A new West Country saga from the author of RUDDLEMOOR and LEWIN'S MEAD, in which a ship's chaplain, after suffering an injury which puts and end to his naval days, travels to the Cornish coast to become the curate of a parish church, unaware of the challenges that lie ahead of him.
E V Thompson was born in London and spent nine years in the Navy before joining Bristol police. He moved to Hong Kong, then Rhodesia and had over 200 stories published before returning to England to become a full-time award-winning writer.
It's like a fairytale. I really love the flow of the book and the plot, the twist and turnings. Everything is great but I guess it doesn't need to be unnecessarily lengthy. But still I didn't feel the storyline is dragged forcefully. Other than that every characters are well written but somewhere I feel the chemistry between Tobby and Bethany is not so well developed many things are missing.
A cracking adventure story about an intrepid curate and the Quaker girl he falls in love with. Toby Lovell is invalided out of the Navy following the Battle of Trafalgar. Already a recognised hero, he battles to establish a congregation at his church against the wishes of the local landowner, becomes involved in helping smugglers evade capture, saves seamen from a shipwreck and helps negotiate the release of both English and French prisoners of war. Phew! If anything, there's almost too much happening and the pace fairly gallops along. If I have one criticism, it's that it is written in the 'tell' not 'show' style so prevalent today. But then, it was written nearly twenty years ago.
I just love this book and have read it at least 3 times now. Easy to read, great characters and the settings are so well described you think you're in Cornwall reading it.