The Fever Tree
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Review
There is nothing more exciting than a new writer with a genuine voice. I loved it (Julian Fellowes creator of Downton Abbey )
A beautifully written novel of great feeling (Rachel Hore, author of A Place of Secrets )
A gripping story, vividly written - I found myself thinking of its scenes long after I had turned the last page (Kim Edwards, Author Of The Memory Keeper's Daughter )
An epic story of love, deception and courage (Patricia Wastvedt, author of The German Boy )
A compelling read with a Gone with the Wind feel to it - I was hooked (Katharine McMahon author of The Alchemist's Daughter )
Engrossing, emotionally poised and elegantly written... I absolutely loved it (Vanora Bennett author of The People's Queen )
Bewitching tale of loss, betrayal and love (Vogue )
Epic, enchanting, emotional and engrossing (Easy Living 'Must-read of the Month' )
The Fever Tree is a skilled unfolding of a woman's struggle with desire, class divide and disease in 19th Century South Africa... the journey, like the landscape, is thrillingly huge: one of love, self-knowledge, human and political self-respect. Frances treads out every step - a naive and intriguing character who brings alive a momentous - and appalling - part of history (Financial Times )
The subterfuges and instability of the diamond industry are engrossing, but it is McVeigh's attention to the material culture of South Africa that really fascinates: no object is too small to attract her notice, and through accumulation such objects become evocative and strangely moving... The Fever Tree is well worth reading (TLS )
Fever Tree serves up all the delicious elements of a romantic classic, seasoned by evocative prose and keen moral commentary. Gobble it up and then shelve it next to the Brontë sisters (Hillary Jordan, bestselling author of Mudbound )
A beautifully written novel of great feeling (Rachel Hore, author of A Place of Secrets )
A gripping story, vividly written - I found myself thinking of its scenes long after I had turned the last page (Kim Edwards, Author Of The Memory Keeper's Daughter )
An epic story of love, deception and courage (Patricia Wastvedt, author of The German Boy )
A compelling read with a Gone with the Wind feel to it - I was hooked (Katharine McMahon author of The Alchemist's Daughter )
Engrossing, emotionally poised and elegantly written... I absolutely loved it (Vanora Bennett author of The People's Queen )
Bewitching tale of loss, betrayal and love (Vogue )
Epic, enchanting, emotional and engrossing (Easy Living 'Must-read of the Month' )
The Fever Tree is a skilled unfolding of a woman's struggle with desire, class divide and disease in 19th Century South Africa... the journey, like the landscape, is thrillingly huge: one of love, self-knowledge, human and political self-respect. Frances treads out every step - a naive and intriguing character who brings alive a momentous - and appalling - part of history (Financial Times )
The subterfuges and instability of the diamond industry are engrossing, but it is McVeigh's attention to the material culture of South Africa that really fascinates: no object is too small to attract her notice, and through accumulation such objects become evocative and strangely moving... The Fever Tree is well worth reading (TLS )
Fever Tree serves up all the delicious elements of a romantic classic, seasoned by evocative prose and keen moral commentary. Gobble it up and then shelve it next to the Brontë sisters (Hillary Jordan, bestselling author of Mudbound )
Review
There is nothing more exciting than a new writer with a genuine voice. I loved it Julian Fellowes creator of Downton Abbey A beautifully written novel of great feeling Rachel Hore, author of A Place of Secrets An epic story of love, deception and courage Patricia Wastvedt, author of The German Boy Engrossing, emotionally poised and elegantly written, this wonderful first novel mixes big ideas about greed versus goodness with a compelling love story set in the diamond fields of Victorian South Africa, and ends with a moving moment of emotional insight. I absolutely loved it Vanora Bennett author of The People's Queen Epic, enchanting, emotional and engrossing Easy Living 'Must-read of the Month' The Fever Tree is a skilled unfolding of a woman's struggle with desire, class divide and disease in 19th Century South Africa... the journey, like the landscape, is thrillingly huge: one of love, self-knowledge, human and political self-respect. Frances treads out every step - a naive and intriguing character who brings alive a momentous - and appalling - part of history Financial Times The subterfuges and instability of the diamond industry are engrossing, but it is McVeigh's attention to the material culture of South Africa that really fascinates: no object is too small to attract her notice, and through accumulation such objects become evocative and strangely moving... The Fever Tree is well worth reading TLS McVeigh has taken this little-known aspect of British colonial history as the background for a historical saga set mainly around the diamond mines of Kimberley... The historical detail is fascinating Daily Mail
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
A novel of great sensitivity and descriptive power set in the 1880s that takes the reader from the ordered existence of Victorian London to the South African frontier at the height of the diamond rush. Frances Irvine, young, impressionable and left without means on the sudden death of a bankrupt father, embarks on a voyage to the Cape to marry a distant cousin, Edwin, now a doctor working in the Kimberley diamond fields. The passage out, on the Union Line `Cambrian', with its rigid class divisions mirroring the Victorian society Frances is leaving behind, offers the exciting prospect of a shipboard romance with William that the unversed Frances is unable to resist, and is to drastically affect her future. The triangular relationship between Frances, Edwin and William, is thus set and forms the framework for the rest of the novel in South Africa, where a totally strange and harsh environment help to transform a confused and self-deluded young woman into an adult, mature woman.
It is in describing this environment that McVeigh's skills as a writer are so evident. In particular, I would note her depiction of life in the Karoo, the high tableland of the Northern Cape, with its bitterly cold mornings, intense heat at midday and abundant insect life: a hostile, but strangely attractive environment in which people like the Boer Reitz family struggle to make a living during long periods of drought. She contrasts the purity of the veldt with the hell that greedy and ambitious men have created further north, in Kimberley. McVeigh's description of the Big Hole, with workers labouring like ants in the bowels of the earth, fully captures the horror of labouring conditions at the height of the diamond rush. An actual event, the smallpox epidemic of 1883/4, and efforts of mineowners to hush this up, with the connivance of local doctors, is used by the author as a symbol reflecting the difference between William, the servant of the mineowners, and Edwin, the doctor who seeks to expose the truth about the epidemic and the indifference to human life shown by those who seek to cover it up.
An outstanding novel, highly recommended.
It is in describing this environment that McVeigh's skills as a writer are so evident. In particular, I would note her depiction of life in the Karoo, the high tableland of the Northern Cape, with its bitterly cold mornings, intense heat at midday and abundant insect life: a hostile, but strangely attractive environment in which people like the Boer Reitz family struggle to make a living during long periods of drought. She contrasts the purity of the veldt with the hell that greedy and ambitious men have created further north, in Kimberley. McVeigh's description of the Big Hole, with workers labouring like ants in the bowels of the earth, fully captures the horror of labouring conditions at the height of the diamond rush. An actual event, the smallpox epidemic of 1883/4, and efforts of mineowners to hush this up, with the connivance of local doctors, is used by the author as a symbol reflecting the difference between William, the servant of the mineowners, and Edwin, the doctor who seeks to expose the truth about the epidemic and the indifference to human life shown by those who seek to cover it up.
An outstanding novel, highly recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Jennifer McVeigh's debut novel 'The Fever Tree' is the story of Frances Irvine, a very attractive young woman who, after the unexpected death of her father, finds herself practically destitute. Dr Edwin Matthews, a cousin on her father's side, proposes marriage to Frances, but she is unwilling to accept because not only does she not love him, she also feels he is her social inferior. When it finally dawns on Frances that she either accepts Edwin's proposal or become nursemaid to an aunt, she accepts his offer with reluctance, leaves Victorian London and sets sail to Africa where Edwin is now working. On the ship out to the Cape, Frances meets the ruggedly handsome William Westbrook who makes her aware, in no uncertain terms, that he finds her extremely attractive. Frances finds herself becoming more drawn to William as the voyage continues, but will she allow herself to fall for his rather obvious charms?
When Frances arrives in Cape Town, she realizes that she has no option other than to fulfil her promise to Edwin and she reluctantly travels on to meet him at Rietfontein, and it is here that they are married and start their life together in a small, rundown cottage which Frances considers is more a hovel than a house. Edwin initially seems delighted with his new wife and grateful that she has travelled so far to spend the rest of her life with him, but it does not take long for him to realize that Frances is not happy and that his feelings are not reciprocated, and when she fails to support him in his important work to prevent the spread of smallpox, he comes to the realization that Frances' heart is somewhere else. And when William Westbrook makes a reappearance in Frances's life, things become even more complicated and she has to make an important decision that might have life-altering consequences for all involved.
Jennifer McVeigh has written an engrossing story of South Africa in the 1880s - a land of savage beauty where fortunes are made and lost in the diamond mines and in the illicit trade of diamond trafficking. The author is careful to describe to the reader the brutal inhumanity of the mine owners, who are determined to conceal an outbreak of smallpox in order to keep the mines open, and the difficulties and hardship Edwin has to face when he refuses to go along with the dangerous deceit of a cover-up. McVeigh's depictions of the harshness and deprivations of life for Frances as she tries to cope with life in Africa are exceptionally good - but where she really excels is in her descriptions of the illness and disease that is prevalent, especially when Frances, despite being vaccinated, catches smallpox and her symptoms are made terrifyingly real to the reader. I found the 'The Fever Tree' to be a compelling and entertaining read - as a first book, it's not without its tiny faults (I felt the first part read perhaps a little too predictably - although once Frances arrives in Africa the story really takes off; and I did feel the last few pages were a little rushed - perhaps the author intends a sequel?)- however, that said, I found this to be a particularly good debut and I shall certainly be interested in reading more from this author.
4 Stars.
When Frances arrives in Cape Town, she realizes that she has no option other than to fulfil her promise to Edwin and she reluctantly travels on to meet him at Rietfontein, and it is here that they are married and start their life together in a small, rundown cottage which Frances considers is more a hovel than a house. Edwin initially seems delighted with his new wife and grateful that she has travelled so far to spend the rest of her life with him, but it does not take long for him to realize that Frances is not happy and that his feelings are not reciprocated, and when she fails to support him in his important work to prevent the spread of smallpox, he comes to the realization that Frances' heart is somewhere else. And when William Westbrook makes a reappearance in Frances's life, things become even more complicated and she has to make an important decision that might have life-altering consequences for all involved.
Jennifer McVeigh has written an engrossing story of South Africa in the 1880s - a land of savage beauty where fortunes are made and lost in the diamond mines and in the illicit trade of diamond trafficking. The author is careful to describe to the reader the brutal inhumanity of the mine owners, who are determined to conceal an outbreak of smallpox in order to keep the mines open, and the difficulties and hardship Edwin has to face when he refuses to go along with the dangerous deceit of a cover-up. McVeigh's depictions of the harshness and deprivations of life for Frances as she tries to cope with life in Africa are exceptionally good - but where she really excels is in her descriptions of the illness and disease that is prevalent, especially when Frances, despite being vaccinated, catches smallpox and her symptoms are made terrifyingly real to the reader. I found the 'The Fever Tree' to be a compelling and entertaining read - as a first book, it's not without its tiny faults (I felt the first part read perhaps a little too predictably - although once Frances arrives in Africa the story really takes off; and I did feel the last few pages were a little rushed - perhaps the author intends a sequel?)- however, that said, I found this to be a particularly good debut and I shall certainly be interested in reading more from this author.
4 Stars.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
The Fever Tree is a pleasant read after a busy day. The story line is not ground breaking, but it is written in an interesting way if you like the genre. I enjoyed reading it very much and found the characters and the setting captivating.
*** Warning: spoiler ahead ***
Set towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the story is about a young girl who is raised by her Irish father - his is the classic tale of young Irish immigrant who made a fortune. She doesn't want for anything and lives in luxury with servants waiting on her hand and foot. H er father loses his fortune, dies, and she is left destitute, forced into accepting a marriage proposal which takes her to South Africa. On her way there she falls in love, which will have severe consequences for her future happiness. Meanwhile, her fiancé is a radical doctor who fights against the establishment in the diamond mining region. Once married their standard of living deteriorates and they end up living in a tent on the outskirts of the mining town. Frances is eventually reunited with the man she fell in love with on the trip to South Africa. She makes a dramatic decision and eventually finds herself forced to go live in a remote plantation with the family she first lived with as a newly-wed. The persistent drought in the region comes to a climactic end and Frances in her solitude also realises the mistakes she has made. The question is really will she get a second chance.
*** Warning: spoiler ahead ***
Set towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the story is about a young girl who is raised by her Irish father - his is the classic tale of young Irish immigrant who made a fortune. She doesn't want for anything and lives in luxury with servants waiting on her hand and foot. H er father loses his fortune, dies, and she is left destitute, forced into accepting a marriage proposal which takes her to South Africa. On her way there she falls in love, which will have severe consequences for her future happiness. Meanwhile, her fiancé is a radical doctor who fights against the establishment in the diamond mining region. Once married their standard of living deteriorates and they end up living in a tent on the outskirts of the mining town. Frances is eventually reunited with the man she fell in love with on the trip to South Africa. She makes a dramatic decision and eventually finds herself forced to go live in a remote plantation with the family she first lived with as a newly-wed. The persistent drought in the region comes to a climactic end and Frances in her solitude also realises the mistakes she has made. The question is really will she get a second chance.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great historical novel
This is a really quality novel set predominantly in South Africa. I love the depth and breadth of the author's quality writing. Read more
Published 4 days ago by D. M. Trowsdale
Not my usual fare but engaging
I have to say that I really found the heroine quite irritating in the initial stages - but having said that reflecting the European sense of entitlement in Africa. Read more
Published 11 days ago by A. J. Sudworth
Loved it...
This engaging novel combines immaculate, elegant prose with a thoroughly absorbing plot. Immersing the reader in a little-known episode in South African history, it's a book to... Read more
Published 13 days ago by fades2grey
A joy to read
Frances Irvine is forced to accept the marriage proposal of Edwin, a man she does not love, and journey to meet him in South Africa where he is working as a doctor, immunising... Read more
Published 15 days ago by Four Violets
A Superior Romance!
This is a first novel by Jennifer McVeigh and it romps along at a great pace. Frances is the spoiled daughter of a self made Irish man who enticed the beloved daughter of a rich... Read more
Published 17 days ago by Richard M. Seel
Narrative power
This is a truly engrossing debut. It has the classic theme of a young woman's struggles through the social and emotional challenges of her age, and this English and colonial... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Waverley Pen
unusual and compelling read
This is a first novel that begins in England and ends in south Africa. The story line is centred around diamond mines in the 1880's with many twists and turns. Read more
Published 22 days ago by Mrs. A. Wright
Intense - a page turner
I read this book in a day, I had never really read anything like it before, it was wonderful. I had so many mixed feelings about Frances, although she was so naive she did tug at... Read more
Published 24 days ago by Nelly
A thoughtful and evocative novel
In THE FEVER TREE Jennifer McVeigh has evoked the horror and ruthlessness of the nineteenth century diamond trade and the wild beauty of Africa, and, at the same time, managed to... Read more
Published 27 days ago by aelfgyva
Loved it
I was given this book, and wouldn't have usually read it, (autobiographies are my thing) however, after a couple of pages that was it, I had to read to the end in 3 days. Read more
Published 28 days ago by Ms. K. Mccorry
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