1880. South Africa. A country torn apart by greed. Frances Irvine, destitute in the wake of her father’s sudden death, is forced to abandon her life of wealth and privilege in London and emigrate to the Cape. In this remote and inhospitable land she becomes entangled with two very different men. One driven by ambition, the other by his ideals. Only when the rumour of a smallpox epidemic takes her into the dark heart of the diamond mines does she see her path to happiness. But this is a ruthless world of greed and exploitation, where the spoils of the rich come at a terrible human cost and powerful men will go to any lengths to keep the mines in operation. Torn between passion and integrity, she makes a choice that has devastating consequences. “The Fever Tree” is a compelling portrait of colonial South Africa, its raw beauty and deprivation alive in equal measure. But above all it is a powerful love story about how – just when we need it the most – fear can blind us to a truth.
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Excellent read Fascinating insights into the world of diamond mining in South Africa overlaid with the personal story of Frances, the young English girl forced to emigrate and marry a man effectively against her will, the only alternative being a life of drudgery in Manchester. Her new husband turns out to be an idealist, prepared to put up with penury and terrible living conditions in his pursuit of truth, setting himself against the rich diamond mine owners who wield all the power. Frances is just about coming to terms with her life and her marriage in a tumbledown cottage on the veldt when she finds herself moving to a tent in the midst of total squalor – no wonder the girl brought up in polite London society finds it hard to cope. And always in the background is the romantic figure of the man with whom she had a shipboard romance, promising to take her away from all this. So yes there are cliches, in the sense that shipboard romances and loveless marriages were fairly common currency in Victorian times, when women were beholden to men for their very survival.But this does not in any way detract from a powerful story in which, in the end, true love prevails.
A ‘lite’ book about some big themes It’s 1880, and when Frances’ father dies, she goes to South Africa to make a new life for herself. Caught between two men (of course), she has to face choices, learn to judge character, and develop an emotional maturity of her own.This is nicely-written and feels like it takes its example from classic nineteenth century novels: the writing is very descriptive, overly so in places, and the whole thing has quite a leisurely air about it.Sadly, Frances doesn’t have the charisma of authentic nineteenth century heroines: she’s naive, judgemental, frequently rather silly, and I was never really convinced by her story, especially the scenes on board the ship. The two men in her life fare better, however, and there’s a nice tension between the way they appear at first sight and the way they develop.The book gestures towards big themes – capitalist colonialism, the plight of South African `natives’ – but only in a very `lite’ way.So this is more than a chick-lit style historical romp, but it doesn’t ever become intelligent literary fiction – I enjoyed the story well enough as an entertaining read but it won’t linger in my mind: 3.5 stars from me.
Evocative and utterly beautiful. From beginning to end I could`nt put this book down. The remoteness of the karoo, the parched land, you could see, feel and taste it all. The descriptions are beautiful and thought provoking. Frances is thrown in at the deep end, having no female role model, she was unprepared like so many of her generation, for married life. To be taken to an unknown continent and expected to adjust with very little guidance, she did well to keep sanity. Well done…a great read. Bring on the next one.