The Cornish House [Kindle Edition]

Admittedly I was seduced by the cover! This is a gentle, effortless read - perhaps a little too effortless - but would be a great beach book if you don't want a challenging read on hols. Also you'll need to be able to forgive some well-worn concepts: handsome men with white teeth, glowing tans and chiseled jaw. One even had a 'hurt puppy' look. Shivers run up spines, words desert, breathing and hearts stop, and at one stage the heroine ponders 'wild sex'. Now and again the flow of the book is interrupted by a kind of emotional U-turn eg. One minute the hero and heroine are clasped together, full-length, front-to-front in the kitchen, and the next moment are discussing central heating!
But, all that aside, the author presents a wonderful picture of Cornwall, and the book is worth reading for that alone. I wouldn't call this a page turner, it's not rivetting, but if you read it for what it is - a gentle romance in a beautiful setting, you'll be satisfied.

This was not quite the book I had expected. The description led me to believe that there would be plenty delving into the past, as it mentions the generations of women who lived in the house before, but this was not really a major part of the story.
Widow Maddie inherits an old house in Cornwall, and moves there with her stepdaughter Hannah. She tries to find out about the woman who bequeathed her the house and why, this is as far as the history bit goes. Mostly the book is about the relationship between Maddie and her revolting stepdaughter, I suppose a sign of good characterisation here because I loathed Hannah, she needed a good slap, but to be honest I just found her infuriating and the way Maddie dealt with her was quite pathetic. The other theme in the book is Hannah's friendship with an elderly local man, and Maddie's romantic entanglements with various men.
If you enjoy romance novels you will probably like it, for me it was a bit of a non event, not what I expected and a bit bland, but readable.

Artist, Maddie, recently widowed and struggling to cope with the loss of her husband, discovers that she has inherited a house in Cornwall from an unknown relative and hoping that a move to pastures new will be the much-needed fresh start for her and her step-daughter, Hannah, she puts aside any misgivings and decides to make the move from London. The house in Cornwall, named Trevenen, has been rather neglected, but it is a beautiful, rambling home with a wonderful character and feeling to it and, as Maddie discovers more about the house and of its previous occupants, she finds herself becoming very attached to her new home and soon she almost feels as if she is a part of it - especially when an old chest is found which contains family papers, a diary and photographs, providing Maddie with some interesting information about her previously unknown family.

However, Maddie cannot really start to enjoy her new life because Hannah, who is understandably bereft after losing her father, is initially determined to find fault not just with Maddie, but with the new house as well and, when Maddie becomes friendly with a local man, Mark, Hannah decides to make life as difficult as she can for them, which causes all sorts of problems. However, as time passes and the warmth of new friends and the magic of Cornwall slowly starts to work on both Maddie and Hannah, they begin to see life in a more optimistic light and Trevenen certainly has its part to play in helping them through their difficult times.

In her debut novel, Liz Fenwick fondly describes the beauty of the Cornish landscape, her descriptions of Trevenen are a pleasure to read and her characters are warmly depicted.... However I do have to be honest and say that I found some of this story to be rather predictable and some of the language a little clichéd: men have chiselled jaws, tanned, muscular bodies and smile wickedly; hearts flutter, legs tremble and knees buckle; the archetypal teenage step-daughter slouches about, continually bored, rolling her eyes, muttering "whatever" and "this sucks" which did become a little tedious. But that said, Liz Fenwick has written a heart-warming story of love, loss and healing and if you want a lightly entertaining and effortless read to sink into on a lazy summer day, and you are in the need of something romantic and undemanding then 'The Cornish House' may well fit the bill for you.

3 Stars. Read more ›

I'd never read anything by this author before. It was an easy read and quite enjoyable. Not sure if I would read another book by her particularly.

This is a great novel if you want something that's entertaining and not too taxing. The story is believable in the most part, although a bit predicable. There is also a supernatural element which is given a lot of coverage earlier on in the book, but then peters out towards the end as the romance part of the novel takes over.

The characters could have been rounded out more and the emotional side of the events could have been explored to a greater extent. There was a lot of action described, but not a lot of the feeling that went along with it. Some of the scenes were a bit brief and I felt that they could have been expanded on to allow for further character development. Some of the decisions made by Maddie in the events leading up to the point at which the story starts seem a bit out of character and seem to be more a plot device to attribute later behaviour to, rather than something a seemingly rational woman like her would do. I felt like I never really got to know her properly - her emotions and motivations could have been explored a lot more.

If you're a fan of Susannah Kearsley's exceptional writing you might be a bit disappointed with this first novel from her fellow Herione Addict. After reading some of Liz Fenwick's misspelled and grammatically incorrect blog entries I can understand better why her writing is bit of a let down. Perhaps she needs a different editor.

After my comments above it may seem like I didn't really enjoy reading the novel. But don't get me wrong - I did enjoy it, just felt better writing would have enhanced what is a lovely and satisfying story. I'm looking forward to reading her next novel "A Cornish Affair" to see if her writing style has developed further.