Why Join?

  • Add New Books

  • Write a Review

  • Backpack Reading Lists

  • Newsletter Updates

Join Now

One Cornish Summer by Liz Fenwick, set Cornwall, #TFBookClub read July/August 2018

15th August 2018

One Cornish Summer by Liz Fenwick, novel set in Cornwall

This novel was the #TFBookClub choice for July/August 2018 and you can read the comments on this post. There was a good deal of positive feedback about both the storyline and the interesting setting!

The novel is made up of short chapters, mostly alternating between Hebe and Lucy, set in 2016 with occasional flashbacks to 2015.

One Cornish Summer by Liz Fenwick

At the heart of the novel is the old ramshackle grand house “Helwyn House” (Helwyn meaning “bounteous hall”) inspired by the National Trust’s Godolphin, near Helston in Cornwall.

One Cornish Summer by Liz Fenwick

Wikipedia

Hebe is suffering from early onset dementia caused by the rotten gene that seems to afflict her family. It is clear from the sensitive portrayal that the author has observed deterioration of this kind first hand and has translated the effects on both an individual and those close into poignant prose.

Hebe is a pre-eminent academic specialising in the Civil War, and particularly the Seventeenth Century in Cornwall. Helwyn House has been in her heart for many a year, family holidays, but more pertinently for her because her speciality research has been Thomas Grylls, who mysteriously disappeared and she just has a feeling that the house will somehow give the answers she craves.

Lucy, her niece, a young socialite in London has been caught in flagrante with a married politician and is bundled off to Cornwall to manage her wayward aunt, and prevent her from spending her life savings on the purchase of Helwyn House.

The story is like snow-flakes fluttering down, heading seasonally from Autumn into Winter and Christmas, which melt and pool to combine into elements of the story. Hebe’s past story is set over one summer, but I think the title is slightly misleading given the overall storyline. She has had a much younger lover and fondly looks back to 2015 a fulfilling time together. John Donne and his wise, often sensual words, pepper the pages; Kit Williams, a star in Hollywood, bids on the house but loses out to Hebe, but nevertheless finds his heart settled in Cornwall; witchcraft, priest holes and the  ghostly feel in the North bedroom all lend a sense of a history waiting to be uncovered by the characters in the novel….

The storyline is a great concept, a house onto which the family members can be pegged, dynamics played out, love in its many guises depicted. The sense of Cornwall, bleak at times but hearty at others comes to life.

It took a little while to get into the story as the time periods 2015/16 are quite close and it is important to distinguish between the two. Overall it is a satisfying and well told story.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

Do catch Liz on Social Media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and via her website

Do come and join team TripFiction on Social Media:

Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction)

For more books set all around Cornwall, just access the TripFiction database!

Subscribe to future blog posts

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comments

  1. User: Harriet Steel

    Posted on: 16/08/2018 at 6:16 am

    Goodness, Helwyn House looks spooky, no wonder Liz Fenwick found it inspiring. The book was a great read. Thanks again to Trip Fiction for organising it. I’m looking forward to finding out what’s in store for September/October.

    Comment

  2. User: Elaine Fearnley

    Posted on: 15/08/2018 at 4:19 pm

    I absolutely LOVED this book!! I couldn’t put it down, and got so wrapped up in Helwyn House, and Hebe and Lucy’s lives, that everything here at home got pushed to one side! This is such a beautifully written, very descriptive and addictive story, that simply drew me in from the first page to the last! I empathised with the characters, and their lives, and could actually SEE Helwyn House, thanks to the vivid pictures drawn by Liz’s narrative. A fabulous book, very highly recommended. Well done Liz – another triumph!!

    Comment