I have mentioned in my previous posts, I have been wanting to take a “real” vacation, (not just a couple days and not for family reasons) for a looong time but I haven’t been able to these past few years for various reasons. I was finally able to in September 2023, as my sister and I purchased a cruise trip around Ireland.
It however did not go according to plan. To begin with the waves were extremely rough with the ship rocking nonstop. But I was willing to put up with that, we were on a cruise after all. But when we got on the island all seemed well with us in Cork.
However, we discovered that our “rough weather” we faced was a lie perpetuated by the Norwegian Cruise Line; it turned out Ireland had been attacked by Hurricane Agnes. The Captain planned to take us up to Belfast to shelter off the coast, but he warned us that we might not be able to get off the ship until we reached Southampton for the final disembarkation
We spent three days stuck on the ship, but we were able to make our stop in the Killybegs’ port. We spent the day climbing Sliabh Liag, visiting Studio Donegal, and hanging out in Killeybegs.
The next day we went to Belfast and spent the day at the Titanic museum.
Our last day in Ireland we had planned to go to Dublin, but as it took us hours to tender to port, we decided to stay in Dún Laoghaire. We walked all over the city, taking a stroll on the Dún Laoghaire Pier.
We managed to finally have some Irish tea in Dun Laoghaire at the historic People’s Park.
The other thing we had hoped to achieve, now that we knew the cruise line wouldn’t toss our tea, was to purchase some loose leaf tea. However we couldn’t find a single tea shop, just coffee shops or coffee roaster shops.
Ireland is number two in the world for most tea consumption, but we couldn’t find a tea shop in Killeybegs, Belfast, or Dun Laoghaire. Belfast might have had some, but we had been far too busy with the Titanic Museum we didn’t get to spend a lot of time in the city.
We did ask one of the shopkeepers at the Irish Design Studio and she recommended going to SuperValu in the mall to pick some up or another convenience store. That was something that I found a bit of a culture shock in Ireland, so many malls had grocery stores or thrift stores. We headed over there and were given many choices of tea, but I wanted something that was distinctly Irish or only something I could get in the United Kingdom.
The shopkeeper had suggested either Lyons Tea or Barry’s, Barry’s being her favorite; but as soon as I saw Lyons Tea I decided on it as they mention it in one of my favorite books, The Secret Adversary.
Lyons Tea was started earlier in England, but began their Irish business in 1902 in Dublin. They were also known for their tea shops all over England and Ireland from 1894 to 1981. I was excited to try it out.
According to an article I had read in Teatime Magazine Irish tea is strong; “so strong a cup can stand straight up in the cup”. Most are made with Assam and have a strong taste and are dark in color, often being compared to coffee. It is recommended to be served with sugar and cream/milk.
I have never enjoyed the Irish tea in the states, and was excited for this one. It took a long time but I was able to find a loose leaf version of the original blend. When we were home I tried it and loved it! It is so good and just like how I like my tea.
A few years back I was given a collection of five teas, A World of Teas. As I was about to try them out, I started thinking: which books would best suit these teas? After all, nothing goes together better than a good book and a delicious cup of tea.
Of course I had to pair the tea with the book I always associate with Lyons, The Secret Adversary.
The Secret Adversary (The Adventures of Tommy and Tuppence #1) by Agatha Christie
I’ve been wanting to review this book ever since my book club read it back in 2020, as it is one I recommended for the Non-Austen Read for Austen Readers List.
This book is one of Christie’s mystery/adventure stories/thrillers. It different from her Poirot or Marple stories as there is the mysterious element but with a focus on the adventure side. Tommy and Tuppence are two of my favorite Christie detectives, in fact I wish she had written more stories with them as they are a delight.
The mystery begins with an ill fated sea voyage, (something I can relate to more after my Irish experience and another reason why this tea and book go together); the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915. When people start moving to the lifeboats, a man approaches Jane Finn, an ordinary American girl who was traveling to become a nurse and assist in WWI. The man asks her to carry some secret papers as she is much more likely to get on a lifeboat than him, and as the USA was a neutral country at the time. Being a patriot for the cause, she agrees and takes the packet; changing her life forever.
Five years pass and we are introduced to our main characters, old friends Lt. Thomas “Tommy” Beresford and Miss Prudence “Tuppence” Cowley. The two haven’t seen each other in three due to WWI. Both are down in the dumps as they have no work, have not been successful in finding any, and are growing near to their last coin. They decide to treat themselves to tea at Lyons, where they share their WWI adventures and Tommy mentions how he overheard two men mention a name “Jane Finn” the other day, he remembers the name as he finds it very odd.
Tuppence decides they need to find a way to make money as the two have no hope of inheriting it or marrying into it.
She comes up with the idea that the two could start their own business- The Young Adventures, Ltd.-and that they should run an advertisement.
Two young adventurers for hire.
Willing to do anything, go anywhere.
Pay must be good.
No reasonable offer refused.
They part ways, but then Tuppence is approached by a man with a job offer. They meet the next day and he offers £100 for her (he doesn’t want Tommy) to travel to Paris, speak in an American accent, and pretend to be Edward Whittington’s ward. Tuppence is cautious about it and decides to give a fake name (as she doesn’t want to cause a scandal for her parents), deciding on “Jane Finn”. As soon as she utters them name, everything changes. Mr. Whittington is angry, accuses her of trying to play him, and questions who could have squealed-Rita? Tuppence “blackmails” £50 out of him, hears him talk to a “Mr. Brown” and agrees to meet him the next day for further payment. However, when she returns with Tommy, Mr. Whittington has disappeared.
Tuppence is not about to lose this big fish and the opportunity and has Tommy to put in a new advertisement:
WANTED:
Any information respecting Jane Finn
Apply Young Adventurers, Ltd.
They end up receiving two replies. The first is Mr. Carter who Tommy recognizes as a member of the OSS, who reveals to them how they had an operative on the Lusitania with the draft of a secret agreement, by various countries. When the boat was sinking the operative passed the documents to a young girl-Jane Finn-and he did not survive, but no one knows what happened to the girl or the documents. The girl was listed as a survivor, but she has completely disappeared. They need the documents as if they were to go public today in 1920, it would be disastrous. Agreements made in war do not always do well in times of peace and lately there have been unrest, lead by the elusive and villainous mastermind, “Mr. Brown”.
Tuppence is able to put the pieces together and concludes that Mr. Whittington wanted her to pretend to be Jane Finn, that is until it seemed she knew all about their plan. The call from “Mr. Brown” was probably one of warning and that is why the group vanished.
Mr. Carter hires them and the two start investigating. They begin by meeting the second person who answered their advertisement: Julius P. Hersheimmer. Julius is Jane’s cousin and a millionaire, who has been searching for her. He brought a picture to give to Scotland Yard but it turns out “Mr. Brown” tricked him out of it.
The three team up together as this case takes ups and downs and twists and turns. Kidnapping, imprisonments, mistaken identities, red herrings, Bolshevisks, amnesia, spy games, etc.
This is one of my favorite books and one I often reread. I love the story, the characters, the pacing, the reveal, etc.
I think it goes perfect with the tea as the characters are strong and I enjoy both of them the more I have them.
Now why for Jane Austen fans?
I recommend it for Jane Austen fans as first of all Tuppence reminds me a lot of Emma Woodhouse. She’s a strong character who believes she knows best, and while most of the time her intuition is correct she also has a hard time listening to other people. Besides being a strong capable person; she also loves adventure and watching/reading adventure stories. This reminds me of Catherine Morland, especially how she enjoys how quickly things are moving, along with not taking the consequences as seriously; believing it is all like a book and will work out.
Tommy has his own imaginative tendencies, like Henry Tilney, but tends to spend most of his life as calm collected and trying to keep Tuppence from going overboard; very similar to Mr. Knightley. Like Knightley, Tommy has to rein in some of Tuppence’s more extreme ideas.
The characters completely balance each other out; just like Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney and Emma Woodhouse and Mr. Knightley. The started off as friends so they have a more joking relationship similar to Knightly and Emma; or much like how Tilney and Catherine started. Also like Knightley and Emma it’s obvious to many that the two have feelings for each other; but it takes time for them to realize it.
Julius is a genial guy but had been raised rich, believing he can just use money to take care of anything. He doesn’t always think, but reacts; his blunt and charge ahead attitude reminds me of Frank Churchill and Mr. Willoughby; this young men who have always lived wealthy lives with little responsibilities. Although Julius is nicer than them, like Frank he too doesn’t see the harm in a mild flirtation.
Like the Austen novels, our characters fall victim to trusting someone they shouldn’t because they appear to be someone who is good and strong, but secretly rotten, and luckily they discover the truth before something too terrible happens.
A great read!
For more tea posts, go to Spill the Tea: People’s Park Café
For more Ireland posts, go to Trying Not to Pull a Louisa Musgrove: Walking the Dún Laoghaire Pier
For more on Agatha Christie, go to Miss Marple and Jane Austen: You Can See Human Nature From Anywhere in a Small Village
For more Non-Austen reads for Austen Readers, go to Someone to Wed
For more mysteries, go to Catherine Morland’s Reading List: Dangerous to Know (Lady Emily Ashton Mystery #5)
For more spy stories, go to Undeceived: Pride & Prejudice in the Spy Game
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