Book Review: The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh

THE FEVER TREE by Jennifer McVeigh
Berkley Trade Paperback Reprint; February 4, 2014
Genre: historical fiction, romance

A huge acacia spread its shade over one side of the house.
"The fever tree," Edwin said, following her gaze. "The farm is famous for it." (ch. 20)

My comments: The author notes that thousands of native people and workers died from smallpox in the diamond fields of South Africa in the nineteenth century. The disease was ignored, people not given vaccinations or quarantined, the situation covered up even by famous British statesman, Cecil Rhodes, to protect investment in the mines. These historical facts alone make the book worth reading.

Written linearly, chronologically, the book is both history and romance, depicting the plight of Francis Irvine traveling to a far and strange country to be married. She is an example of one of the redundant or surplus unmarried women in 19th century England who sought husbands and a new life in the colonies.

Book description: "A sweeping novel of romance and South African history.
Frances Irvine is forced by hopeless circumstance to emigrate from England to the Cape in pursuit of a reluctant marriage. There she discovers a strange new world where greed and colonial exploitation are bringing vast wealth to some and misery to countless others.

Frances must choose between two very different men: one serious and idealistic, the other charming and ambitious. When a smallpox epidemic threatens the financial dynasty of the most powerful Englishman in South Africa, Frances will be cast into a vortex of dangerous consequences—and find an unexpected, purposeful path." (publisher)

About the Author: Jennifer McVeigh has traveled to Southern and East Africa, and also drew on firsthand accounts of life in colonial South Africa, as well as nineteenth century guidebooks and women’s magazines, in order to make Frances Irvine’s experiences true to life. Visit her at www.jennifermcveigh.com

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy of this book.

Sunday Salon: When A Book Can Take You Someplace Else

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Also visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer, and It's Monday: What Are You Reading? at Book Journey. Also, Mailbox Monday at its permanent home, and Stacking the Shelves at Tyngas' Reviews.

This was the scene from my window last week and it hasn't changed much since. Some of the snow has melted, but the temperatures have been on a see-saw up and down and we are back in the minus zero wind chill zone, with bits of white being added every day.

I have a love-hate relationship with this unseasonable winter. We haven't had this kind of snow in a few years and so these blizzards and strong winds that blow snow around are almost a new experience. I love the looks of it, have taken lots of pictures, and even gone out occasionally, though I have forsaken yoga classes and am staying away from movie theaters, malls, and places where people who might have the flu congregate.

For the first time ever, I was persuaded to get a flu shot because of the scare in the area - a few people have died and many hospitalized, and the health department here says the flu this season is no respecter of age. The young and old and some seemingly healthy people in between those ages have been hit. My hope - some of these extreme temps will kill those bugs!

Two new books came in last week. Thank heavens for books~

The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh was sent by Penguin for their book tour. A young woman emigrates from London to South Africa in 1880 and has adventures and encounters that reflect a country under colonial rule.

Anyone notice that a few publishers are doing their own tours for their authors? This is the second book I have scheduled for a publisher tour.

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee, from Alfred Knopf, is just right for this season. It's a modern day retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, The Snow Queen. A young girl discovers a boy locked away in a museum, in a city where it always snows; a prisoner of the Snow Queen, he has been waiting for the girl to rescue him. Symbolic, eh?

I am caught up with reading I Am Abraham: A Novel of Lincoln and the Civil War by Jerome Charyn, for a tour in a couple weeks. Also open on my desk are two books pulled from the TBR shelf:
Paris My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (And Dark Chocolate) by Amy Thomas and
Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir by Taiwanese restaurant owner Eddie Huang.
Three very different books, but I do love the variety!
And of course, there are those wonderful cozies....

What are you reading and in what weather are you enjoying your books? Can't wait to hear!