All The Tea in China

All the Tea In China by Jane Orcutt had a great beginning but didn’t carry the reader to the very end.

Isabella Goodrich, is a pretty tom-boy all dressed up in lace who would rather be sword fighting then sipping tea. She has been called to be a missionary and will risk embarrassment to go against accepted behavior of society to accomplish her goal.

So how does she decide to this? She sneaks onto the ship of a man name Phineas Snowe after he repeatedly told her he would not take her to china. Thus begins her adventure to China where she falls in love with Snowe and, well, becomes a housewife. Not quite the missionary adventures the readers were hoping for.

Stop reading right now if you think I’m crazy and you want to read the book because I’m going to break reviewer rule number one and give away most of the ending to this book. Instead check out this cute baby. Isn't she beautiful. That is my favorite outfit I had for my daughter.

Still with me.

So what happens to Isabella in China? She marries Phineas and takes up shop at his house while he goes on an adventure into the heart of China searching for a special tea that he believes will give China its independence from Britain’s opium. The reader doesn’t get to read about his adventure or what happens. What we do get is Isabella trying to find her place at Phineas’ family home in China. The most adventure is the house gets robbed but Isabella with her excellent sword fighting skills defends them. So what do you think the reader would want to hear more about? Personally, I want to see Phineas’ adventures searching for tea. Not homemaking. I do that everyday of my life.

Getting back to the robbery, I found it unbelievable. Isabella had sword and martial arts training in England. Outlandish for an upperclass girl but not unbelievable. What is unbelievable is that she could single handedly defeat four to five martial artist by herself. And that is where the novel broke the fantasy for me. Once the illusion is broken the novel looses its effectives. This book does have its fun moments such as the interactions between Isabella and Phineas and up until the end the reader is captured in the story. It’s a good distraction from a busy schedule if you need something to entertain you for a while.

I would say the novel is low on passion. Isabella and Phineas love each other and speak to with dear affection and have sweet kisses. But not much more.

Theology wise, it’s solid. Nothing that would go against basic Christian doctrine.

My final verdict. Borrow it don’t buy it.