The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies

★★★★✩
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Nineteen-year-old Gwendolyn Hooper is newly married to a rich and charming widower, eager to join him on his tea plantation, determined to be the perfect wife and mother. But life in Ceylon is not what Gwen expected. The plantation workers are resentful, the neighbors treacherous. And there are clues to the past - a dusty trunk of dresses, an overgrown gravestone in the grounds - that her husband refuses to discuss. Just as Gwen finds her feet, disaster strikes. She faces a terrible choice, hiding the truth from almost everyone, but a secret this big can't stay buried forever...

Of all the aspects of The Tea Planter’s Wife, the historical setting fascinated me the most. I’ve never read a book set on a tea plantation or in Ceylon, so I loved being drawn into Gwen’s experience adjusting to her new life with her new husband. Gwen encounters a number of difficulties, secrets, and mystery to make this adjustment a daunting challenge, and the following story that unfolds within this exotic locale, full of exquisite detail, is both intriguing and interesting. Though it never really surprised me with its revelations, I still enjoyed this historical story by Dinah Jefferies, and I think a reader of historical fiction could easily enjoy it, too.

Thanks to Blogging for Books, I received a copy of The Tea Planter’s Wife and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.