Tea is So Intoxicating

Description

David Tompkins thinks it is a splendid idea to open a tea garden at his Kentish cottage. His wife, Germayne, is not so sure. The local villagers are divided on the matter, and not necessarily supportive, particularly Mr Perch at the Dolphin, who sees it as direct competition to Mrs Perch's own tea garden. It doesn't bode well when the official opening coincides with a break in the beautiful weather. Things are further complicated by the arrival of the 'cake cook' Mimi, a Viennese girl with a mysterious past, Germayne's daughter Ducks, and finally her 'rather stolid' ex-husband Digby. With rumour rife that the couple are - whisper it - not actually married, the lady of the manor, who has failed to realise that nowadays that title carries no real weight, makes it her mission to shut the enterprise down.

Mary Essex (1892-1984) was one of several pennames for Ursula Bloom, one of the most popular and bestselling authors of the twentieth century. She was once recognised in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most published female author. She also worked as a Fleet Street journalist and magazine features editor, wrote radio and stage plays, and appeared on television and radio.