Tag: Friendship

In the quaint Cornish village of Tremarnock, Chabela Penhallow arrives for a holiday and to discover more about her Cornish ancestors. But, as always with newcomers to the small seaside town, rumours start to fly about this beautiful stranger. Is there more to her than meets the eye?

Meanwhile, Rob and Liz Hart’s marriage is on the rocks, but only one of them knows the real reason. Once the secret is out, will they be able to handle the repercussions or will it destroy their life together?

For the residents of Tremarnock, the revelations will either bond or break them – forever.

Amazon Kobo Google Play iBooks

I received a copy of this book from Head of Zeus via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

My Thoughts…

This is a further instalment of the Tremarnock series, I read book 4, ‘A Cornish Secret’, and this one has the same wonderful description of characters and setting. The plot is full of secrets, which threaten to disturb the tranquillity of the Cornish coastal haven.

The arrival of a beautiful Mexican woman causes a predictable stir in the coastal village, the initial impact of her arrival on one resident Rick, makes you realise she will ruffle some feathers, and make some inhabitants wish for younger days.

The writing style invites you to curl up and enjoy the escape into another world, full of diverse characters and picturesque scenery. The reception Chabela receives is typical of a small community, some friendly, others inquisitive and some wary. Her reasons for visiting seem genuine, but she is hiding unhappiness and seems to be seeking something that will only be found in Tremarnock.

An engaging, emotional tale, with detailed knowledge of Cornish village life and interesting snippets of life in Mexico. A lovely mix of humour and sadness, which makes you reluctant to leave when the story comes to its satisfying conclusion.

Guest post – Emma Burstall – FROM LITTLE ACORNS, OAK TREES GROW

Readers often ask where I get my ideas for novels from, and I usually give the same answer: a seed from somewhere or someone somehow plants itself in my brain. The seed starts to germinate and if I’m fortunate and tend to it carefully and lovingly, it may eventually grow into a lusty plot.

I remember quite clearly the day that the seed for my latest book, THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME TO CORNWALL, took root. It was during a walk in my local park one morning with my Mexican friend, Yael, who lives with her English husband, Jonathan, and their children in London.

Yael happened to mention that when she and Jonathan first started dating, she told him about a little town about two and a half hours out of Mexico City where she said they sold the most delicious, rare delicacies that you couldn’t find anywhere else in the country. These were snacks called ‘pastes’, available on almost every street corner, and the couple set off on a romantic mini-break, partly to try out the unusual food.

When they arrived, however, Jonathan was most surprised and even a little put-out. On biting into one of the snacks, encased in pastry, he exclaimed: ‘It’s a Cornish pasty!’

The only difference was that the Mexican version included ingredients such as chilli and avocado, as well as beef, onion and potato.

It soon transpired that the pasty was brought to the town by Cornish tin miners, who travelled there in their droves in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Back then, Cornish miners were considered among the finest in the world and were employed to work in the silver mines. Many eventually went home, much richer than when they arrived, while others married local girls and stayed.

Sometime later, I was lucky enough to visit the little Mexican town and the cemetery just outside where many of the Cornish miners and their families were buried. The graves bore traditional Cornish names such as Pengelly, Skewes and Carew.

I was moved by the thought of these brave men, women and sometimes children, who travelled so many miles to such an unfamiliar and sometimes hostile land to make a new life for themselves.

Before long, a character sprang to mind – a vibrant, independent, beautiful but ultimately unhappy Mexican woman called Chabela Penhallow Maldonado, who is desperate to escape from heartbreak. After receiving a letter from a stranger, she decides to visit the seaside village, of Tremarnock, where my latest series of books is based, to take her mind off her troubles and discover more about her Cornish roots.

She soon causes quite a stir and not everyone is happy to have her there. Of course, there are lots of twists and turns, shocks, secrets and surprises along the way, but does our heroine finally find what she is looking for? You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens to her and all the other characters in the end!

I hope you enjoy reading The Girl Who Came Home To Cornwall as much as I enjoyed writing it. Do drop me a line at www.emmaburstall.com and let me know J.

Emma Burstall was a newspaper journalist in Devon and Cornwall before becoming a full- time author. Tremarnock, the first novel in her series set in a delightful Cornish village, was published in 2015 and became a top-10 bestseller.

Twitter Facebook Website