Silver Nutmeg by Norah Lofts
The problem with literature is that it sometimes forgets to include a plot or a single sympathetic character. The problem with trash is that bad writing based on predictable cliches makes me cringe. Norah Lofts manages to stay somewhere in between the two extremes and Silver Nutmeg is one of her better efforts. What you might call romantic history, the story is never predictable but never stops moving either and the characters, while likable, are humanly flawed and believable as well.
Silver Nutmeg tells the story of a previously poor Dutch farmer, now a wealthy island nutmeg planter, and the woman he summons from the homeland to be his wife. Their complex relationship and the history of the island (loosely based on actual history) make up the story. The ending is particularly unforseen.