Tea is so Intoxicating: Introduction and thoughts on reading.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

Mary Essex (1892-1984) was one of several pennames for Ursula Bloom, a popular, best selling author of the twentieth century who wrote over 400 books! She was once a holder of the Guinness Book of Records worlds most published female author.

Tea Is So Intoxicating is her most popular book, no doubt largely due to it's being republished by the British Library in their Women Writers series curated by Simon Thomas. Here is his review from his blog http://www.stuckinabook.com

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I'm looking forward to this one and should be starting later this week. I've not read anything by her yet, under any of her pen-names, but I rather like the sound of this one.

[Gillian]

Looking forward to this one too. It looks so charming and very English. In the meantime, I'm still trying to finish All Passion Spent.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

So glad you were able to get hold of a copy, it does sound rather delightful.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I started this yesterday. I have a few books on the go at the moment, so I only managed one chapter but it seems very promising; light comedy, perfect for reading in the garden on a sunny day, which I'm about to do.

[Peggy]

I’m about halfway through and really enjoying it.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

Excellent. What do you think of David and Germayne? Initially I thoughtt they would make a good match, now I'm not so sure. Certainly she's better suited to him than to Digby, decent but oh so dull.

[Peggy]

Tania wrote: "Excellent. What do you think of David and Germayne? Initially I thoughtt they would make a good match, now I'm not so sure. Certainly she's better suited to him than to Digby, decent but oh so dull."

I don’t think Germayne has the best taste in men. 😏

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

I think you might be on to something there 😅. There was something David said/thought earlier, about women being put here to annoy men. He doesn't seem so annoyed by Mimi, though.

[Peggy]

None of the men seem annoyed by Mimi.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

😄😄😄 True!

I thought it was remarkably tactless of David, when the Perches came around to complain about the teashop, to tell them there would be no competion as they were aiming to attract a much better class of customer. Ouch! 😅

[Philina]

Just started this and immediately fell in love with the writing style :)

[Michaela]

Also started it today, not further than chapter 1, but like the funny writing so far.

[Philina]

Tania wrote: "Excellent. What do you think of David and Germayne? Initially I thoughtt they would make a good match, now I'm not so sure. Certainly she's better suited to him than to Digby, decent but oh so dull."

Initially, I also thought that they would make a good match, but now (I'm about 40% in) I'm totally frustrated.
TRIGGER WARNING FOR RANTING:

I still like the writing style, but the plot seems to be the chronicle of failures which really is hyper frustrating. I want to punch the men for how they act towards Mimi. Honestly, they are all blind idiots who only think with their special male parts. And Mimi is a little whore (sorry for the strong language....). She might not hop into bed with the men, but she charms and intrigues in such a way....a proper whore looks basically saintly next to her, because she does honest and hard work for her hard-earned money and is straightforward about what she does and what she wants as payment.
Mimi is the worst stereotype of a woman. I hope she gets what she deserves, otherwise how could a female writer degrade our sex in such a way?

David....at first I had empathy. Some people are just not intelligent, so I hoped he would find a partner who accepted, loved and cherished him.
David, however, is not only stupid, but positively idiotic and that in a very toxic stubborn way.
The worst thing about it (and this is what triggered my rant about him) is that he is sooooo egotistical!!! He does what he wants, is totally stubborn and never even asks his wife. His wife whom he should care for and protect. In his idiocy he not only ruins himself, but also her which is a million times worse.
Digby looks so much better now. At least he is able to care for and love another being (Ducks).

I'm sorry to bother you with this eruption and the strong language...this had to come out somewhere or I would have exploded.

[Tania, Gloucestershire Wild Daffodil.]

Ha ha. I do agree Philina. It seemed like it was going to be a nice cosy tea-shop read; in fact, I didn't like any of the characters in this story, luckily I don't need to like the characters to enjoy the book, sometimes the most interesting ones have the most hateful characters. I did find the writing funny but I think I would have enjoyed this one more if there was at least someone in it I could empathise with.