The author describes Ceylon and its environs in such beautiful detail I want to go soooo bad. I found the story itself to be distressing in several parts but there were redeeming parts also. I just loved the writing and hope the author writes more.

We read this book for our 1929 book group and most of our group found it well written and very descriptive with some good twists at the end. The way the natives were treated was very interesting.

One of my most enjoyed books this summer. I recommended it to a friend and was pleased to learn she, like me, read it in two settings!

The narrative takes us to exotic Celyon at a tea plantation run by English expats. The book is mainly a love story so it's easy to read as a slice of time and place. I would have enjoyed more depth of country or even more about the tea. Still an enjoyable read.

A great story fabulously written.

Great read. Kept my interest all the way to the end. Lots of twists and turns.

Romance readers will enjoy this story more than those who seek historical fiction. I enjoyed the book, but romance novels aren’t my first choice. Filled with lots of mysteries, Tea Planter’s Wife tells the story of a 19-year old English girl who joins her husband in Ceylon. An overbearing sister-in-law, a husband with a past he doesn’t want to talk about, friendships with people not considered worthy by the British tea planters, relationships with the native servants and struggles with how to run a house are dealt with this book. The lushness of Ceylon came alive in the words Jeffries wrote and my love of south Asia and its variety is what helped keep my interest in this book. I found the characters shallow and none of them were people with whom I would want to be friends. I couldn’t even work up compassion for Gwen, the tea planter’s wife. (Library Thing Review copy)

"Rebecca" set in Sri Lanka. What's not to like?

I'm only about halfway through this, but I'm enjoying it very much. It puts me in mind of Out of Africa. Sweeping, historical, romantic, drama, etc. A little bit of everything.

I can see this as a BBC mini-series: a great costume drama in a sumptuous colonial setting; wealthy landowners exploiting the over-worked poor; racial tensions between the latter; a multi-way romantic plot, including wicked sister and tragic loss.