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lahendren's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mnboyer's review against another edition
3.0
PopSugar 2015 reading challenge #13
I'd call this more of a "hint of romance" because the two characters who are going to eventually wind up in one another's lives barely get to see each other throughout most of the novel. The novel instead is more about two sisters being ousted from their home when their father dies, moved in with a family member (whose wife uses them as free labor), and generally having a bad time being women without husbands (sign of the times). Overall, decent and the Audible audio was pretty good. It just wasn't the romance it was billed to be when I selected it from Kindle Unlimited.
I'd call this more of a "hint of romance" because the two characters who are going to eventually wind up in one another's lives barely get to see each other throughout most of the novel. The novel instead is more about two sisters being ousted from their home when their father dies, moved in with a family member (whose wife uses them as free labor), and generally having a bad time being women without husbands (sign of the times). Overall, decent and the Audible audio was pretty good. It just wasn't the romance it was billed to be when I selected it from Kindle Unlimited.
zooloo1983's review against another edition
5.0
Straight off the bat, I am going to say this is not normally the type of book I would pick up. I would probably umm and aaah, but I saw an awesome review by Nicki (Secret Library Book Blog) and I was intrigued. I then got it in on kindle Unlimited and it came with the audiobook. I am afraid it then sat there for months because I saw how long the audiobook was, a whopping 14 hours!
Can I ask someone just slap me in the face? I now realise what I have been missing out on! The Tea Planter’s Daughter is such a beautiful and haunting story of love, heartbreak, betrayal and solace.
Beginning in 1905, on a beautiful tea plantation in India, where Clarissa and Olive are somebodies. Living and breathing tea, growing and selling until a heartbreak befalls the girls and they are shipped off to the grubby streets of Tyneside to a cousin they have never met. The contrast between the two lives is a shock to the system to not only the girls but us as a reader. No longer a somebody but basically a slave girl to a drunk and a racist. With their Indian heritage, they are always on the outside, not quite accepted by the Indians nor the British.
Wesley Robson a competing tea planter to Clarrie’s dad Jock, and Jock can’t abide. He hates the Robson name and will not accept any help from him in any wake of life. The sad thing is, the contempt Jock feels for him and the family name carries down to Clarrie and she carries a conflicted torch for him, but of love and burning hatred. He, however, is the one constant in her life, both in the forefront and the background.
When Clarrie manages to escape the clutches of her awful awful cousins she becomes the housekeeper for the Stock family and a new chapter in life starts. This chapter just broke me. Clarrie really does not seem to catch a break, ok she doesn’t always help herself but she does not deserve the way Bertie Stock treats her. If I was talking to you face to face, you would hear and see the amount of contempt I have for him and his wife Verity! Awful despicable people. I loathed them, and when they were about I would roll my eyes with everything Bertie or his wife Verity said.
This being said Clarrie did cause me a few eye-rolling moments, she can be a bit infuriating at times as she would jump the gun before others spoke. Spoke up too many times when she should have held back first and waited, but I think what you tend to forget is that she is just a young girl when we meet her, the early 20s and so not quite grown out of her impulsive ways. Plus with the freedom she has the breathtaking plantation with no class system, so to speak, to concern her she doesn’t always remember where her new place is when she comes to Tyneside.
There is so much in this story, so much is covered, from the early 1900s to a country facing the First World War and the impact it has on the girls and the people they hold dearest.
I was crying at the end, especially when Clarrie receives a letter from Will! It broke me! That’s all I will say. The love for young Will Stock holds for Clarrie was so pure and l only to see! Not a replacement mum but she has become almost an older sister to him. The love they have for each other was lovely to see when she has no one else she had Will.
I can’t keen talking about the plot otherwise I will ruin it for you! But it was one hell of a start to this saga! It just took my breath away. I really did not think that a book could affect me as much as this one did. I was right there with Clarrie and I just wanted her to be happy and in love. She has been through way too much, but her determination carried her through. She sees the positive in everything and even when she is falling into despair she kept going and put everyone else first, even if they didn’t deserve it!
I listened to this when I was at work, driving home, doing the housework, any chance I got! It was on my mind when I had stopped and I was always eager to get back to it. When I realised I was near the end I got too impatient and had to finish the book on my Kindle. The ending made me smile and I feel so satisfied. I know when I close that book that Clarrie will be ok, I just hope it’s not the last we see of her!
Can I ask someone just slap me in the face? I now realise what I have been missing out on! The Tea Planter’s Daughter is such a beautiful and haunting story of love, heartbreak, betrayal and solace.
Beginning in 1905, on a beautiful tea plantation in India, where Clarissa and Olive are somebodies. Living and breathing tea, growing and selling until a heartbreak befalls the girls and they are shipped off to the grubby streets of Tyneside to a cousin they have never met. The contrast between the two lives is a shock to the system to not only the girls but us as a reader. No longer a somebody but basically a slave girl to a drunk and a racist. With their Indian heritage, they are always on the outside, not quite accepted by the Indians nor the British.
Wesley Robson a competing tea planter to Clarrie’s dad Jock, and Jock can’t abide. He hates the Robson name and will not accept any help from him in any wake of life. The sad thing is, the contempt Jock feels for him and the family name carries down to Clarrie and she carries a conflicted torch for him, but of love and burning hatred. He, however, is the one constant in her life, both in the forefront and the background.
When Clarrie manages to escape the clutches of her awful awful cousins she becomes the housekeeper for the Stock family and a new chapter in life starts. This chapter just broke me. Clarrie really does not seem to catch a break, ok she doesn’t always help herself but she does not deserve the way Bertie Stock treats her. If I was talking to you face to face, you would hear and see the amount of contempt I have for him and his wife Verity! Awful despicable people. I loathed them, and when they were about I would roll my eyes with everything Bertie or his wife Verity said.
This being said Clarrie did cause me a few eye-rolling moments, she can be a bit infuriating at times as she would jump the gun before others spoke. Spoke up too many times when she should have held back first and waited, but I think what you tend to forget is that she is just a young girl when we meet her, the early 20s and so not quite grown out of her impulsive ways. Plus with the freedom she has the breathtaking plantation with no class system, so to speak, to concern her she doesn’t always remember where her new place is when she comes to Tyneside.
There is so much in this story, so much is covered, from the early 1900s to a country facing the First World War and the impact it has on the girls and the people they hold dearest.
I was crying at the end, especially when Clarrie receives a letter from Will! It broke me! That’s all I will say. The love for young Will Stock holds for Clarrie was so pure and l only to see! Not a replacement mum but she has become almost an older sister to him. The love they have for each other was lovely to see when she has no one else she had Will.
I can’t keen talking about the plot otherwise I will ruin it for you! But it was one hell of a start to this saga! It just took my breath away. I really did not think that a book could affect me as much as this one did. I was right there with Clarrie and I just wanted her to be happy and in love. She has been through way too much, but her determination carried her through. She sees the positive in everything and even when she is falling into despair she kept going and put everyone else first, even if they didn’t deserve it!
I listened to this when I was at work, driving home, doing the housework, any chance I got! It was on my mind when I had stopped and I was always eager to get back to it. When I realised I was near the end I got too impatient and had to finish the book on my Kindle. The ending made me smile and I feel so satisfied. I know when I close that book that Clarrie will be ok, I just hope it’s not the last we see of her!
inkstainedthumb's review against another edition
5.0
I couldn't put this book down, literally couldn't. I wanted to see what happened next. It's been many years since a book has done this to me, kept me a wake because I had to know what happened next. My heart broken for all the bad things that happened to Clarissa and Olive. The death of their father, them having to leave the beautiful India, having to work, for a time, for the cousin of their father and his horrid wife, then there was the ill treatment of them by their new employer's son (mainly because of their Indian heritage), and the ravages of the First World War, to name but a few. I'd strongly recommend this book, as there are twists in there I didn't expect (a wedding proposal from Herbert), and twists I did expect (the tea house and what happened with Wesley). Would definitely recommend!!!
simply_sam's review against another edition
3.0
I really thought this would end up being more than a 3 star book.
It had a great atmosphere and background and just really good bones. However, the connection between our h and H wasn't there. He was in maybe 5% of the book. How in the world can an epic, spanning love story between the two (which is what I thought I was getting) be built in such a short time? The short answer: it can't. I wanted them to be like Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy (they reminded me of them for some reason), but I never felt nor understood their attraction. The animosity between characters throughout the book was just absurd and felt forced. If I were Wesley, there would be absolutely no way I'd pine after someone for 10+ years after being treated the way he is by Clarrie. And Clarrie....sheesh. She comes to some really asinine conclusions and acts rashly on more than one occasion. And don't even get me started on Olive...
So it wasn't just the non-existent love story that I had an issue with, but also other character(s) actions and decisions. They just didn't always add up or make sense.
However, even with that being said, I was continually drawn to the book. The villains of the story were wonderfully horrible people. I couldn't wait to read their parts so I could hate them even more. Plus, like I said before, I really liked the setting of the story, first in India then in England. I think both locales were well captured. I think one of the biggest reasons I kept going was that I was waiting for "the" moment when Clarrie would realize that Wesley wasn't this horrible person she'd made him out to be. And boy, did I have to wait for a LONG, long time. I do like a good slow burn, believe me I do. But this was not so much a slow burn as a 0-60 in 5 seconds that took 15 years to start.
This is honestly probably just one of those instances where the reality does not live up to the expectation. If you are not expecting to be swept away by an epic romance but instead approach this more as a work of historical fiction you may not be as disappointed as I was.
It had a great atmosphere and background and just really good bones. However, the connection between our h and H wasn't there. He was in maybe 5% of the book. How in the world can an epic, spanning love story between the two (which is what I thought I was getting) be built in such a short time? The short answer: it can't. I wanted them to be like Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy (they reminded me of them for some reason), but I never felt nor understood their attraction. The animosity between characters throughout the book was just absurd and felt forced. If I were Wesley, there would be absolutely no way I'd pine after someone for 10+ years after being treated the way he is by Clarrie. And Clarrie....sheesh. She comes to some really asinine conclusions and acts rashly on more than one occasion. And don't even get me started on Olive...
So it wasn't just the non-existent love story that I had an issue with, but also other character(s) actions and decisions. They just didn't always add up or make sense.
However, even with that being said, I was continually drawn to the book. The villains of the story were wonderfully horrible people. I couldn't wait to read their parts so I could hate them even more. Plus, like I said before, I really liked the setting of the story, first in India then in England. I think both locales were well captured. I think one of the biggest reasons I kept going was that I was waiting for "the" moment when Clarrie would realize that Wesley wasn't this horrible person she'd made him out to be. And boy, did I have to wait for a LONG, long time. I do like a good slow burn, believe me I do. But this was not so much a slow burn as a 0-60 in 5 seconds that took 15 years to start.
This is honestly probably just one of those instances where the reality does not live up to the expectation. If you are not expecting to be swept away by an epic romance but instead approach this more as a work of historical fiction you may not be as disappointed as I was.
geekylou's review against another edition
5.0
Love a good historical novel set in Newcastle and how they managed in war time. I just love these feel good books lol
gretel7's review against another edition
3.0
It's a strong 3.5 stars out of 5. I received this ARC from netgalley.com in exchange for a review. There are no surprises or complicated story lines to follow, this is easy reading 'chick lit' kind of book.
That being said, I really liked the story. Set in the early 1900's, their fathers death forces Clarrie and her sister Olive to move from their home and all they knew in India to England. Strong willed Carrie makes decisions and choices, with the backdrop of WWI and the women's vote.
That being said, I really liked the story. Set in the early 1900's, their fathers death forces Clarrie and her sister Olive to move from their home and all they knew in India to England. Strong willed Carrie makes decisions and choices, with the backdrop of WWI and the women's vote.
nickimags's review
5.0
From the tea plantation in India to the grubby streets of Newcastle, I loved every single minute of the 15 hours and 42 minutes I listened to. Sarah Coomes a new favourite narrator brought this story to life so perfectly as she became the many different characters with their various accents. She made me fall in love with young Will, despise nasty cousin Lilly, dread anything to do with entitled Bertie and Verity and hope for the very best for Clarrie and Olive.
This story had me tutting, gasping, shouting, tearing up and sighing with relief as I followed Clarrie’s journey. She was a wonderful character who I enjoyed spending my time with and will hopefully do it soon again in the next book.
I never really thought I liked sagas, but this book has definitely made me want to listen to more and I’m so pleased that there are three more in the series.
If you enjoy historical fiction with real characters who take you on a emotional roller-coaster you’ll love this book.
This story had me tutting, gasping, shouting, tearing up and sighing with relief as I followed Clarrie’s journey. She was a wonderful character who I enjoyed spending my time with and will hopefully do it soon again in the next book.
I never really thought I liked sagas, but this book has definitely made me want to listen to more and I’m so pleased that there are three more in the series.
If you enjoy historical fiction with real characters who take you on a emotional roller-coaster you’ll love this book.
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