Cornwall, 2020
At the beginning of lockdown, teacher Carla Burgess needs to make some changes to her life. She no longer loves her job, and it’s certainly time to kick her on-off boyfriend into touch. But then, while walking on the cliffs she meets, Mani Dolcoath, a gorgeous American with a dark aura.
Mani is researching his family history, and slowly their lives and their heritage begin to entwine. The discovery of a locked Georgian tea caddy in the barn on her parents’ farm intrigues Carla, but then
she starts to see orbs, something that hasn’t happened since her grandmother died. They terrify her and she’ll do anything to outrun them, but will she lose Mani’s friendship in the process?
Cornwall, 1810
Harriet Lemon’s position as companion to Lady Frances Basset (Franny) perfectly conceals the fact they are lovers. But when Franny is raped and falls pregnant their lives are destined to change forever.
The one person who may be able to help them is Franny’s childhood friend, William Burgess, a notorious smuggler. But he has secrets of his own he needs to protect. Will his loyalties be divided, or will he come through?
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Jane Cable writes romance with a twist and its roots firmly in the past, more often than not inspired by a tiny slice of history and a beautiful British setting.
After independently publishing her award-winning debut, The Cheesemaker’s House, Jane was signed by Sapere Books. Her first two novels for them are contemporary romances looking back to
World War 2; Another You inspired by a tragic D-Day exercise at Studland Bay in Dorset and Endless Skies by the brave Polish bomber crews who flew from a Lincolnshire airbase.
Jane lives in Cornwall and her current series, Cornish Echoes, are dual timeline adventure romances set in the great houses of the Poldark era and today. She also writes as Eva Glyn.
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My thoughts: I really enjoyed this story, although partly set during the recent pandemic lockdowns, not something anyone really wants to be reminded of, the forced isolation allows Carla to meet Mani during their mandated exercise and find ways to get to know one another without actually being together. Which is of course quite strange for the most recent past, but before dating was allowed, courtship happened by letter or heavily chaperoned. It’s a bit like a modern twist on old methods.
Franny and Harriet’s story is somewhat darker and sadder than Clara and Manny’s. Nowadays we would probably think Franny was neurodivergent, her unique way of seeing the world, her naive innocence. It makes her extra vulnerable and a truly awful man takes advantage of that fact. Having a child outside of marriage was a huge deal in the 1800s, and so her parents and Harriet devise a plan to minimise Franny’s suffering and preserve her reputation.
As we learn of Franny and Harriet’s sad predicament, Carla and Mani are digging into their families’ history. And what they find is a distant connection between them, and to Franny and William Burgess. While they won’t learn the details, we do and thankfully it’s not a miserable tale at all but one of love and kindness and a deep abiding friendship.
This is a sweet and gentle love story, two really, one in 2020 and one two hundred years before. Set in the beautiful Cornish countryside and peopled with characters who are genuinely likeable and interesting, some of them real historical figures, who inspired the author to weave them a new past from the limited records.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 