I’m always scouring the Kindle store for new books about tea to read. Recently I came across this treasure of a book when it was mentioned in a Facebook group. How had I never heard of the Emma Lea series? Babette Donaldson’s name is certainly familiar as I’ve often seen her articles in industry magazines. This is the preview copy as the illustrations are still being finalized. Although this is technically a YA novel, I think any tea lover won’t be able to put it down. It tells the story of Emma Lea, a character that I immediately identified with because she loves tea about as much as I do.
This book was the author was on an actual tea tour so the amount factual information woven into the pages is astounding. I love that it was still written in a fun, easy to read manner. There was a little bit of innocent romance, an element of mystery and so much tea! I don’t want to give the story away but one of my favorite takeaways from the book was the term Tea Land.
“Some of use it as nickname for our obsession with the leaf. We’re careful to laugh at ourselves, of course. But I like to think that Tea Land is our own network of tea lovers around the world – growing stronger as we discover new ways to communicate. Like this tour. Like Internet bloggers. Something we all share, just in different ways. I think of our Tea Land like our own little country that stretches around the globe. Perhaps, it can become a model for a more peaceful planet.”
I couldn’t have put it better myself. I definitely suggest giving this book a read if that passage sounds familiar to you at all. This would a perfect book to share with a tea loving pre-teen (you could even drink the teas that are talked about as you go). For $0.99 it was a steal!
You can find out more about this book here.