Today it is my stop on the blog tour for The Sapphire Widow by Dinah Jefferies. I will be sharing my review of this breath-taking novel and I urge you to grab a copy as this is a stunning read.
Ceylon, 1935. Louisa Reeve, the daughter of a successful British gem trader, and her husband Elliot, a charming, thrill-seeking businessman, seem like the couple who have it all. Except what they long for more than anything: a child.
While Louisa struggles with miscarriages, Elliot is increasingly absent, spending much of his time at a nearby cinnamon plantation, overlooking the Indian ocean. After his sudden death, Louisa is left alone to solve the mystery he left behind. Revisiting the plantation at Cinnamon Hills, she finds herself unexpectedly drawn towards the owner Leo, a rugged outdoors man with a chequered past. The plantation casts a spell, but all is not as it seems. And when Elliot's shocking betrayal is revealed, Louisa has only Leo to turn to...
MY REVIEW
The Sapphire Widow is the latest release by Dinah Jefferies
and once again I was totally captivated by this storyline. The book is set back
in the 1935 in Ceylon and it was easy to visualise the setting, smell the
smells and feel the stifling heat thanks to the beautiful vivid descriptive
writing. We are introduced to our protagonist Louise Reeve who is married to
Elliot a very handsome man and from the outside in they have the perfect
marriage but they long for a child and poor Louise has had her heart broken
after suffering miscarriages.
Elliot spends a considerable amount of time way from home
which he blames on work commitments but when Louise receives the devastating
news that her husband has died things start to unravel and she begins to wonder
if she ever really knew her husband at all.
For the first time we are reunited with much loved
characters from a previous novel of Dinah’s The Tea Planter’s Wife and I loved
getting a glimpse of how things have progressed for Gwen and Laurence. Gwen
along with Elliot’s sister Margot are a strong support for Louise after the
death of her husband. As secrets are unravelled Louise grows stronger and
although she is heartbroken she is determined to pick up the pieces and make a
new life for herself.
Dinah Jefferies has such an exquisite detailed writing style
that pulls you in right from the first page and keeps you engrossed the whole
way through leaving you unable to put the book down. There are twists and turns
that are all shocking and unexpected but the way she slowly creates the build
up around the revelation almost keeping your attention drawn to something else
then makes everything seem so much more dramatic.
Louise was such a caring character, her actions were
honourable as I am sure there wouldn’t be many people who would do the things
she done after what she had discovered and what she had been through. Louise
truly deserved to have a happy ever after.
There is not another author whose writing I can compare Dinah’s
to, she just has me mesmerised by her beautiful way with words and every book
of hers has been a joy to read and this one is no exception.
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