Saturday, July 24, 2010

Tea and Books Saturday #30 - "Invitation to Tea"

Invitation to Tea
By Monica Lang
Peoples Book Club, 1952


This book certainly wouldn't have remained on my tea bookshelf so long if I'd known what a fascinating and tender story it contained! I only wish I'd known to have a box of tissues nearby ...

The story begins with the account of Monica's early life in London, where she grew up in a well-run household with a doctor father, an efficient and loving mother, and four brothers who gave her fits. The boys' friend George McCrie was a dear friend of the family, born in India to a tea-planter father and sent back to Europe for his education. George spent his vacations from boarding school with her family, and he was someone Monica had always looked up to. Eventually there came a time when George decided to become a tea planter like his father. Years passed, and then a trip back home resulted in his first encounter with Monica adult-to-adult. Sparks flew. Soon a whirlwind courtship and engagement ensued, and before you can say "teatime" the new Mr. and Mrs. George McCrie were setting up housekeeping in their bungalow in the jungles of India.

Frankly, it was difficult to remember this book was not a novel, as it was certainly written in the style of one. Lang did a fine job of balancing the romance with the reality of life on the tea plantation. The romance: She had an adoring husband whose tenderness toward his new wife was touching. Her efforts to set up housekeeping and establish English style gardens were often humorous. The reality: The couple's honeymoon train was knocked off the tracks by some stray elephants, surely a sign of things to come! Monica learned the hard way that mosquito boots had to be worn at all times because of the ever-present threat of malaria. And lions and tigers and bears, oh my, were they ever a part of everyday life on the tea plantation!

Naturally, I especially loved the bits where "tea" concerns entered into the story. George's cultural insights about the locals were fascinating, and a living, breathing picture of the tea plantation came into sharp focus. Monica enjoyed learning about the tea production at the factory, and this was one of her earliest impressions: "George was already in the factory, and a lovely, warm, pungent, aromatic smell, which seemed to come from inside the factory itself, pervaded the atmosphere. Small boys were busily carrying baskets of green leaf on their heads into the building and a long line of pluckers stood some distance away beside a little shed where each one was having the contents of his basketful of afternoon plucking carefully weighed. The low hum of machinery in action was audible all around. I had little idea how the fresh green leaf finally appeared as the finished product which reached the grocery store shelves …"

Life on the tea plantation was often lonely, and the few friends they were able to make and keep were cherished. Monica's insights about men and women definitely rang true for me, although I was amused at how so much of it was so innocent and so (beautifully!) politically incorrect. Still, it's almost hard to believe a woman ever got accustomed to the monsoons, the leeches, the sorrow of having to send young children abroad for school (although I wanted to cry out, "Homeschool, y'all!" at several points in the book!).

I hadn't really paid much attention to the timeline of this book until 1939 when the war intervened. There, Invitation to Tea took a turn I did not see coming, and that's all I'll say about that. Except to say this: This is one of the most touching books I've ever read, and I fully believe my fellow tea lovers would adore it. And happily, I found a link to Invitation to Tea so you can actually read it for free! Enjoy!

11 comments:

  1. Wow Angela, that book sounds wonderful! When I make time to actually sit down and read a bit I will seek this one out.

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  2. What a nice book review, Angela. I am going to the link, right after this. I love your comment, 'Home School, ya'll!'

    The story reminds me of an interesting 'old' movie, 'Elephant Walk,' with Elizabeth Taylor. (She is a young wife and they're off to an 'uncivilized' area that is a British Colony...something like that, I remember her tribulations and how lonely she felt. I don't know if you've ever seen it but it is a memorable movie.)

    Hope you have a great weekend, Joanie

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  3. Angela, thanks bunches for sharing about this book! The link opens to the title page (as I'm sure you know), but you can "turn" a few pages back to the left and find the date due stamps and that the book came from the Kansas City, MO Public Library. There's also an image of a beautiful woman -- the author? the heroine? I love old books -- what fun to have a little old book feel to a digital version! B-)

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  4. Thank you so much for sharing that link! Sounds like the perfect read for a hot, humid Saturday! :)

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  5. Oh boy, this looks like another one to add to the list! I lurve the original artwork cover too!

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  6. How unusual! I think you have all our curiosity up!

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  7. That does sound like a must read. Thanks for the recommendation.

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  8. This sounds like a great book. Thanks for the link, I'll be reading the book soon.

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  9. This sounds like the perfect novel for a tea lover like me!

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  10. Thanks for alerting us to this, it sounds like a wonderful story.

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  11. Thanks for the link to the book !
    I agree with other post that it reminds me a little of Elephant Walk
    too.

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