see the heroine's courtship with her husband. Problems in her marriage start right away. It would have been nice to see what their initial romance was like.
This may be a cultural issue since I am twenty-first century American woman and the book is about an early twentieth century English girl. Another problem I had with the book is that I found iit hard to believe that nineteen year old girl would be happy living on a remote island away from her family and friends. She seems spend a lot of time on her own and I see most nineteen year olds as wanting to have a more lively environment. This may be a cultural issue since I am twenty-first century American woman and the book is about an early twentieth century English girl; it could be that the wives of the British Empire were tough.
Another aspect of the book that I found unsettling was it superficial resemblance to Daphne du Maurier's book Rebecca. In both books, young women marry older men after a short courtship. In both books the husband had a first wife who dies in somewhat mysterious circumstances. In both books there is a housekeeper who knew both the first and second wife. When I was reading the book I kept on thinking about the book Rebecca. Obviously, if you have not read the book Rebecca this will not be a problem for you. However, if you have read Rebecca this book is different and try not to think about the book Rebecca; this novel.
However, despite the above reservations, I still found it an entertaining page- turner of a book where I could escape from my ordinary everyday life into Ceylon.
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.