Searching For Tilly: A heart-warming and breathtaking novel of love, loss and discovery set in Cornwall – you’ll be swept away

by Susan Sallis

A delightfully touching and uplifting saga from the Sunday Times bestselling author Susan Sallis, perfect for fans of Maeve Binchy, Fiona Valpy and Rosamunde Pilcher.READERS ARE LOVING SEARCHING FOR TILLY!"I loved this story. Her style is flowing and she really knows how to make her characters come alive." - 5 STARS"This is one of the best books I have read, certainly another amazing one by Susan Sallis. It cleverly spans generations while pulling the generations together into one story. Mystery, with a touch of supernatural intrigue. Very clever, would read again. " - 5 STARS"Brilliant as usual" - 5 STARS*****************************************CAN REVELATIONS FROM THE PAST HELP THEM START A NEW LIFE?Three women came to the remote Cornish cottage that Jenna, only twenty-six and grieving for the loss of the love of her life; her mother Caro, whose husband Steve had also died; and Laura, who had been married to Caro's beloved brother Geoff. The Widow's Cottage, the house where they were staying was called, and it was poignantly suitable.In that tiny Cornish community they discover strange memories of their ancestors, and especially of Tilly, Caro's mother, whose family history seemed to mirror so much of their own.They become swept up in the dramatic story of Tilly and her family, a story which takes them on an epic journey across the West Country and to the solution of an amazing family mystery.

Genres: Fiction

507 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 7, 2007

About the author

Susan Sallis was the author of over twenty bestselling novels, many of them set in the West Country. She was born in Gloucestershire and lived in Somerset with her family. She died in 2020.

Reviews

[Lyrical · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very dull slog of a book.

[Hayden · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gentle read. But not much substance. On the whole it was a nice experience reading this book even if the story seemed a bit trivial.

[Netha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is well-written and interesting, and the characters are nicely developed. The biggest challenge for me was the way the story is told; it skips back and forth between "current" day and things that happened about 80 years ago. It had a lot of characters, with various relationships, and I just found it hard to keep track of. The modern-day characters were easier to keep track of than their ancestors. I don't think I ever figured out a few of the plot twists. The story is set in Cornwall and the Cotswolds (Great Britain), which also made it harder to track, because I'm not too familiar with those places (although I love to read about them). Overall, it's a rich, satisfying read, if somewhat challenging.

[Deirdre J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still confused.

Back and forth......yes and no. Emotions squashed and hidden . Narrative confusing. I finished the book, but I am not sure why. I really don't get how Laura is a Quince.

[Christine Browne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Read

This book was an excellent story, reminiscent of a Maeve Binchey story. The characters come to life and you find yourself worrying about them, cheering them on and wanting the best outcome. These characters will always hold a place in my heart.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure why I didn’t really love this novel. It’s told in dual timelines, but I liked that. It just seemed to be disjointed in its presentation and the basic plot was a bit thin. This is my first novel by this author and I’ll give her another try, but only just.

[Rosemary Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant read although dealing with poverty and hardship in the 1920s. Three widows - 1999 Mother, daughter and Aunt search for their forebears from 1920, with romance along the way. not exactly literary masterpiece but not too bad

[Sandy Aragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful family saga!🤗

Such an arduous journey for the ones from the past and the sojourn of the present. Lovely to have them all end up with new lives to look forward to.

[Irene Erickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart felt story

I loved this book. The journey of 3 women of different decades merging into one journey - the journey of knowing who you are.

[Lynn Hutchinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I have done with others of hers. I think it was probably 100 pages too long as the story didn’t seem to go anywhere for a while.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jlk

[Gill Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent book. I love the way Susan Sally's links events from the past with current happenings and makes sense of family stories and myths. I really cared about Tilly and her modern day family descendants everything was well explained and the imagery was amazing - the reader could have been there!! Loved it. I will definitely read more by this author
Gill Cooper

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the opening of the book set around 1900 in a Cornish mining village, where young Tilly Quince lives with her family including mother Bessie and sister Alice. But life changes dramatically with an explosion at the mine where her father and brother worked.

Fast forward to 1999 and three related widows come together in a cottage in Cornwall. Jenna is grieving on the recent death of her young husband; her mother Caroline/Caro is keen to find out more about the background of her mother Tilly, whilst Laura had been married to Caro’s beloved much older brother.

The family history element to the storyline of course had immediate appeal to me, but seemed to be almost lost in the introspective thoughts of the three women. I was sceptical about Caro’s visit to Truro’s Archive where two fundamental archive rules were not in evidence. Caro was using a bito (not a pencil) and she was given a cup of coffee whilst looking through archive documents.

The book adopted a dual timeline between 1922 and 1999, when the three widows drove the route their ancestors Bessie, Tilly and a pregnant Alice undertook the arduous walk from Cornwall to the Cotswolds to find shelter with a relative. As usual with the author’s books, I enjoyed the beginning with the life of the Quince family, and the story of their harsh journey was movingly told, but the more modern timeline which took up the major part of the book, I found slow, confusing and rambling . I never quite got a handle on the mixed relationships - a family tree would have helped but perhaps would have revealed more earlier on in the book than the author would have liked. I did not feel involved with Laura, Caro or Jenna and remained unconvinced by the growing relationship between Caro and the local vicar. So a mixed review from me - I did finish the book so it just made a 3 star rating.

[Kathleen Hagen]

Searching for Tilly, by Susan Sallis. Narrated by Anne Dover, produced by Isis Audio, and downloaded from audible.com.

Publisher’s note:
Three women came to the remote Cornish cottage that summer: Jenna, only 26 and grieving for the loss of the love of her life; her mother Caro, whose husband
Steve had also died; and Laura, who had been married to Caro's beloved brother Geoff. The house where they were staying was called The Widow's Cottage,
and it was poignantly suitable. In that tiny Cornish community, the three discover strange memories of their forebears, and especially of Tilly, Cora's
mother. They become swept up in the story of Tilly and her family - a story which takes them on an epic journey across the West Country and to the solution
of an amazing family mystery.