A review by squeebacon
The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies

3.0

The Tea Planter’s Wife by Dinah Jefferies, my first book by the author, was a very pleasant read. It takes place in the late 1920’s, mostly in the British Ceylon in Sri Lanka on a tea farm. The author describes the area so well; the lush garden and grounds about the house, the rows of tea leaves, and worker’s quarters. The main character (Gwen), who has spent all her time in England, is enraptured by the colors of the land and the clothing (mostly the saris that women wear) and the wonderful new foods/spices that she encounters. The book supported a well rounded amount of characters, which I was grateful for. I’ve been reading epic adventure novels recently with an overwhelmingly large amount of characters and names to remember and this book remedied that exhaustion. There were characters that supported Gwen and her recent marriage to Laurence (the tea plantation owner) as well a their child whereas there are a couple characters that are actually against Gwen and her presence in Ceylon. Throughout the book, without giving away too much, Gwen’s health and mental state deteriorates because of a secret she harbors based on one night’s events but she’s not the only one suffering. Laurence also is appears distant during times from his own secret about his previous wife. On top of this ongoing struggle, the tea pluckers are attempting to acquire more rights to better work conditions and home support. Then of course, the stock market crashes. These conflicts reminded me (and the characters) about the outside world activities and how they effected this isolated tea plantation and it’s residences.