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The Treasure of the Secret Cove
A reproduction of the 1897 classic, The Treasure of the Secret Cove promises to stir up discussion on issues of monumental importance for today's families. In a day when God's view of marriage is under attack & gender roles are hotly debated, this novel clears the muddy waters & allows the reader to vicariously experience the way in which these roles are worked out through life's challenges, brokenness, and redemption.
Mystery, drama, heroism, villainy, greed, tragedy, murder, revenge, betrayal, heartbreak, and redemption can all be found in this masterpiece.
Mystery, drama, heroism, villainy, greed, tragedy, murder, revenge, betrayal, heartbreak, and redemption can all be found in this masterpiece.
316 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1897
About the author
Amy Le Feuvre
222 books59 followersAmelia Sophia Le Feuvre (1861-1929) was born in Blackheath, London, England in 1861.
She grew up in a large family which employed a governess for the children's education. Her father worked as a Surveyor at H. M. Customs. Her grandfather, James Mainguy, was a reverend in Guernsey.
She dedicated her life to writing and wrote many books and stories that are filled with Biblical principles and her popularity began in the 1890s and continued for over three decades. She also wrote for magazines like 'Sunday at Home' and 'The Quiver'. Her writing was typical of the new approach of the evangelical writers to the young reader and, like many of the writers of the period she was particularly fond of the "quaint" child, "old fashioned" with delicate health, a type modelled on Paul Dombey. She also wrote of family life, specialising in the outwardly naughty child, the odd one out, whose motives are consistently misunderstood by the adults.
Her publishers included Revell in Chicago, Dodd Mead in New York, the Religious Tract Society in London, and Hodder and Stoughton in London and latterly the Lutterworth Press kept her works in print.
She died at Exeter, Devon, on 29 April 1929 after 68 fruitful years.
Her first book, 'Eric's Good News', was published in 1894 and her last, 'A Strange Courtship' was published posthumously in 1931. She wrote more than 65 books in her career, including at least one, 'Laddie's Choice' (1912), using the pseudonym Mary Thurston Dodge.
Note: Her exact date of birth is not known, she was born in the first quarter of 1861 so the date of 1 March has been used for convenience.
She grew up in a large family which employed a governess for the children's education. Her father worked as a Surveyor at H. M. Customs. Her grandfather, James Mainguy, was a reverend in Guernsey.
She dedicated her life to writing and wrote many books and stories that are filled with Biblical principles and her popularity began in the 1890s and continued for over three decades. She also wrote for magazines like 'Sunday at Home' and 'The Quiver'. Her writing was typical of the new approach of the evangelical writers to the young reader and, like many of the writers of the period she was particularly fond of the "quaint" child, "old fashioned" with delicate health, a type modelled on Paul Dombey. She also wrote of family life, specialising in the outwardly naughty child, the odd one out, whose motives are consistently misunderstood by the adults.
Her publishers included Revell in Chicago, Dodd Mead in New York, the Religious Tract Society in London, and Hodder and Stoughton in London and latterly the Lutterworth Press kept her works in print.
She died at Exeter, Devon, on 29 April 1929 after 68 fruitful years.
Her first book, 'Eric's Good News', was published in 1894 and her last, 'A Strange Courtship' was published posthumously in 1931. She wrote more than 65 books in her career, including at least one, 'Laddie's Choice' (1912), using the pseudonym Mary Thurston Dodge.
Note: Her exact date of birth is not known, she was born in the first quarter of 1861 so the date of 1 March has been used for convenience.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
April 28, 2024
Such an amazing book! I really enjoyed listening to this for family reading. The love story, the faith, and the redemption was so good🤩. And there were even some cry worthy moments👌🏽.
Definitely recommend.
Definitely recommend.
August 11, 2026
The best Lamplighter book I've read so far!
✏️ Review ✏️
My thoughts in a nutshell: The Treasure of the Secret Cove is an excellent story with themes, characters, and a storyline that are well-drawn, illustrating biblical truths in such a profound and realistic manner. Through representative characterizations, this story depicts the contrasting qualities of a marriage founded on a love for self versus a marriage founded on a love for God and for each other. Highlighting God's work in a small town on the English coast, The Treasure of the Secret Cove contains so many nuggets of truth which every reader can learn from. I highly recommend it!
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📊 A Quick Overview 📊
👍🏼 What I Liked:
• Most of the plot — it features suspense, mystery, and is paced well.
• The main characters — they're well-rounded and slowly yet dynamically developed.
• The thoughtful depiction of two marriages built on two opposite foundations.
• The themes (trusting God in all things, mercy, forgiveness, selfless love, etc.)
• The metaphorical illustration of biblical truths.
👎🏼 What I Did Not Like:
• A few parts of the writing style — felt a bit cumbersome to read at times because of the unusual grammatical conventions.
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❓ To Read or Not To Read? ❓
— Would I recommend this book? Of course!*
— To whom? To those who enjoy compelling historical fiction stories that illustrate biblical truths.
*(Note: I leave it up to each individual to decide the maturity and discernment level required to read the books I recommend, based on my content warnings below [in my Book Breakdown]. My content warnings [if any] should always be considered alongside my recommendations when deciding who these books are best suited for.)
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
📖 BOOK BREAKDOWN 📖 (Overall: 4.5/5 [rounded down to 4 on Goodreads])
~Fundamentals: (1=worst; 5=best)
— 📈 Plot: 4/5
— 📝 Writing: 3.5/5
— 👥 Characters: 4.5/5
~Content: (0=none; 1=least; 5=most)
— 🤬 Language: 0/5
— ⚔️ Violence: 0/5
— ⚠️ Sexual: 1/5
• A few brief mentions of a married couple kissing.
• A reference to a situation where a minor male character who is drunk tries to forcibly kiss a female character.
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📣 Random Comments 📣
• Content note: One of the minor characters drinks alcohol and becomes drunk several times (the book displays this negatively).
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
💬 Favorite Quotes 💬
• (None)
✏️ Review ✏️
My thoughts in a nutshell: The Treasure of the Secret Cove is an excellent story with themes, characters, and a storyline that are well-drawn, illustrating biblical truths in such a profound and realistic manner. Through representative characterizations, this story depicts the contrasting qualities of a marriage founded on a love for self versus a marriage founded on a love for God and for each other. Highlighting God's work in a small town on the English coast, The Treasure of the Secret Cove contains so many nuggets of truth which every reader can learn from. I highly recommend it!
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
📊 A Quick Overview 📊
👍🏼 What I Liked:
• Most of the plot — it features suspense, mystery, and is paced well.
• The main characters — they're well-rounded and slowly yet dynamically developed.
• The thoughtful depiction of two marriages built on two opposite foundations.
• The themes (trusting God in all things, mercy, forgiveness, selfless love, etc.)
• The metaphorical illustration of biblical truths.
👎🏼 What I Did Not Like:
• A few parts of the writing style — felt a bit cumbersome to read at times because of the unusual grammatical conventions.
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
❓ To Read or Not To Read? ❓
— Would I recommend this book? Of course!*
— To whom? To those who enjoy compelling historical fiction stories that illustrate biblical truths.
*(Note: I leave it up to each individual to decide the maturity and discernment level required to read the books I recommend, based on my content warnings below [in my Book Breakdown]. My content warnings [if any] should always be considered alongside my recommendations when deciding who these books are best suited for.)
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
📖 BOOK BREAKDOWN 📖 (Overall: 4.5/5 [rounded down to 4 on Goodreads])
~Fundamentals: (1=worst; 5=best)
— 📈 Plot: 4/5
— 📝 Writing: 3.5/5
— 👥 Characters: 4.5/5
~Content: (0=none; 1=least; 5=most)
— 🤬 Language: 0/5
— ⚔️ Violence: 0/5
— ⚠️ Sexual: 1/5
• A few brief mentions of a married couple kissing.
• A reference to a situation where a minor male character who is drunk tries to forcibly kiss a female character.
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
📣 Random Comments 📣
• Content note: One of the minor characters drinks alcohol and becomes drunk several times (the book displays this negatively).
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
💬 Favorite Quotes 💬
• (None)
April 27, 2024
This little gem had been lost to history until Lamplighter books brought it back into print. It is a well written story from the 1800s about a little fishing village in England that learns to treasure the Lifeboat that God has given them. There’s adventure, romance, good Christian lessons learned, and the gospel proclaimed for the conversion of souls. Highly recommended Christian fiction.
February 16, 2023
Story was good and kept me interested. After a while though, Una began to get at me because of her thickheaded, stubborn, independent self that continually clashes with her husband. That being said, she was supposed to be stubborn as it is part of the story of her maturing and eventually submitting herself to Cuthbert. If you can brave out Una for the majority of the book, then I'd recommend this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2020
Truly a great book on marriage! It covered way more aspects of relationships than I had anticipated. In doing so, it led me to consider how I balance my own marriage and our relationship with God. It's a must-read for anyone who's married or even remotely thinking about getting married.
January 3, 2021
So I feel like a traitor to say this, But my opinion of this book was largely based on the audio drama by Lamplighter Theater, which I heard first. For the first half of the book I found it better than the audio, since many of the themes, especially the characters journey to faith, could be more fully developed. However, as I reached the end I personally found that the audio had done a better job, by raising the stakes, developing some of the relational drama better so that it didn’t just solve itself, and rearranging, altering, and even removing a few of the events to make it more realistic and exciting. I may have liked the book better if I had read out first, but I didn’t, so I have decided to weld the first half of the book with the second half of the audio and call it good. I’m actually kinda bummed that I can’t really combine the parts I like from each and make my own version. I will say the happily-ever-after wrap up makes more sense with the book ending than the audio one. The four star review comes from having my expectations raised by the audio drama’s climactic ending and then not having those expectations met, leaving the book feeling kinda flat.
Over all I say this is a great read and I recommend you check it out, listen to the audio afterwards, and pick and choose what you like best.
Over all I say this is a great read and I recommend you check it out, listen to the audio afterwards, and pick and choose what you like best.
August 26, 2026
I absolutely love this book!! 🩷 I read it back in 6th grade, but didn’t fully understand the meaning and the way it was written. Reading it again as a highschooler made me have a better understanding of the book. I love its story and that it is a Christian book! The analogy of Jesus being our “Lifeboat” and God being the Captain really resonated with me. It’s telling us that we need to give our life over to God and let him guide and direct us. When we’re experiencing hard times, God helps us through them. And if you can’t give up your own will, God will gladly lift you into the “Lifeboat”! All you have to do is ask. Jesus is the only way to God, and Una’s journey of finding that out and stepping into the “Lifeboat” for herself is beautiful. Donald Mcfarlane does an amazing job as preacher, planting the seed of God’s word and love in the hearts of the fishers of Perrancove. By the end, that seed has grown and the fisherman realize their wrongdoing. This is such an inspiring story of God’s love for us, and how he is always there for us. I rate this book a 10 out of 10, and I’m definitely going to be reading it again!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2021
A beautiful book in every way.
October 26, 2019
This book kept me up late into the night, anxious to know how it would end!
It has an interesting and exciting plot, engaging and relatable characters, and it's filled with truth and encouragement. Plus, I loved the setting of this story: a small fishing village along the stormy coast of Devonshire.
I really enjoyed Amy Le Feuvre's writing and I'll be sure to seek out more of her works.
It has an interesting and exciting plot, engaging and relatable characters, and it's filled with truth and encouragement. Plus, I loved the setting of this story: a small fishing village along the stormy coast of Devonshire.
I really enjoyed Amy Le Feuvre's writing and I'll be sure to seek out more of her works.
August 8, 2022
Infinite stars! Literally-- I would give this any number, I love it that much.
July 18, 2025
Underrated.
February 18, 2026
This is a really, really good example (not the best, but close) to how marriage of convenience should be 🤌🏻.
I will admit I listened to the dramatized book first, but I think they are tied for which is better 😉.
I loved Una. What a strong, brave soul. It was beautiful when she recognized that we need Jesus even when the storms aren't around us. I loved the gradual change that came over her by the end of the book. When she began to think of others' happiness before her own. What a changed little being she. My heart felt for her and Cuthbert being so distant at first. I loved all the little things that led up to them finding true love with each other.
And the other characters! Kathy was such a hopeful, bright soul. Jim was a sweetheart, plus his father and grandfather were such pillars of faith. WE need men more like these! I felt for poor Donald, but glad of his example that he sought his Saviour in his struggles.
The book has a much stronger faith element woven throughout than the audio, and I loved every second of the vital messages it sounded.
The prominent question which I think is one we must all ask ourselves is : "What is your faith to you?"
It presented such a beautiful picture of Jesus as our lifeboat. It really hit home for me that even after Jesus has lifted us into the lifeboat, we still need to lead a life of surrender daily, "that a proud, stubborn spirit was not that of our Good Master."
But what really touched my heart was that when we only have God left, we still have everything:
"The One, Who fills the universe is sufficient to fill one poor empty soul."
Oh, to remind ourselves daily of the fact that God is our all in all, that we can never get on without him ❤️🩹. Another amazing quote sums the rest of the book up: "Our Creator meant His creatures to have a higher purpose down here than the majority of us think." The job of seeing men's souls saved 🕯.
CW (only for younger readers): kissing the back of his neck, curling her arms about his neck, kissing her eyes (that pretty much a far description as it goes so very clean just not what I was expecting), men left to die, mention of witches and superstitions (but that's all they were), alchohol, physical beating/abuse, someone shot, coveteousness (it doesn't turn into anything)
My rating/Age Recommendation:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 out of 5 stars)/ 18+
*Note: This book had a slight level higher than I'm used to in Lamplighter books, but the kisses were only one sentence if you're wondering why I put it at 18+ instead of the younger ages I normally put them at.
Danger, toil, shipwrecks, and love all twist together to form a wonderful tale of light and love in this dark world you don't want to miss 😉🤭💙.
I will admit I listened to the dramatized book first, but I think they are tied for which is better 😉.
I loved Una. What a strong, brave soul. It was beautiful when she recognized that we need Jesus even when the storms aren't around us. I loved the gradual change that came over her by the end of the book. When she began to think of others' happiness before her own. What a changed little being she. My heart felt for her and Cuthbert being so distant at first. I loved all the little things that led up to them finding true love with each other.
And the other characters! Kathy was such a hopeful, bright soul. Jim was a sweetheart, plus his father and grandfather were such pillars of faith. WE need men more like these! I felt for poor Donald, but glad of his example that he sought his Saviour in his struggles.
The book has a much stronger faith element woven throughout than the audio, and I loved every second of the vital messages it sounded.
The prominent question which I think is one we must all ask ourselves is : "What is your faith to you?"
It presented such a beautiful picture of Jesus as our lifeboat. It really hit home for me that even after Jesus has lifted us into the lifeboat, we still need to lead a life of surrender daily, "that a proud, stubborn spirit was not that of our Good Master."
But what really touched my heart was that when we only have God left, we still have everything:
"The One, Who fills the universe is sufficient to fill one poor empty soul."
Oh, to remind ourselves daily of the fact that God is our all in all, that we can never get on without him ❤️🩹. Another amazing quote sums the rest of the book up: "Our Creator meant His creatures to have a higher purpose down here than the majority of us think." The job of seeing men's souls saved 🕯.
CW (only for younger readers): kissing the back of his neck, curling her arms about his neck, kissing her eyes (that pretty much a far description as it goes so very clean just not what I was expecting), men left to die, mention of witches and superstitions (but that's all they were), alchohol, physical beating/abuse, someone shot, coveteousness (it doesn't turn into anything)
My rating/Age Recommendation:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 out of 5 stars)/ 18+
*Note: This book had a slight level higher than I'm used to in Lamplighter books, but the kisses were only one sentence if you're wondering why I put it at 18+ instead of the younger ages I normally put them at.
Danger, toil, shipwrecks, and love all twist together to form a wonderful tale of light and love in this dark world you don't want to miss 😉🤭💙.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 22, 2019
I wanted to like this a lot more then I did.
Arranged marriages were never my favorite, though, and this one was especially sticky. They agree that it is strictly for convenience, but quickly the guy pulls out the "I'm your husband" card and starts telling her what she can and can't do. I agree in theory that men are the leaders in marriage, but I felt like this was a breach of her trust. I felt like he was too quick to just love her for no reason, and expect more of her, even though he kept calling her "A little girl."
She was frustrating, never trusting anyone, but I did love seeing how her character slowly grew and changed. It was very well done.
The only other thing I didn't like was that
Overall, I liked this author's book "Teddy's Button" much better.
Arranged marriages were never my favorite, though, and this one was especially sticky. They agree that it is strictly for convenience, but quickly the guy pulls out the "I'm your husband" card and starts telling her what she can and can't do. I agree in theory that men are the leaders in marriage, but I felt like this was a breach of her trust. I felt like he was too quick to just love her for no reason, and expect more of her, even though he kept calling her "A little girl."
She was frustrating, never trusting anyone, but I did love seeing how her character slowly grew and changed. It was very well done.
The only other thing I didn't like was that
Overall, I liked this author's book "Teddy's Button" much better.
December 17, 2018
Gave this audiobook to Ellie for completing her Christmas piano recital. We listened to this in the car driving up to the hospital to see Auntay and had to take it inside when we got home because it was so good and we couldn't wait. Jacob said this was his favorited Lamplighter audio so far! Lots of adventure and intrigue...krb 12/16/18
March 13, 2022
My first completed book of 2022. One of the best books I have ever read, and definitely very different from what I expected, just from reading the title and the prologue. More detailed review to come.
August 19, 2026
Predictable story and nothing that really pulled me in to read it, not my style of book but was given to me as a gift. My mom did really like it and gave it a 5 star so that's why I did 3. I would give it a 2 star but gave it a 3 since my mom liked it so much
March 26, 2020
The best book
February 20, 2021
I didn’t read the actual book I listen to that audio drama bylamplighter theater
February 25, 2021
A good book overall. There were some minor details that I wasn't a fan of, but overall it has a good moral.
September 8, 2022
The book was just overall written great, and the plot is much needed in this generation. I really enjoyed reading the book with the many different types of characters.
December 29, 2023
Always a fun adventure listening to all the audio dramas! In my opinion, this one was different than the rest of the other lamplighters in a good way:) 🤍
July 18, 2024
One of my favorite books! It teaches so many values that we sometimes forget about when we think of marriage. I would recommend reading if you ever have the chance.
February 21, 2018
Enjoyable book, well written and full of good examples of how God can use the small things we do in life to impact others, whether for the good or for evil.
October 15, 2018
This was another good selection and audio drama from Lamplighters. I was pleasantly surprised that a large part of this story had to do with the husband/wife relationship and how important communication and trust are. These traits are important in any relationship that you wish to have true intimacy, so I am glad that it was illuminated in a book targeted towards children. The focus in our culture today is to experience walking in someone else's shoes which is good for empathy and understanding people in relationships. However, I wish the focus on having and developing good character traits and the journey to have them wasn't completely erased or downplayed by an individual's experience.
September 23, 2022
Absolutely beautiful ✨⚓️
𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰. ┈ ⋞ 〈 The Treasure of the Secret Cove 〉 ⋟ ┈ ★★★★★
╰┈➤ I can’t even count how many times I’ve listened to this book on audio drama. Like actually. It’s my favorite, and somehow my family hasn’t gotten old of it so this was this week’s road trip soundtrack 🥰
If you want a deep story that will give you goosebumps, tears of joy and anguish, and set your soul alight then this is the book for you.
It’s a beautiful tale of marriage of convenience gone right (and also wrong tehe). There’s no words to describe how powerful the audio drama is so if you ever get the chance totally go listen to it! The most talented actors meets a story that survived a time gone past and finds itself still relevant today <3
𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰. ┈ ⋞ 〈 The Treasure of the Secret Cove 〉 ⋟ ┈ ★★★★★
╰┈➤ I can’t even count how many times I’ve listened to this book on audio drama. Like actually. It’s my favorite, and somehow my family hasn’t gotten old of it so this was this week’s road trip soundtrack 🥰
If you want a deep story that will give you goosebumps, tears of joy and anguish, and set your soul alight then this is the book for you.
It’s a beautiful tale of marriage of convenience gone right (and also wrong tehe). There’s no words to describe how powerful the audio drama is so if you ever get the chance totally go listen to it! The most talented actors meets a story that survived a time gone past and finds itself still relevant today <3
December 13, 2022
The plot happens in a fishermen village. There is boat building and rowing. Since those are not my favorite things, this is not my favorite book by Amy Le Feuvre. Still, it is amazing as all her books are.
February 19, 2019
Quick read. I loved the spiritual content in it and the values. I liked how Una learned how to be caring and kind to others. She learned what a good marriage is all about.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews