Dinah Jefferies was born in Malaysia and moved to England at the age of nine. She still loves Southeast Asia and the Far East and jumps at the chance to travel there whenever she can. She once lived in a commune with a rock band, and has worked as an exhibiting artist. After also living in Italy and Spain, she now lives with her husband and Norfolk Terrier in Gloucestershire, where she writes full time. The Tea Planter's Wife is her second novel.
Dinah Jefferies's website
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In your own words, can you introduce readers to the premise of The Tea Planter's Wife?
The novel is set on a tea plantation beside a misty lake in 1920s Ceylon. It's almost the end of the colonial era, and all the certainties of British life are changing. Nineteen-year-old Gwendolyn Hooper is the new bride of the plantation owner, Laurence, a wealthy and charming widower. But her idyllic dreams of marriage are shaken by echoes from the past—an old trunk of musty dresses, a hidden grave-stone in the grounds, and locked doors. Her new husband seems haunted by the past. When Gwen goes into labor, with Laurence away from the house, she is presented with a terrible choice—one she feels she must make without her husband's knowledge. Can she keep such a powerful secret? If not, can Laurence possibly forgive what she has done? As all the secrets unfold, her marriage to Laurence is threatened, as is the old colonial lifestyle. Ultimately, The Tea Planter's Wife is about what we feel we have to conceal from the people we love, and what happens when we do.
Can you tell us about your early childhood years in Malaysia, and how those memories have affected your writing? How did you handle the transition to life in ...
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