Penhaligon’s Attic

Author/Guide: Terri Nixon

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1910: Two outsiders arrive in Cornwall with a secret….

ISBN: 978-0349412658
Genre: Historical, Sagas

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What you need to know before your trail

Anna Garvey arrives in Caernoweth, Cornwall with her daughter and a secret. Having come from Ireland to take up an inheritance of the local pub, she and her eighteen year-old daughter Mairead are initially viewed with suspicion by the close-knit community.

Anna soon becomes acquainted with Freya Penhaligon, a vulnerable girl struggling to keep her family business afloat in the wake of her grandmother’s death, and starts to gain the trust of the locals. As their friendship deepens, and Freya is brought out of her shell by the clever and lively Mairead, even Freya’s protective father Matthew begins to thaw.

But when a part of Anna’s past she’d long tried to escape turns up in the town, she is forced to confront the life she left behind – for her sake and her daughter’s too . .

Locations

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Travel Guide

Cornwall

A fictional guide to Cornwall since Caernoweth and Portsthennack are certainly fictional places albeit with Cornish sounding names. Sadly the Tin Streamer’s Arms and the lovely sounding harbour there are also fictional as it would be lovely to go there and see the boats in the harbour bobbing up and down. Wondering if any of them have had their name changed – it’s unlucky apparently according to the father in this novel. And every boat is female as they are the mistresses of the ocean and look after those who sail in her.

This is of course exactly the place where you would want to hide away in. It sounds idyllic although Anna and her daughter have inherited an inn and so have come here for a new start. However the tight knit community proves difficult to immerse themselves in at first.

Booktrailer Review

Emma @thebooktrailer

This is one of those stories that I love. Cosy, but fraught with mystery that involves families, dark secrets and hidden pasts.

I find Cornwall quite mysterious anyway with its tales of folklore and more so it was a perfect story to be set here. There is a lot of warmth and depth to the novel with talk of boats and the fishing industry, and the importance of naming a boat. Integrating yourself in such a tight community cannot be easy and taking over a pub there even less so, so I enjoyed experiencing that part of the story as the characters grew and became real.

The book reads easily as the ebb and flow of the text matches the tide – I felt immersed in Cornwall and its misty air and enjoyed this heartwarming and mysterious tale. There’s something about outsiders in small communities that really draws me in. Will be sure to pick out some of the author’s past books based on this one!