Page 6 of 6
There are currently 37 member reviews
for The Tea Planter's Wife
-
Anita S. (Boynton Beach, FL)
Romance in Ceylon
To me, this book was like a romance novel which is not my favorite genre. It's about an Englishwoman and her marriage to an Englishman who owns a tea plantation in Ceylon which is where the story takes place. She tries to fit in with her new life and her new surroundings. I felt it is somewhat formulaic with other books of this type. Of course her husband and she both have a secret that is revealed and confessed at the end of the book. Then there are the typical characters: the trusted servant, the jealous sister-in-law, the hostile plantation overseer, the beautiful business woman and the mysterious handsome native. The story did have a twist to it which kept my attention for awhile until I got bored and jumped to the last chapter to get the revelation. There were some interesting parts about historical events in Ceylon and the processing of tea. I am a tea drinker so I enjoyed reading that. As an aside, while I was reading, I spilled a pot of tea on the book. How ironic! I think that people who like reading this type of story will enjoy it and the cover says that it was an international best seller. It just wasn't my cup of tea. Ha!
-
Dorothy G. (Naperville, IL)
Strong Start --- Weak Finish
The Tea Planter's Wife started off with great promise. The first few chapters were fascinating and began to weave an intricate and mysterious story. However, the writing became repetitive and I found myself scanning the paragraphs to find the thread of the story throughout the constant descriptions of feelings and worries. Gwen would be strong and then unbelievably weak. Her strength would return, but she would fall victim to yet another problem and seemed to never have a plan. Could she trust no one? She repeated the phrase "pulled a face" so often that I began waiting for it to appear. The beginning of the book and the last chapter made for a great story. The telling of it was dragged out and, for me, ruined the story.