Title: The Fever Tree Author: Jennifer McVeigh
Published: April 4, 2013
Genre(s): Historical Fiction
Page Count: 432
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:Frances Irvine, left destitute in the wake of her father’s sudden death, has been forced to abandon her life of wealth and privilege in London and emigrate to the Southern Cape of Africa. 1880 South Africa is a country torn apart by greed. In this remote and inhospitable land she becomes entangled with two very different men—one driven by ambition, the other by his ideals. Only when the rumor of a smallpox epidemic takes her into the dark heart of the diamond mines does she see her path to happiness.
But this is a ruthless world of avarice and exploitation, where the spoils of the rich come at a terrible human cost and powerful men will go to any lengths to keep the mines in operation. Removed from civilization and disillusioned by her isolation, Frances must choose between passion and integrity, a decision that has devastating consequences.
I think reading The Fever Tree was the first time I truly experienced a truly stupid, brainless, blind protagonist. “TSTL” was practically invented for her. McVeigh’s protagonist, Frances, acts like a complete child, refuses to take responsibility for things, is willfully oblivious to obvious fact, and is in constant need of saving from her doctor husband. She’s also one-third of a ridiculous love triangle, and just in general, I’m not a fan of Frances.
I actually enjoyed The Fever Tree—rather, I would have enjoyed it, if Frances had been a different person, or maybe just nonexistent. She was basically this caterwauling messy infant who spoiled the entire party with her noise and apparent inability to take care of herself. There’s a lot to say about the book, probably; unfortunately all I really have to say is Frances-related, because boy did she spoil everything.
Now, I didn’t like Frances, but I don’t believe that a good protagonist is necessarily likeable. However, Frances is just a whole other level of unlikable. She’s naive, she’s childish, she’s self-centered, and she’s whiney. She refuses to see the truth because it means she’ll have to alter her behavior. She refuses to take responsibility for her actions, or to think of the consequences of her choices. She rejects advice, doesn’t learn from past mistakes, and pouts when life doesn’t go her way. Another character said of Frances: “You have a wonderfully infuriating habit of blaming other people for the truths you can’t handle” and it’s 100% right on. She complains that her husband treats her like a child, but he responds by saying that she acts like a child—also 100% correct.
Frances has no redeeming qualities. At the end of the book she dramatically “turns her life around” and gets a happy ending, but it lacks realism and believability. Imagine if Scarlett O’Hara had woken up one morning and decided she was going to be a great person and win Rhett’s love and be happy forever…oh wait! Despite Scarlett’s protestations of her “changed” status, Rhett still ditches her. That’s probably more realistic than him smothering her with kisses before the two of them waltz off into the sunset. The way Frances’s character is treated in The Fever Tree is like a fairytale, and a highly overdramatic one at that.
Why overdramatic? Well, let’s discuss the plot. Frances comes to South Africa to get married. She doesn’t like her husband very much, and she has an affair with this other guy who’s obviously an asshole; he compares whipping “niggers” to a jockey using his crop to urge the horse into its best performance possible. Also, apparently to a “nigger” being whipped is nothing more than a tickle. (Frances refuses to leave him after this comment because TSTL.) Frances’s husband is a doctor; over the course of the book, Frances, through her own fault, stupidly puts her life in danger multiple times and contracts deadly sicknesses. Said husband always nurses her back to health. The final life-threatening episode is the catalyst for him to declare his feelings, and then waltzing off into the sunset ensues. Yeesh, does this sound like a overblown soap opera, or does it?
The actually interesting story, then, just plays as background noise to all of Frances stupid drama. The blood diamond industry, smallpox epidemic, racial equality, politics—all are kept on the down-low because Frances is childishly running around acting like an idiot and ruining everyone’s life. As you do.
In conclusion: there’s nothing like an idiot to ruin a book. Jennifer McVeigh’s The Fever Tree would be excellent, if we could only lose the protagonist, who’s judgmental, whiny, selfish, and absolutely moronic. Sorry Frances, but your fairytale life does not satisfy me at all.
