The Colour of Tea

Authors: Hannah Tunnicliffe

BOOK: The Colour of Tea

8.33Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

Macau: the bulbous nose of China, a peninsula and two islands strung together like a three-bead necklace. It was time to find a life for myself. To make something out of nothing. The end of hope and the beginning of it too.

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 Colour of Tea
is a scrumptious story of love, friendship and renewal.

HANNAH TUNNICLIFFE
was born in New Zealand but is a self-confessed nomad. After finishing a degree in social sciences, she lived in Australia, England, and Macau. A career in human resources temporarily put her dream of becoming a writer on the back burner.
The Colour of Tea
is her first novel.

MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
THE SOURCE FOR READING GROUPS

COVER DESIGN BY EMILY O’NEILL • COVER IMAGES: TOP © TREVILLION IMAGES; BOTTOM © GETTY IMAGES • © AUTHOR BIO BY LAURA LEE-GERWING

Thank you for purchasing this Scribner eBook.

Sign up for our newsletter and receive special offers, access to bonus content, and info on the latest new releases and other great eBooks from Scribner and Simon & Schuster.

or visit us online to sign up at
eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.com

Scribner

A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Originally published in 2011 in Macmillan by Pan Macmillan Australia Limited as
The Colour of Tea

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Scribner Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Scribner trade paperback edition June 2012

SCRIBNER and design are registered trademarks of The Gale Group, Inc. used under license by Simon & Schuster, Inc., the publisher of this work.

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at
www.simonspeakers.com
.

Library of Congress Control Number: 20122009165

978-1-4516-8699-9

ISBN 978-1-4516-8705-7 (ebook)

Contents

Prologue

L’Arrivée—Arrival

Sweet and Smoky Caramel with
Salted Buttery Cream Filling

Remède de Délivrance—Rescue Remedy

Violet with Cream and Bitter Black
Currant Filling

La Ville-Lumière—City of Light

Parisian Crêpe–Inspired Banana with
Hazelnut Chocolate Ganache

La Poudre à Canon—Gunpowder