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    The Tea Planter's Wife: A Novel
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    The Tea Planter's Wife: A Novel
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    The Tea Planter's Wife: A Novel
    Audiobook15 hours

    The Tea Planter's Wife: A Novel

    Written by Dinah Jefferies

    Narrated by Avita Jay

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    #1 International bestselling novel set in 1920s Ceylon, about a young Englishwoman who marries a charming tea plantation owner and widower, only to discover he's keeping terrible secrets about his past, including what happened to his first wife, that lead to devastating consequences.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateSep 13, 2016
    ISBN9780735285385
    Unavailable
    The Tea Planter's Wife: A Novel
    Author

    Dinah Jefferies

    Dinah Jefferies began her career with The Separation, followed by the No.1 Sunday Times and Richard and Judy bestseller, The Tea-Planter’s Wife. Born in Malaysia, she moved to England at the age of nine. In 1985, a family tragedy changed everything, and she now draws on the experience of loss in her writing, infusing love, loss and danger with the beauty of her locations. She is published in 29 languages in over 30 countries and lives close to her family in Gloucestershire.

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    Reviews for The Tea Planter's Wife

    3.5/5

    243 ratings104 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Oh I loved this book and could hardly put it down till I found out what happened to Gwen. Now I’m going to find more books by Dinah Jefferies and hope they are as good as this one.
    • 4/5
      The Good: This was a great book that had me hooked from the start. I couldn't put it down and fell in love with the characters. I cheered for them; my heart broke for them, and I got incredibly angry at them. These characters are complex and you truly feel like they are people you know personally. Add in the major plot twists and this is a book you won't be able to resist. This unforgettable story will leave you thinking long after the final page. I can see why this book spend sixteen weeks on the bestseller list in the UK.

      The Bad: The beginning dragged a little and I wasn't sure I was going to like it. Since the characters were Brittish and English in the early 1900’s they weren't people I could really relate to so that made it a little more difficult at first too. I am unfamiliar with the county of Ceylon or the British history, making parts less relatable; however, it did make it more interesting and informative.

      Recommendation: I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical romances or historical fiction. Though this is a historical romance, there is so much more to this book than romance.

      * I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.*
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely a page turner.
    • 4/5
      When I read the description of 'The Tea Planter's Wife', I knew I wanted to check it out. Dinah Jefferies description of a 1920's-1930's Ceylon is well written. Ceylon was surely a lush landscape where grapefruit and tea trees grew. Where people fished along the lake and easily swam to the island from shore. As I sat on the porch and read this, I felt the heat and imagined a tropical breeze, and the smell of cinnamon.

      Gwen is newly married and has relocated from Gloucestershire to Ceylon. She is the naive wife of Laurence, a Tea Plantation owner. I expect many women adored him because of his good looks and wealth. But my only attraction to his character was that I learned he read Yeats.

      Early on, we meet Savi. More than just a painter, and an acquaintance of Laurence, we learn he's a welcomed comforter.

      Verity, Laurence's sister, is self absorbed, unsympathetic and right-down wicked. For awhile, I thought she had one redeeming quality. But, I learned differenty, later in the story .

      Christina, Laurence's American friend, was not likeable. She happily irritates people and then easily explains things away.

      In all honesty, some scenes I enjoyed and then others I wish I could flee from. My favorite scenes involved children. And while I was quite excited to learn about tea and cheese making, and sightsee with the characters, this story was difficult in that it occured in a time period of oppression.

      This is most certainly a read I will remember. Overall, I found the story engrossing. It was an extremely emotional read. I think this is particulalry due to the way Dinah Jefferies writes the interaction between her characters.

      In addition to financial losses and changes that are made at the plantation, reader's witness, talk of a flogging, burning of a building, a battle of flowers, and riots over languages, not to mention...the devastating loss of lives. Sadly, this couple was really quite keen on keeping secrets which benefited them none.

      There is a section at the end of the paperback copy that Dinah tells about her research sitting along a lake at Ceylon Tea Trails- Castlereagh... pouring over history books from their library.
      FTC I reviewed for Blogging for Books
    • 4/5
      This book is set in 1930's Sri Lanka (Ceylon). A young girl sets off from her home in England to travel to Ceylon. There she starts her new life with a man much older and with whom she barely got the chance to know. This story has much more heartache and sadness than I expected. Still, I thought it was a great book with diverse characters and enough mystery and intrigue to keep me interested.Gwen, the young bride, discovers that her husband has been keeping secrets. His sister, Verity seems jealous of Gwen and suspiciously refuses to live her own life apart from the newlyweds. Gwen only hopes to be a good wife and mother, but ultimately is faced with a cruel set of circumstances that force her to make a choice that changes her forever.I received a complimentary e-book from Netgalley.com in exchange for a review.
    • 4/5
      This book is historical fiction which I usually don't read. However, I loved this book. I thought the author did a lot of research to convey the living conditions and class differences of the times. Gwen had some heart wrenching choices to make and showed strong character through it all. This was well written.
    • 5/5
      This was a free giveaway from Penguin Random House through Library Thing. It was outstanding, very well written. It kept the reader in suspense and on edge of what might occur next. The characters were varied but no different than real life. Thoroughly enjoyed and would highly recommend.
    • 1/5
      I'm truly at a loss for words when it comes to this book. The first chapter from Gwen's POV was enough to make me not want to read this book because of the racism. This book takes place in the 1920s so one could argue that her reactions would have been fairly common for a 19 year old British woman coming to a new and foreign place such as Ceylon. HOWEVER... this author is from present day and could have written those reactions in a much less offensive way. The racism did not stop with Gwen. All of the well off white colonialists that were there were very racist as well. But then it gets even worse. Part two of the book comes in with the big secret twist. That's when I wanted to throw this book across the room. Spoiler alert: Gwen ends up having twins BUT one of them is not white. Due to certain circumstances, Gwen is home alone with her maid and quickly sends her off with the baby who would ruin her life and reputation before anyone sees her. The baby is placed with a family in a nearby village so no one one would ever know. Flashback to earlier chapters when Gwen was at an event with her husband and got drunk and possibly had sex with the local man she met right away in chapter one. She immediately thinks the worst of him and assumes he raped her which adds to the racist talk of the beginning. I really tried to keep reading past this point, and made it farther than I ever thought it would but I ended up deciding on DNFing this book. What I read after the secret was revealed was just Gwen's constant inner monologue about being so miserable without her daughter Liyoni. Well, maybe you shouldn't have shipped her off then lady. Ugh. This book is a big solid NO for me and I do not recommend it to anyone.
      I received a copy of this book through Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review.
    • 3/5
      I received this book from Library Thing as an Early Review book. It is about a young woman joining her husband in Ceylon and her new life on his tea plantation. There are many secrets surrounding the plantation and her husband's past marriage. I found at times I couldn't put it down and at other times it just dragged. I think the most disappointing thing about it for me was the lack of development of the characters. I would have liked to have known more of their histories, how they came to be connected, why they behaved the way they did. More history of the tea, the plantation as well as the political climate may have made it more interesting as well. I felt like it just skimmed over the surface of all of that. It was filled with mystery, intrigue, lies and betrayal which is what kept me reading it, but the end was expected and a bit disappointing.
    • 3/5
      Underwhelmed, unfortunately. I did learn a bit about the time period and the locale, but in general, not my cuppa tea (did you see what I did there?) I had a hard time getting into the characters or the problems that the characters had. There was a fair degree of predicability.Thank you Blogging for Books and the publisher for sending me this copy.
    • 5/5
      What a beautifully written book, the author told the story well and though it's a love story it isn't sappy...it's graceful and alluring. The description of the area, the tea plantation, and the characters make it interesting and likeable, the plot fantastic. Very well done.

    • 4/5
      The author has captured the atmosphere of Ceylon before independence from Britain. The plot moves at a languid pace as if infected with the nature of the climate. The mood darkens are we learn what the lady of the house is subjected to from her husband. She is so young and he is a much older widower. There is an unpleasant built-in sister-in-law to add to Gwen's aggravation. My thanks to the author and the Penguin First to Read program for a complimentary copy.
    • 2/5
      The book started well and invoked the sights, sounds and smells of colonial Ceylon in an engaging way. But then, for me, it got bogged down. Eventually, I decided I didn't really want to know what happened to Gwen, Laurence etc. It's rare for me to give up on a book, but sadly this just wasn't for me.
    • 3/5
      This is a book about colonial Ceylon. A young woman, Gwen, heads over to join her new husband who owns a plantation. He is an older widower. She believes she is heading into a better life but there are secrets everywhere. The author does a good job of bring the country to life but the pace is a bit slow and the story never really comes together into a complete and believable whole.
    • 4/5
      A young woman marries the owner of a tea plantation and moves with him to Ceylon. Her life turns out to be less than the perfect life she imagines, with a meddling sister-in-law and many secrets, both hers and her husbands. I found it somewhat slow moving at first but picked up midway through. I loved the setting, especially as it reminded me of Indian Summers which I just watched on PBS. But overall I found the story somewhat sad and depressing.
    • 5/5
      The tea planter's wife by Jefferies_ DinahStory of how time goes from past after she's gone and Gwen is the new wife and she gives Lawrence a boy. There is also a girl but she's a different color and she is able to stay in touch with the one caring for her.Lawrence has other conquests and pursues them while keeping his wife happy.Love learning about the tea plants and how they are processed in their plant factory.NY Stock market crash throws the whole estate into turmoil as he must leave to tend to business, with Christine...Things just aren't right since someone tried to kill her with drugs...Loved the mystery and have read other book sthat state the same facts of the birth. I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
    • 4/5
      I loved the writers exotic description of Ceylon and the process of growing and producing tea. I have been following Masterpiece Theaters "Indian Summers" and this helped me to visualize what the way of life for the British living in Ceylon would be during this time period. There are definitely some interesting plot twists that I never saw coming. This book covers many subjects, racial prejudice, Ghandi's quiet revolt, tea production, British occupation, poverty, postpartum depression, jealousy, family secrets, forgiveness and love. It's a great read and it made Ceylon and this period in history come alive for me. Highly recommended for lovers of historical fiction.
    • 4/5
      The book set in 1920's in Ceylon which is Sri Lanka now. The country is an island in South Asia near the southeast of India. Gwendolyn Hooper falls in love with a charming, mysterious tea planter and becomes his second wife. Left in London, she makes her way alone to Ceylon where she becomes the mistress of the plantation. She is out of her element with the language, customs, and people on the estate. The only thing keeping her moving is the love for her husband.
    • 4/5
      I won an arc of this novel from LibraryThing's Early Readers group. Lovely, lovely. The author does a great job of providing detail, both of scene as well as the heroine's emotion. It is largely a tragic story, but with a lot of light in the small spaces. The story revolves around a new, young wife and her husband, and the secrets of his past life/marriage. You get a good sense of what it would be like to marry and be swept to a place you have no knowledge of, and try to make the best of it.
    • 2/5
      While I don't deny that this is a well written book about the social tensions of early 20th century India, it just never resonated with me. The storyline was intertwined with a tragedy from the past, but overall it seemed that both were caused by an acute lack of the characters actually talking to one another. It's hard for me to get emotionally involved with a story where my feelings for the characters are so apathetic.
    • 4/5
      I loved this book. To me, it was the best kind of historical fiction-a place and time not well known and great characters.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed this book tremendously. The beautiful, historic setting and compelling characters pulled me right in. Secrets are powerful and this book was at times both heartwarming and heartbreaking.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book more than I expected (based on the premise). There were a lot of similar plot points to BBC's Indian Summers, which is about an English family who moves to India to run a tea plantation. I definitely thought this was an engaging read, and was very entertaining, albeit a bit predictable. There were some elements of melodrama, but the relationships and love displayed by the main characters were interesting and well crafted.
    • 4/5
      Gwen leaves her life behind in England to join her husband in Ceylon, a tea plantation. Mystery and intrigue seems to come between Gwen and Laurence, leaving them both wondering about the others faithfulness and love.Although I thought the plot was a bit predictable and the characters stereotypical, the setting was fascinating. I enjoyed reading about the culture, climate and life in Ceylon. Despite my criticisms, I would be interested in reading more from this author.
    • 4/5
      This was an enjoyable book to read as I recuperated from surgery. It hooked me right from the start, and the vivid descriptions of the sights and smells of the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) helped keep my mind off my pain. :)The main character, Gwen, is a young English woman who marries Laurence, the owner of a tea plantation. She travels to Ceylon to live at his plantation. However, there are many secrets surrounding the death of Laurence's first wife and son, secrets that hang over their relationship. And it doesn't take long for Gwen to start hiding secrets of her own. Laurence's needy and not-so-nice sister Verity, and his American business partner Christina add even more conflicts.The story moves fast, and while there are lots of descriptions of the beautiful surroundings Gwen is living in, it never drags the story down as can sometimes happen with too many descriptive passages. I wanted to keep reading to find out the story behind the secrets. My only quibble with this book, and the reason for only 3.5 stars instead of 4, is that the ending seemed to wrap up rather quickly. Almost as if the author was told her book was too long, and to shorten it. Some of the reasoning behind what certain characters did also seemed rather weak, which was disappointing. Overall, an enjoyable read that I would recommend to readers who like historical fiction. This one had not only romance, but light intrigue, all in a unique setting.
    • 4/5
      I liked this book from the first word. It really held my attention and did not disappoint for the most part. The book takes place in Ceylon (Currently Sri Lanka). Newlywed Gwen leaves England to enter the world of a tea plantation. Secrets from her husband Laurence's past threaten the stability of their marriage. Twists and turns and a lovely ending.
    • 2/5
      Lengthy but lightweight. The plot meanders but doesn't seem to have much point, and the characters were somewhat flat and not particularly compelling. I just wasn't engaged by it and honestly gave up around halfway through.
    • 5/5
      After a whirlwind courtship, wedding and honeymoon, Gwen leaves England for her husband's tea plantation in colonial Ceylon. While Gwen has imagined a quiet, happy life as a wife, and eventually a mother, she finds herself an outsider in a culture she does not understand. Not only must she deal with the racial tensions between the plantation owners and laborers, but she is also concerned about her husband's friendship with an American woman. Add in a manipulative sister-in-law and her husband's secrecy about his first marriage to create a lack of self-confidence. Tension continues to mount when Gwen gives birth to twins and has her own secrets to keep from her husband. Then the stock market crash of 1929 wipes out their investments. With both guilt and fear taking a toll on the relationship, can it survive?Over the years, the truth gradually emerges in this story about the fragility of happiness and the importance of forgiveness and honesty. This is an interesting look at a bygone era where the problems are not always so different from our own.
    • 2/5
      Ceylon 1925 (A British Colony 1802-1948)Nineteen year old Gwendolyn Hooper, newly married, arrives in Ceylon from the countryside of London, a world away from anything she knows. The sights, the smells, the noise, and where is her new husband? Luckily a young man comes to her rescue, a man it turns out her husband evidently knows and does not care for when his name is mentioned. The Tea Planters Wife tells us the story of how Gwen maneuvers through this new life. She will soon face a huge dilemma and has to make a swift decision that will change everything. Secrets never stay secret, and with a sister in law like Verity, who would gladly destroy Gwen to get what she wants, Gwen will have to face the music. Will it destroy everything she loves and holds dear?I found The Tea Planters Wife to be a well plotted story, yet it never really goes deep into any of the characters, situations or story-line's. They seemed to be just brought into the story and moved on from. I felt that in just over 400 pages and with a few less inconsequential people and happenings it could have been a better story.
    • 3/5
      I would recommend this to readers of romances, rather than those who prefer historical fiction. It is very readable; however, I kept wishing for more events to place it within the context of colonialism. I had a difficult time accepting the way the main conflict in the story was handled. It happens sometimes that as I read a novel, I keep thinking, "Oh that's just like in Novel X." This reminded me at times of Rebecca, of Out of Africa, and of Downton Abbey. These are all good things, just not totally original. Having said all my negative things up front, I will say that I finished the book and would probably read another novel by Jeffries. Her descriptive passages are very evocative and that goes a long way toward keeping me happy.