The Tea Planter's Wife

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I liked the setting of early 1900s Ceylon, the descriptions of the land, people, and tea of course. Adding to Gwen’s fears are Laurence’s friend, Christina, a beautiful widow who owns Ceylon’s largest bank, and is far too flirtatious with Laurence, as if the two of them share a relationship Gwen knows nothing about. Another woman who demands Laurence’s attention is his sister Verity, one of the novel’s more malicious characters. When 19 year old newly wed Gwendolyn arrives in 1920's Ceylon to join her much older husband Laurence, the owner of a tea plantation, she is excited and looking forward to her new life. However, the reality is far from what she expected. Laurence seems to have changed towards her, he is no longer as loving and seems to be withdrawing from her; her youth and inexperience make her ill equipped to cope with him and the household responsibilities she is now expected to take on. She is unaccustomed to the people and their cultures and her natural sense of fairness brings her into conflict with others. The arrival of Laurence’s spoilt and spiteful sister, Verity, does not help matters and Gwen’s feelings of isolation are keenly felt. To shoot the cobra vs mongoose fight, the room set was built in a Ceylon zoo. When several of the local mongooses ran away from the cobra, the zookeeper said "Ï'm afraid our Singhalese mongooses are not used to fighting; I'll have to get you some North-Indian variety". Imported from Madras, the Indian mongoose engaged in a true fight to the finish with the cobra. [22] Reception [ edit ] Box office [ edit ]

Later Savi points out a monk attempting to purify a place where “great evil may have transpired at that spot, or at the very least a death. . . . In Ceylon we believe in ghosts.”Lalo Rios Will Star in 'Ring;' Eve Arden Set as Douglas Partner Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 8 Jan 1952: B7. U doba u kojem se odvija radnja, Ceylon (današnja Šri Lanka) bio je kolonija Velike Britanije u kojoj je „šačica“ britanske elite, uglavnom plantažera, uživala u luksuzu i raskoši svojih imanja, dok je lokalno stanovništvo jedva preživljavalo radeći na plantažama (u jako lošim uvjetima, uz okrutne kazne, često bez ikakve medicinske pomoći) ili kao kućna posluga. Pravila su strogo određena; nema kontakata s mještanima, oni znaju „gdje im je mjesto“ iako, već '40.god. sve je više nemira, rasplamsava se borba za neovisnost te Englezi počinju shvaćati da se stvari mijenjaju i da dolazi novo doba kojemu se moraju (čim prije) početi prilagođavati. While not ghosts in a supernatural sense, the child and Caroline seem to haunt Laurence, but he will not answer questions, and neither will anyone else on the plantation.

Then Gwen finds a trunk of carefully wrapped baby clothes and a yellowing dress. Do these clothes belong to the child buried in the woods, the child Laurence says is Caroline’s, Laurence’s first wife. Why is the child not buried with his mother, and why does Laurence not claim the child? I agree with Richard and Judy above, about the strong pioneering spirit of these women in this period , who went to the other side of the world to live and work in such difficult conditions. Our heroine was a business woman and starts cheesemaking, the business of her family in England, but using buffalo milk. And Dinah Jeffries also gives us the life of sisters, bored older wives, tennis players, bridge groups, and women’s tea afternoons, where life is not so full. Rich and incredibly evocative, The Tea Planter’s Wife is historical fiction at its very best. It’s just spellbinding.” — The Sunday Express Gwen soon discovers secrets hidden within the plantation grounds, but is soon distracted by her own pregnancy, which brings its own challenges. Suddenly, young Gwen is the one who has a secret to keep. The tea planter's wife is a very intriguing story, of secrets that are harboured but destined to come out. Of course, the story builds to an ironic twist and enthralling consequence to all the deception.

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The Tea Planter’s Wife is an exemplary novel, written with a lush literary prose, which pulls me deep into the landscape and historical setting of colonial Ceylan. Brian McFarlane, An Autobiography of British Cinema by the Actors and Filmmakers Who Made It, Methuen 1997 p 26

Uz ovu „glavnu priču“ o Gwen i njezinom životu na Ceylonu, Dinah Jefferies provlači i dio povijesti te zemlje; prikazuje nam tadašnju svakodnevicu, djelomično i političku situaciju, početke rasnih nemira između lokanog stanovništva, kao i sve veći otpor prema kolonizatorima, a sve to skupa daje jednu ozbiljniju, sociološko- kulturnu notu cijeloj priči pa je zato sve skupa još zanimljivije.Author Dinah Jefferies was born in Malaysia and grew up there, so her depiction of life in Ceylon has an authentic ring. FILMS' CHAMPION MOTHER". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 28 August 1952. p.7 Section: Women's Section . Retrieved 11 July 2012.

Who did you think the woman in the prologue was and where did you think she was going? Did your perception of this character change as you read the novel? Thumim, Janet. "The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry". Screen. Vol.32, no.3. p.259.Slowly Gwen learned about life on a tea plantation – the servants in the house, the coloured workers in the grounds outside. But Laurence’s sister Verity was constantly at their side. Gwen couldn’t seem to warm to Verity, while Verity had an almost clinging nature with her brother. And some other strange things were happening – a grave which was buried in bushes and seemingly abandoned, found near the house; a beautiful lake plus a nearby waterfall that she wasn’t allowed to go near – and a trunk filled with musty old clothing. But the worst was that Laurence wouldn’t discuss his previous wife, Caroline – what was it about the past that Laurence wanted to keep hidden from Gwen? A terrific and atmospheric read, full of riveting detail, and very emotional too. I’m sure it will be a big success.’ Laurence's sister, Verity, shows up and throws a monkey wrench into the work. She is a very unpleasant woman who does incredibly mean things. Gwen gets pregnant and it is the birth that changes their lives for ever. It is really an unique situation that I never had heard of before this. Comments are easily overlooked, but they are subtle hints of underlying themes. Gwen notices the heavy scent in the air that Savi identifies as flowers, but it was more than that. “Beneath the seductive scent there was an undercurrent of something sour.” This, of course, includes providing her husband with an heir. It is not his first marriage, though. His first wife took her own life, but he is not open to talk with Gwen about what happen ed, and she does not feel she should pursue this line of questioning. She is over the moon when she finds out that she is pregnant. However, the birth is not a straightforward event and sets in motion years of turmoil for Gwen.