THE TEA PLANTER'S WIFE

I adored everything about the book THE TEA PLANTER'S WIFE by Dinah Jefferies.  I was drawn to the cover, I liked it's big size, and the story itself reminded me of something the masters themselves, Victoria Holt or Phyllis A. Whitney may have written. An old fashioned historical novel with more of a modern attitude to it.  The story speaks to married love and sex, family life, culture differences, race relations, and the advance of technology that was changing lives in the 1920's and 30's.

A very young bride leaves England to join her new husband on the island formerly known as Ceylon.  The natives are somewhat exotic and mysterious to her, as is her new husband that she hasn't spent much time with yet.  She has servants of a different race, her sister in law seems a little off kilter, and who is that American woman who always acts too familiar with her husband?  Secrets swirl around the death of the former mistress of the house and soon secrets are swirling in her own day to day life as well.

Secrets are what I wondered about after I read this book.  How much hurt has been done in this world and how much confusion has been caused simply because people felt the need to keep secrets!

This book is a best seller in England and has now been released recently in other countries.  Score!
I received this book free of charge in exchange for reviewing it.  I am reviewing this book for Blogging for Books and obtained the book cover photo from there.