Show me the words Cornwall or Cornish in the title, and you can bet, I will read the book.
Beneath the Cornish Skies by Kate Ryder has been hailed as an international bestseller. It's a modern romance story, with a supernatural twist.
I had it on my TBR list for a while, and it recently appeared on the Prime Reading for free.
The main character, Cassandra, who goes under names Cass, Sandra, Sands, Cassie etc, is one of those trophy WAGs who passively allow their man dominate their existence, from choosing furniture for their house to petty things like not letting them leave a wet cup on the dryboard. David is a high-flying, high-profile businessman who thinks the world of himself. He is so obnoxious, it's hard to see what his redeeming qualities are, that is, apart from the money, money, money.
Cass is so submissive, it hurts. She glides through the life, entertaining David's guests at their dinner parties, keeping herself fit for David's pleasure and riding horses.
Cass's parents died in a car accident, and she was seriously injured. David was the first on the scene to call the ambulance and visited her in the hopsital daily. On leaving the hospital, 18-year-old Cass moves straight into his house. "...halfway into my eighteenth year, I entered David Ashcroft's world. And that's where I stayed for the next ten". It's all very sus, as my son would say. Orphaned at such a young age, and basically abandoned by her indifferent older brother, it's no wonder she finds comfort in the arms of the first person who pays attention to her.
"I couldn't believe this gorgeous man with the movie-star looks, who had so unexpectedly come into my life under such tragic circumstances, was offering me a shiny new life to replace my smashed and destroyed, previously grey existence".
It's only later she comes to realise that David has installed her in his life as his most recent acquisition.
Cass has never had a chance to grow up, as she never lived independently, never went to college or found a job. Her life is all about pleasing her rich boyfriend and looking good. David is a controlling narcissist who forbids his girlfried from having children, as they would mess up their perfect farm house and supposedly ruin Cass's figure.
Having discovered that David has been sleeping with their cleaner, Cass decides to leave her dreadful boyfriend and finds a job as a housekeeper for a well-off family in Cornwall.
The Kinsmans immediately dump all the house tasks on Cass and work her pretty hard, expecting her to get up early and sort out all their housekeeping, from the stables to looking after children and dealing with the business of running the farm. And like a Mary Poppins, Cass apparently can do anything.
She looks after and exercises five horses and ponies, helps out with the school runs, clubs and appointments, helps Ginny run the holiday let and provides admin assistance for Gyles, among other duties.
Cass has an affinity with horses. She is an accomplished horsewoman. Her horse Caspian is her true friend. She says about him, "my conspirator, my soulmate, and the one with whom I share my deepest desires and concerns".
Cass is also prone to pompous speeches. "I enjoy helping horses to change physically, mentally and emotionally over time".
Among these numerous tasks, she finds enough time to conduct an affair with a married man. And that's where I have issues with the plot. As the wronged woman, who was hurt by her boyfriend's affairs, Cass does exactly the same, plunging into the affair with the married man, not caring who she might hurt. I suppose, neither of them cares. A cheating husband and the other woman don't appeal to me as a romantic couple.
It is quite possible that Cass is one of those women who feel unfulfilled on their own. What Cass needs really is the time to accept that she wasted ten years of her life on a jerk, move on and gain independence before jumping in bed with another man. It is not so much a journey of self-discovery as a transit between one man to another.
Luke is a writer who knows a lot about the local nature, and oh boy, does he not share his knowledge too generously? He's one walking lecture on the local habitat. And Cass "drinks in" his words, and welcomes a never-ending lecture. "Talk about an overload of information.. but I welcome it. I feel like a student who, starved of education all her life, is suddenly offered a place at Oxford or Cambridge".
Luke's wife is portrayed as a shrew, a caricature of a businesswoman. Amanda is a hedge fund manager in the city, who prefers London to Cornwall. She and Luke seem to be the opposites in personalities. Still it's not an excuse for Luke to start flirting with a new neighbour next door, or write corny inscriptions in her book.
He is quite disrespectful talking about his wife's "histrionics", as apparently she finds it hard to resist a drama. That might be it, but you have chosen to marry this woman, nobody forced you. Sort out your divorce, then pursue the easily impressed females. Amanda is not likeable, and she has been unfaithful to Luke too, so in a way they totally deserve each other.
Will Cass find her inner strength and pull out of the grasp of her ex-boyfriend? Will Luke do the right thing by his wife and tell her the truth? Is Cass and Luke's affair a rebound, and do they have a future together?
Some ghostly shenanigans are going on at the manor house, and around it, these are not the evil spirits, rather more melancholic and stuck in limbo of their own wretched past. They don't take part in the main action, but enhance the atmosphere and the mood of the main protagonists.
The author mentions in the Acknowledgements that Foxcomve Manor is loosely based on Tonacombe Manor, and that its ghostly sightings are well-documented. This made me want to discover more about the place, and hopefully one day I might be able to visit the location. The descriptions of the manor house and the surrounding area are spellbinding. Loved the historical facts about the eccentric Reverend Robert Stephen Hawker, and his legacy on the local landscape. The tour Luke gives Cass, telling her about Pastor Hawker, will delight any history buff.
I didn't warm up to any of the characters, sorry, and didn't care much about the romance unfolding.
It was the Cornish landscapes that kept my interest throughout the tale.
The scenery plays the major part in the story. There are some gems of descriptions of the Cornish nature, that I found beautiful. "I start to notice my surroundings and am surprised to find the lichen-covered trees have a beauty of their own. I'd considered them grotesque, but their gnarled and twisted shaped are beautiful today, like a work of art adorning the hilldise in intricate patterns".
The pages about seaweed foraging made me feel quite nostalgic about our trips to Cornwall.
Beneath Cornish Skies is an engaging book, which will appeal to different readers, for a variety of things. Horse-riding people would enjoy that a big chunk of the narrative revolves around horses. (There are also dogs and cats, and even sheep).
I relished the descriptions of the Cornish landscapes. There are some elements of the supernatural (benevolent ghosts etc), which will attract fans of the ghost stories. You will also learn a lot about the Cornish marine life and local flora and fauna.
A captivating tale of hopes and regrets, and second chances.
Beneath Cornish Skies is available for free on Amazon for Prime subscribers.
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