"Something about the view takes my breath away. The emerald hue of the ocean, the waves crushing against the cliffs in the middle distance, the changing colours of the sky as the clouds roll across. There's a wildness to it, making me tingle...
"Got you, has it?" The man's voice is soft with a Cornish bur. I look up to see sandy hair and a beard flecked with grey; green eyes as deep as the sea.
"It has rather."
He nods. "Does that to people. Claims them. For better or for worse".
I can so relate to that feeling of being claimed by the Cornish coastline, with its rugged beauty, and the eternal song of the waves. Give me a book, set in Cornwall, and I'm happy.
The Forgotten Maid by Jane Cable is a captivating dual timeline mystery. This is the first book in the Cornish Echoes Dual Timeline series.
For me it ticks off all the right boxes: Cornwall - ✔, evocative landscapes that make me want to leave everything behind and escape to the coastline - ✔, historical era/Regency setting with Poldark-ian undertones - ✔, a flawed and intriguing male protagonist - ✔, a compelling romance - ✔, plus a supernatural twist -✔ .
Cornwall, 2015.
Anna Pritchard is a project manager, overseeing the construction of a trendy new glamping site outside the small village of Porthnevek. The villagers are understandably upset and strongly oppose the development. (I was totally siding with the villagers. If I lived there, I'd be one of the protesters, for sure. I don't really buy the glamping aesthetic, for me they ruin the natural beauty of the landscape).
Anna is convinced that she is right. "I look around me, wondering if this build is the right thing to do. The coastline is so wild and beautiful... I square my shoulders. Glamping means more people will be able to enjoy it. Small scale, low impact. The perfect development". A pity the local community thinks differently.
Anna believes she can cope with the nuisance visits on the site and even vandalism, but she doesn't expect the level of hostility and ostracism she encounters locally. The leader of the protesters, Serena, is quite vicious in her opposition, declaring "There won't be any yurts. We're not going to stand by and let you ruin the valley. It would be better for everyone if you just packed your bags and went back where you came from".
Feeling lonely, Anna decides to apply for a volunteering position at a nearby National Trust house in Trelissick, which was once owned by the Daniell family, wealthy owners of tine and copper mines. There she meets Luke, who appears to be a total charmer. At Christmas time the team at Trelissick are decorating the manor house as it would have been in 1815, and each volunteer has to dress up as a member of the Daniell's household.
She also finds herself drawn into a small but friendly circle of The Tinners pub, which is not far from Porthnevek. There she strikes friendship with an enigmatic Gun (Sebastian), who can communicate with the dead souls. Sebastian resents his nickname, and insists Anna calls him by his proper name. "It will take me a while to get used to thinking of him as Sebastina; Gun somehow suits his lone wold ranginess, the enigmatic edges of his character. Sebastian is softer, somehow, calm in a crisis".
As Anna spends more and more time, submerged in the local history of the manor house and mining business of the area, it feels like the past is just round the corner, you can hear its echo. The past and the present begin to diverge.
"The sorrow pressing down on me feels more than just my own. It is the sadness of generations; of women lied to and cheated on - women who believed a man and paid the price. It cloaks me in greyness, and I am aware of sobbing. For a moment I think it's my onw, but then I realise it isn't".
Belgium, 1815.
Two hundred years earlier, a French army seamstress Thérèse Ruguel is devastated by the death of her brother at Waterloo. An English war artist Thomas Chalmers, sees her horror-stricken, at the edge of the battlefield, and rescues her. He takes Thérèse to London, as his hesitant and melancholic muse. "His sketchbooks were full of Thérèse threading a needle, Thérèse sipping a cup of chocolate, Thérèse looking out of the window. He'd had enough of painting death and destruction... This slight young woman was his inspiration now. Since he's brought Thérèse to London, his creativity had known no bounds".
Thomas's mother is unhappy with the arrangement, and finds a position for Thérèse in Cornwall.
She will be serving as a maid to Elizabeth Daniell, a relative of the Chalmers, and a wealthy lady, whose husband owns properties and mines in Cornwall. Thus Thérèse finds herself in Truro, and later at Trelissick. Her mistress is a kindly woman, who appreciates Thérèse's knowledge of medicinal herbs, and her quiet ways. Not everyone, however, enjoys her company. The other servants are suspicious of the foreigner who doesn't speak their language and doesn't attend the church. Some even think she's a witch.
This hostile circle makes Thérèse look for friendship beyond the household. She is befriended by the local smuggler Coates, who is kind and respectful to her. He also gives her a sliver of hope that her brother might still be alive, and promises to help her find the truth. Her loyalty lies with the Daniell family, yet her heart yearns for home and news of her brother. "...perhaps now she had just a little hope the long winter of her soul was beginning to end".
Can Thérèse trust the notorious smuggler and brave the dangerous journey back to France? Will she follow her heart and intuition?
Will Anna discover Thérèse's fate? Can she unearth the truth of the past events and at the same time find out where her own destiny leads her?
Though two centuries apart, Anna and Thérèse have things in common, they are both looking for a place to call home. They both have suffered a bereavement recently, feel lost and alienated, and are not looking for a relationship.
The Forgotten Maid is a story of love and loss, loyalty and betrayal - atmospheric, imaginative and wonderfully sweeping, with a remarkable sense of place and history.
This post is part of the blog tour for The Forgotten Maid.
Purchase Link - http://getbook.at/TheForgottenMaid
Many thanks to Jane Cable and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!
Author Bio –
Jane Cable writes romance with a twist for Sapere Books, and The Forgotten Maid her first novel set in her adopted county of Cornwall. She is lucky enough to have been married to the love of her life for more than twenty-five years, and loves spending time outdoors, preferably close to the sea on the wild and rugged north Cornwall coast.
She also writes emotional women’s fiction as Eva Glyn, published by One More Chapter.
Social Media Links –
Twitter: @JaneCable
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaneCableAuthor
Website & newsletter sign up: http://www.janecable.com
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