Tea by the Sea

Tea by the Sea tells the story of a daughter growing up motherless, a young mother growing up childless, and the buffoon of a man caught between these dual tragedies he created. When adult Lenworth and teenager Plum fall in love and accidentally become pregnant, Lenworth decides to set Plum free from having to become a mother so young. He takes the baby girl Opal away and tries to start a new anonymous life in the Jamaican countryside without a second thought to how he will devastate everyone around him with his actions. The plot is at first engaging, but the pacing does not ramp up like you hope; for chapters and chapters the characters continue to hide, search, and mourn. Why Lenworth is motivated to act the way he does isn’t revealed to the audience until an awkwardly-timed third-act flashback, and by that time you are so enamored with poor Plum and Opal that you notice you don’t really care why Lenworth felt he needed to do what he did. Even poor Pauline, Lenworth’s fill-in mother for Opal and mother to his two younger sons, ends up far more engaging as a character. The story is something new, and the dynamics are interesting, but unfortunately, the pacing will leave the reader feeling impatient.