The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson

 

This month the theme for our read on a theme book club is 1960's. It was very fortuitous that the week before that was announced I had visited our local library for an author talk by Amanda Hampson about her latest release, The Deadly Dispute, the third book in the Tea Ladies series. The series is set in the Sydney garment trade with each book set in a different year. This book, the first in the series, is set in 1965.

In the series, our four tea ladies are Hazel, Merl, Betty and Irene. They all work in different businesses along Zig Zag Lane. They are all very different from each other but they always support each other as best they can! Hazel is the glue that holds the group together. Irene is a bit of a rough diamond and may or may not have her own interesting past, Merl is a bit bossy and Betty is the list maker. I look forward to learning more about them all as I progress in the series

Hazel works at Empire Fashionwear. In her role as tea lady, she not only knows what everyone's preferred biscuit choice is (Shortbread Cream for me thanks Hazel) but she is often called upon to be confidante and sometimes even the peacemaker if there is any dissent between staff members. She has access to all levels of the business from the machinists to the big boss. 

One day Hazel sees a distressed woman in the window of the supposedly abandoned warehouse across the road. The woman is holding up a note but it is in another language so Hazel isn't able to understand it. When the warehouse burns down and the Empire Fashionware bookkeeper is found dead, Hazel and her friends are drawn into the investigation, especially seeing as the police just don't seem to be interested. 

Unwittingly, Hazel finds herself caught up in the dangerous Sydney underworld where crime boss rules the streets, where people she knows are caught up in risky business, you don't know who you can trust and every action she takes could lead to danger. 

That is not the only issue Hazel is facing. She is not sure why but her husband Robert is acting a bit out of character. They are very happy together, and usually have a really set routine but there is something not quite right and she needs to figure it out.

I liked this book a lot, especially the camaraderie between the tea ladies (well, three of them at least). It really captures the feeling of the impact of rapid social change. I guess it is true of most decades, but the 1960s was a decade where there were seismic changes, particularly in the rag trade. The company where Hazel work is very conservative. They produce knee length skirts and tailored jackets in drab colours like brown. When English model Jean Shrimpton shocks the country by wearing a mini dress to the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, fashion changes overnight, but not everyone at Empire Fashionwear wants to change with the times, especially given some of the psychedelic fabric that is around. The orders dry up overnight, and suddenly many of the staff members are facing unemployment if things dont improve. 

As an aside now the dress looks very conservative compared to some of the fashions that are seen at the races but at the time it was very controversial because not only was the dress short, but she also was not wearing a hat, gloves or stockings. 

By the time I started working tea ladies were a thing of the past, but there were still a couple of people who did remember the days when they would work their way through the building, distributing tea or coffee, biscuits and a friendly bit of banter. I do love the idea of having someone like Hazel wandering through the building every day, dispensing biscuits and advice!

I have already requested the next book in the series so will be looking forward to reading more about the Tea Ladies and their adventures!

I am sharing this review with the Foodies Read challenge hosted at Based on a True Story, with Weekend Cooking  and with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, both of which I host! 

Rating 4.5/5