In this creative, ethnographic, and historical critique of labor practices on an Indian plantation, Piya Chatterjee provides a sophisticated examination of the production, consumption, and circulation of tea. A Time for Tea reveals how the female tea-pluckers seen in advertisements—picturesque women in mist-shrouded fields—came to symbolize the heart of colonialism in India. Chatterjee exposes how this image has distracted from terrible working conditions, low wages, and coercive labor practices enforced by the patronage system. Allowing personal, scholarly, and artistic voices to speak in turn and in tandem, Chatterjee discusses the fetishization of women who labor under colonial, postcolonial, and now neofeudal conditions. In telling the overarching story of commodity and empire, A Time for Tea demonstrates that at the heart of these narratives of travel, conquest, and settlement are compelling stories of women workers. While exploring the global and political dimensions of local practices of gendered labor, Chatterjee also reflects on the privileges and paradoxes of her own “decolonization” as a Third World feminist anthropologist. The book concludes with an extended reflection on the cultures of hierarchy, power, and difference in the plantation’s villages. It explores the overlapping processes by which gender, caste, and ethnicity constitute the interlocked patronage system of villages and their fields of labor. The tropes of coercion, consent, and resistance are threaded through the discussion. A Time for Tea will appeal to anthropologists and historians, South Asianists, and those interested in colonialism, postcolonialism, labor studies, and comparative or international feminism. Designated a John Hope Franklin Center book by the John Hope Franklin Seminar Group on Race, Religion, and Globalization.
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARHenrietta Lovell is best known as 'The Rare Tea Lady'. She is on a mission to revolutionise the way we drink tea by replacing industrially produced teabags with the highest quality tea leaves. Her quest has seen her travel to the Shire Highlands of Malawi, across the foothills of the Himalayas, and to hidden gardens in the Wuyi-Shan to source the world's most extraordinary teas.Infused invites us to discover these remarkable places, introducing us to the individual growers and household name chefs Lovell has met along the way - and reveals the true pleasures of tea. The result is a delicious infusion of travel writing, memoir, recipes, and glorious photography, all written with Lovell's unique charm and wit.
From tea guru Sebastian Beckwith and New York Times bestsellers Caroline Paul and Wendy MacNaughton comes the essential guide to exploring and enjoying the vast world of tea. Tea, the most popular beverage in the world after water, has brought nations to war, defined cultures, bankrupted coffers, and toppled kings. And yet in many ways this fragrantly comforting and storied brew remains elusive, even to its devotees. As down-to-earth yet stylishly refined as the drink itself, A Little Tea Book submerges readers into tea, exploring its varieties, subtleties, and pleasures right down to the process of selecting and brewing the perfect cup. From orange pekoe to pu-erh, tea expert Sebastian Beckwith provides surprising tips, fun facts, and flavorful recipes to launch dabblers and connoisseurs alike on a journey of taste and appreciation. Along with writer and fellow tea-enthusiast Caroline Paul, Beckwith walks us through the cultural and political history of the elixir that has touched every corner of the world. Featuring featuring charming, colorful charts, graphs, and illustrations by bestselling illustrator Wendy MacNaughton and Beckwith's sumptuous photographs, A Little Tea Book is a friendly, handsome, and illuminating primer with a dash of sass and sophistication. Cheers!
Nikki A. Toyama-Szeto, Tracey Gee and Jeannette Yep bring together stories of Asian American women and how God has been at work in their lives. Family expectations and cultural stereotypes assume that these women can only act in certain roles. But with the help of Scripture and mentors, these women have experienced God's blessing and transforming power.
“You'll stay up long past your bedtime to finish this fast-paced thrill ride where a couple runs up against the dark side of human nature and an enemy who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan A brave woman on the run from her vindictive husband faces a dangerous path in the thrilling new romantic suspense novel from Oscar-nominated actress Meg Tilly. Sarah Rainsford has been on the run for more than three years. She's changed identities yet again in hopes of throwing her violent estranged husband, a police lieutenant, off her trail. Since she's still legally married to him, and he is willing to bend any laws to get his hands on her inheritance, he'll stop at nothing to locate her. With a new name and fake ID papers, she lands a job as a personal assistant to none other than Hollywood's golden boy director Mick Talford. He's a difficult client but she senses hidden depths to him. Once Mick and Sarah combine forces in a desperate attempt to keep Sarah out of harm's way, they build a strong bond . . . but with danger trailing them, is it enough to keep them both alive?
Jason Goodwin takes the reader on an adventurous journey through the serpentine paths of the tea trade-from China to India to London. Evoking both past and present in this lively and intriguing traveler's journal, he traces the development of the tea trade from its origins in Canton factories through the Opium Wars and the settlement of British India. His travels take him from the lost European cities of the China coast to inland China, to Calcutta, to India's high tea gardens in Bohea and Darjeeling. Full of historical and personal detail, A Time for Tea is highly informative, funny, and original. This is more than a travelogue, it is the soul of economic development.