The Colour of Tea: A Novel by Hannah Tunnicliffe

After moving with her husband to the tiny, bustling island of Macau, Grace Miller finds herself a stranger in a foreign land—a lone redhead towering above the crowd on the busy Chinese streets. As she is forced to confront the devastating news of her infertility, Grace’s marriage is fraying and her dreams of family have been shattered. She resolves to do something bold, something her impetuous mother would do, and she turns to what she loves: baking and the pleasure of afternoon tea.

Grace opens a café where she serves tea, coffee, and macarons—the delectable, delicate French cookies colored like precious stones—to the women of Macau. There, among fellow expatriates and locals alike, Grace carves out a new definition of home and family. But when her marriage reaches a crisis, secrets Grace thought she had buried long ago rise to the surface. Grace realizes it’s now or never to lay old ghosts to rest and to begin to trust herself. With each mug of coffee brewed, each cup of tea steeped and macaron baked, Grace comes to learn that strength can be gleaned from the unlikeliest of places.

A delicious, melt-in-your-mouth novel featuring the sweet pleasures of French pastries and the exotic scents and sights of China, The Color of Tea is a scrumptious story of love, friendship and renewal. (Book Blurb)

This book is what I call my bargain find book.  I first heard of it in one of those book sites that would give out recommendations on what I might like to read.  It has been in my to-read shelves for awhile, when while browsing through a second hand bookstore I found it just like that.  It was fate.  This is Hannah Tunnicliffe's first novel and her writing style is really good.  She manages to pull you in this quiet piece of literature with her descriptive and emotional prose.  The story opens with Grace who had just moved to Macau with her husband because of his work.  This is Grace's journey into losing her sense of where her life is going.  Its a story of relationships, with her husband, with her mother, with her new found friends and with her cafe, Lillian's.  It is about the bonds that are formed, and the bonds that appear to have broken.  Macarons, those wonderful french delicacies are the main glue of her new life.  This is very much apparent on the title of each chapter, written in that fanciful script describing the delicacy and the theme of the chapter at the same time.  Un Peu de Bonte- A Little Kindness, Watermelon with Cream Filling, Coeur Curatif-Healing Heart, Vanilla with Rasberry Markings and Raspberry Gel Insertion, these are chapter titles enough to get your mouth watering at the same time makes you anticipate what the next chapter is going to be like.  The Colour of Tea, has great secondary characters as well,fully fleshed out not just as a support for the main character but is part of the main story as well.    It gives depth to what Grace is really like, what she is going through and how seamlessly they have become part of her life.   My favorite quote in the book that sums everything thats going on in Grace's life comes from Marjory, " Letting him in, Grace. To what makes you tick.  The in-here part."

Title: The Colour of Tea
Author: Hannah Tunnicliffe
Genre: Contemporary Fiction (More than just a chick lit)
Published: June 5th, 2012 (Originally Published 2011 by Pan Macmillan Australia)
Publisher: Scribner
Rating: ♨♨♨♨ 1/2  ( This is definitely worth reading, those who like novels that delve into day to day living and character development and character relationships will love this book)