Tremarnock by Emma Burstall

I have just returned from a much needed break to the Isle of Wight where we stayed in 

such a stunning Lodge at the Woodside Coastal Retreat which is one of the Darwin Escapes

Resorts and it was everything we could have hoped for and more. 

This was the perfect spot for a spot of R&R ( yes relax and reading of course!)

I arrived and swifty unpacked the most important part of my luggage, my books of course!

We will definitely be returning to Woodside Retreat and I have been recommending it to all my family, friends and clients so if any of you are looking for a get away especially any authors wanting peace and quiet in a gorgeous setting to write that book or any bookworms looking to conquer that TBR pile then check this place out!

For More information on this resort click here.

I managed to read 5 books whilst I was away and I am going to share my review for one of those books with you now Tremarnock by Emma Burstall.

Tremarnock is a classic Cornish seaside village. Houses painted in yellow, pink and white cluster around the harbour, where fishermen still unload their daily catch. It has a pub and a sought-after little restaurant, whitewashed, with bright blue shutters. It is here that Liz has found sanctuary for herself and her young daughter, Rosie - far away from Rosie's cheating father. From early in the morning with her job as a cleaner, till late at night waitressing in the restaurant, Liz works all the hours God sends to provide for them both. But trouble is waiting just around the corner. As with all villages, there are tensions, secrets - and ambitions. Emma Burstall's wonderfully engaging first novel about Tremarnock is the story of what happens when one shocking turn of events sweeps a small community, carrying Liz and Rosie with it.

I am always drawn to books which are set around Cornish sea so was excited to see what Tremarnock held in store for me and as I sat down to read this hefty 407 page hardback I never dreamed it would capture my attention so much so that I finished the book in one complete sitting and now having finished the book I am really going to find it hard to leave the characters behind and I hope we don’t have too long to wait for the next in this series of books.

When I opened the book I was introduced to the village in the way of a beautiful little map of the village showing me where everyone lives and the various shops which I thought was a wonderful little addition to the book as it really helped to visualise where everything was located and brought the village to life.

Our main characters in this book are Liz and her beautiful daughter Rosie who are both very strong and courageous and warm characters whose story will melt your heart. They have made a new life together in Tremarnock and whilst Liz juggles jobs to keep a roof over their heads the wonderful community have been so welcoming and have all rallied around to help where they can and have sure taken them under their wings.

I was a little unsure when reading the first few chapters of this book how I was going to get on with this book as we are quickly introduced to a vast amount of characters and I was soon lost and didn’t know who was who but I persevered and before long the pace of the book began to settle and the more central characters became easy to recognise, I think the author was trying to introduce us to everyone getting us familiar with the village folk ready for the rest of the series but I think it  would have been better to introduce them throughout the book as I have quite forgotten who a few of them are.

That was my one and only little blip with this book because everything else was pure perfection for me ticking all of the boxes. The author manages to bring the characters alive with such ease and before long it felt like I was in the root of the community so comfortable that I didn’t want to leave. 

The storyline will bring out a number of emotions as the storyline begins quite uplifting and felt like a light Summery read and as the book progressed I found myself soon reaching for the Kleenex as the heartstrings were well and truly pulled as the story becomes a more emotive and deep taking on heartbreaking situations and see's a friendship threatened and a mother and daughters love, courage and pure determination shine through the pages. I don’t want to give too much away about the events that happen in this book because I think the shock of what happened was what made such and impact for me.

I love books that have a warm cosy feel that have a great welcoming community spirit and this was exactly what I found with this book and I cannot wait to revisit Tremarnock again in the next book of the series as this is one of my favourite books of 2015 and was a perfect book for my break away.