If you are interested in the life of tea planters in India after WWII, this is the book for you.I'm afraid it doesn't offer a lot more beyond that, except it does show us some Indian customs and traditions and superstitions and just overall way of life during that time as well.
I struggled with some of this. I almost tossed it in the quarter because while I was hooked in the beginning, when the love interest, Mani went to become a tea planter, leaving the heroine behind for three years, their "romance" was through letters and there was nothing remotely romantic about the letters. It was all about the tea life and wild animals.
Then they finally get married and this is where it got interesting. The wedding preparations, the ruckus, the traditions. It is truly intriguing. I was riveted once again.
Then they went to the tea plantation. Enter hornet bites (this was actually kind of cool, but I won't explain why), the clash of cultures: Indian and British, prejudice, a mysterious 11-month pregnancy, man-eating leopards, thieving servants...this had its interesting moments. But again, I began losing interest. I'm just not that interested in the making of tea. I also never felt the wonderful connection between the hero and heroine that I felt like I should be feeling.
There's no huge love story here. It's simply everyday life on a tea plantation and because of this lack of....solid plot, it came off as never-ending at times.
But I did like the writing style overall and the heroine of the story grabbed my heart.
Three stars. I received this from netgalley.
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