On a July evening in 1869, Maggie Care, fleeing from the memory of a tragedy, arrives in the Cornish fishing village of Polsinney. Her gradual acceptance by the villagers is threatened by a revelation from her past, but to her surprise, it is the belligerent Gus who stands by her.
Maggie suffers family tragedies, then finds a new home in a fishing village. Believable, warm characters and a dramatic semi-sweet ending, but not terribly interesting.
I wasn't expecting much from this book, it is written in a kind of off-handed way, never really getting too deep into the characters - that is for the reader to discover for themselves. Yet, it was a poignant book which had a life lesson in there. Sweet and innocent, telling the tale of a young woman who finds her love yet unable to see any other way out of her predicament, she enjoys her new life. She is patient and kind, and in time, her true love understands that he too must either be patient or be free. That depth of the characters comes across regardless how Ms. Pearce lightly touches it.
I read this book years ago and have read it a few times since then. It's a good book to escape in. Recently, I looked up the author and discovered her other books. Like this one, all her books are delightfully slow paced. The author describes the scenes so well that you feel you are there watching it all. I ended up buying all her books.