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The Lip: a novel of the Cornwall tourists seldom see
'This unsparing debut novel portrays the unromantic side of Cornwall few visitors see and which so many novelists choose to overlook. Charlie Carroll inhabits his damaged heroine completely' Patrick Gale
'A moving and affecting novel about life on the edge, with a very special flavour of wild and rugged Cornwall.' Emma Stonex, author of THE LAMPLIGHTERS
Away from the hotels and holiday lets, there is an unseen side of Cornwall, where the shifting uncertainties of the future breed resentment and mistrust.
Melody Janie is hidden. She lives alone in a caravan in Bones a small cliff-top on Cornwall's north coast. She spends her time roaming her territory, spying on passing tourists and ramblers, and remembering. She sees everything and yet remains unseen.
However, when a stranger enters her life, she is forced to confront not only him but the terrible tragedies of her past.
The Lip is a novel about childhood, isolation and mental health, told in the unique and unforgettable voice of Melody Janie.
'All of this is Bones Break. All of this is mine.
I know every inch of it; I know it as intimately as the seagulls. I stand at dead-centre, my feet teetering on the edge of the lip. Below, the thundering tattoo of waves on rock. Wind catches the tips of my hair, lifting them above my less force than it takes to knock me down; enough to make me right myself with a step to the left, and then another back again. Here on the lip, it is vital to know where my feet are.'
'A moving and affecting novel about life on the edge, with a very special flavour of wild and rugged Cornwall.' Emma Stonex, author of THE LAMPLIGHTERS
Away from the hotels and holiday lets, there is an unseen side of Cornwall, where the shifting uncertainties of the future breed resentment and mistrust.
Melody Janie is hidden. She lives alone in a caravan in Bones a small cliff-top on Cornwall's north coast. She spends her time roaming her territory, spying on passing tourists and ramblers, and remembering. She sees everything and yet remains unseen.
However, when a stranger enters her life, she is forced to confront not only him but the terrible tragedies of her past.
The Lip is a novel about childhood, isolation and mental health, told in the unique and unforgettable voice of Melody Janie.
'All of this is Bones Break. All of this is mine.
I know every inch of it; I know it as intimately as the seagulls. I stand at dead-centre, my feet teetering on the edge of the lip. Below, the thundering tattoo of waves on rock. Wind catches the tips of my hair, lifting them above my less force than it takes to knock me down; enough to make me right myself with a step to the left, and then another back again. Here on the lip, it is vital to know where my feet are.'
384 pages, Paperback
Published February 17, 2022
18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 31, 2022
This is a story of Melody Janie. She lives alone in an old caravan in Bones Break – a small cliff top in Cornwall. The land is hers and she spends her days roaming her territory and spying on everything and everyone. Then a stranger and his dog enter her life and she is forced to confront her past.
The Lip is a book about childhood and loneliness. It is one which confronts mental health, grief and isolation. It is set against the rugged backdrop of the Cornish coast and is a story that will draw you in.
This is a great debut novel and I look forward to seeing what Charlie Carroll writes next.
The Lip is a book about childhood and loneliness. It is one which confronts mental health, grief and isolation. It is set against the rugged backdrop of the Cornish coast and is a story that will draw you in.
This is a great debut novel and I look forward to seeing what Charlie Carroll writes next.
August 4, 2025
An interesting diversion on what you would usually get in a clichéd Cornish seaside novel - death, environmental destruction, relentless rain and debilitating and isolating mental anguish! Melody Janie is 19, works in a family-run clifftop café on the Southwest Coast Path. She is socially isolated and spies on the hikers from clefts and rents in the cliffs. Highly territorial, she hounds visitors off her patch with a combination of terror and weirdness. Her caravan is hidden in the woods nearby the café. One day a strange man walking a Labradoodle - complete with saddlebags - wanders by one of her lairs. Archie the dog sniffs her out. This man with a secret becomes crucial to how we progress through to the end of the book. A bleak look at the county, possibly the reason why Carroll doesn't give real names to the exact spots he describes at length. We get a sense of the isolation and hopelessness from characters who live their entire lives in Cornwall and hardly survive from one tourist season to the next. However, having spent some time on the Southwest Coast Path, Carroll's descriptions of the geology and harsh nature of the land evokes a genuine lament for the wild beauty of this part of England. If you're after cosy Cornwall, sniff out something else.
September 3, 2022
Thoughtful, psychological, atmospheric… This is a beautiful novel set in Cornwall, with a wonderfully unreliable narrator. The story reminded me a little of The Illustrated Child, though without so many fantastical elements. We do, however, have the same kind of tight-knit but absent family, a girl essentially raising herself, and a desolate but beautiful landscape that she claims as her own.
The story was slow-moving at times, but there was enough mystery to keep me going, and the way everything wraps up in the end was satisfying. I genuinely don't understand why this has so few review on Goodreads-- it's not the kind of story that will suit everyone, of course, but Carroll writes with an exceptional understanding of human nature for a debut author, and I'm excited to see what he'll come up with next.
The story was slow-moving at times, but there was enough mystery to keep me going, and the way everything wraps up in the end was satisfying. I genuinely don't understand why this has so few review on Goodreads-- it's not the kind of story that will suit everyone, of course, but Carroll writes with an exceptional understanding of human nature for a debut author, and I'm excited to see what he'll come up with next.
May 15, 2024
[2022] First thing first - this is a well written, engaging and interesting story with twists and turns and good characterisations and it is written with pace and good descriptive prose in short easy to progress chapters, so as a first novel it is an excellent achievement and Charlie Carroll deserves praise. I would thoroughly recommend it as an entertaining story that holds your attention.
However the issue for me and one that I entirely accept would not be an issue for most people is the 'I've got something original to say about Cornwall' slant. Allow me to out myself as a Cornishman. 'The Cornwall that the tourists seldom see' says the blurb, but then the book shows such a dramatic lack of insight into Cornwall today that what you get is a strangely dated parody or pastiche of Cornwall, that is not only wrong but borders on the offensive - using a couple of buzz words - does not gain you true insight into the plight of a ethnic group. Allow me to explain - page after page he calls tourists and English inward migrants 'Emmets' (Cornish dialect for Ants) [Not Cornish language, which is moryonenn]. The 'Non-Emmet' bumper sticker was ubiquitous in the late 1960s through the 1970s, when mass tourism started to have a major impact, however now that 60-70% of the year-round population of Cornwall is English is seldom seen, if at all heard, even within traditional Cornish farming families, who often meet fewer new-comers socially.
The next buzz word was 'Zawn.' In Cornwall this is a particular sort of coastal cleft, fissure or ravine, not the pretty sandy cove that was described. Also the description of the dramatic rock fall in North Cornwall stretches credulity somewhat as the cliffs are mostly hard granite. So, in summary a good story, but tells you bugger all about modern Cornwall or the Cornish, apart from the fact that for most English people today, Cornwall is cliffs, tourists, strange words and a place to escape to. When I read that the author 'lives in Cornwall' I kind of thought 'well he would wouldn't he!'
However the issue for me and one that I entirely accept would not be an issue for most people is the 'I've got something original to say about Cornwall' slant. Allow me to out myself as a Cornishman. 'The Cornwall that the tourists seldom see' says the blurb, but then the book shows such a dramatic lack of insight into Cornwall today that what you get is a strangely dated parody or pastiche of Cornwall, that is not only wrong but borders on the offensive - using a couple of buzz words - does not gain you true insight into the plight of a ethnic group. Allow me to explain - page after page he calls tourists and English inward migrants 'Emmets' (Cornish dialect for Ants) [Not Cornish language, which is moryonenn]. The 'Non-Emmet' bumper sticker was ubiquitous in the late 1960s through the 1970s, when mass tourism started to have a major impact, however now that 60-70% of the year-round population of Cornwall is English is seldom seen, if at all heard, even within traditional Cornish farming families, who often meet fewer new-comers socially.
The next buzz word was 'Zawn.' In Cornwall this is a particular sort of coastal cleft, fissure or ravine, not the pretty sandy cove that was described. Also the description of the dramatic rock fall in North Cornwall stretches credulity somewhat as the cliffs are mostly hard granite. So, in summary a good story, but tells you bugger all about modern Cornwall or the Cornish, apart from the fact that for most English people today, Cornwall is cliffs, tourists, strange words and a place to escape to. When I read that the author 'lives in Cornwall' I kind of thought 'well he would wouldn't he!'
July 18, 2022
Incredible to be able to write in the voice of someone suffering so much, maybe the author has his own experiences of grief to draw upon, whilst letting out only a small piece of information at a time - I do hate a massive shocker with no hint of it. He wrote as someone younger and of the opposite gender. Very well done.
December 1, 2022
Not an easy read, it contains such a feeling of dread throughout. But...it had a very acceptable ending
June 23, 2022
'brilliant book! cudent put it down! I recommend it.'
'This book delves into the mind of the main character whose mother has mental health issues. The girl Melodie Janie has created boundaries on 'her' land which I felt were more related to the boundaries of her mind due to her mother's illness. A good read. I would recommend this book.'
'A slightly depressing read. It portrays mental health, teenage angst, grief, loneliness, coastal erosion & the problems Cornwall has with incomers! But felt it worth reading to the end which wasn't happy!! I would not recommend this book.'
'A good read - thought provoking - well worth 'working' through the first few pages - characters with substance, you want to like them.
Mental health issues dealt with sensitivity - especially in pages 155-158, with kindness. I would recommend this book'
'I love books set in Cornwall. This really was something a bit different. Melody Janie is struggling to keep on top of things after the death of her dad and disappearance of her mum. The locals are suspicious of her and find her very strange. Judgmental attitudes are a very common problem in small communities. Instead of gossiping about Melody Janie maybe they should've been looking to see what was really going on and offer some help.
I would highly recommend this book.'
'Even although the scene is set in Cornwall, the influx of tourism and the impact did resonate with me. The book was beautifully written and very evocative but it was too melancholic for my enjoyment.
I would not recommend this book.'
'This book delves into the mind of the main character whose mother has mental health issues. The girl Melodie Janie has created boundaries on 'her' land which I felt were more related to the boundaries of her mind due to her mother's illness. A good read. I would recommend this book.'
'A slightly depressing read. It portrays mental health, teenage angst, grief, loneliness, coastal erosion & the problems Cornwall has with incomers! But felt it worth reading to the end which wasn't happy!! I would not recommend this book.'
'A good read - thought provoking - well worth 'working' through the first few pages - characters with substance, you want to like them.
Mental health issues dealt with sensitivity - especially in pages 155-158, with kindness. I would recommend this book'
'I love books set in Cornwall. This really was something a bit different. Melody Janie is struggling to keep on top of things after the death of her dad and disappearance of her mum. The locals are suspicious of her and find her very strange. Judgmental attitudes are a very common problem in small communities. Instead of gossiping about Melody Janie maybe they should've been looking to see what was really going on and offer some help.
I would highly recommend this book.'
'Even although the scene is set in Cornwall, the influx of tourism and the impact did resonate with me. The book was beautifully written and very evocative but it was too melancholic for my enjoyment.
I would not recommend this book.'
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews