When the ghosts of a far past are haunting you.

Synopsis

A captivating dual timeline romance set in Cornwall! Perfect for fans of Sarah Burton, Stacey Halls, Jessie Burton and Kate Mosse.

Two centuries apart, two lonely women seek a place to call home…

Cornwall, England, 2015

Nomadic project manager Anna Pritchard has arrived in the village of Porthnevek to oversee the construction of a trendy new glamping site. But with many members of the local community strongly opposed to the development, she quickly finds herself ostracised and isolated.

Seeking to ease her loneliness, Anna begins volunteering at a nearby National Trust house in Trelissick, once owned by the aristocratic Daniell family. In her new role, Anna soon feels her attachment to both Porthnevek and Trelissick deepening. And as she spends more and more time steeped in local history, it seems that the past and the present are beginning to collide…

Belgium, 1815

After losing her brother in the Battle of Waterloo, French army seamstress Thérèse Ruguel is taken to London by war artist Thomas Chalmers, becoming his reluctant muse. But with Thomas’s mother unhappy with the arrangement, Thérèse is soon sent to Cornwall as a lady’s maid to Elizabeth Daniell, a kindly relative of the Chalmers family.

Able to speak only a little English — and with the other servants suspicious of her — Thérèse feels lost and alienated. And when she discovers her brother may still be alive, she must decide whether to continue with her new life in England, or brave the dangerous journey back to her homeland…

What became of Thérèse? Can Anna unearth the ghosts of the past?

And has Anna finally found where she belongs…?

THE FORGOTTEN MAID is a beautiful time-shift romance set in Cornwall between the Regency era and the modern day. It is the first book in the Cornish Echoes Dual Timeline Mystery series.

My review

Anna Pritchard is ready to oversee the construction of a new glamping site in Porthnevek. Her first impression is a positive one, because everyone welcomes her in the village. But that quickly changes when they realize why Anna is here. They are all opposed to the development and the some of the local community surely don’t stand back to play dirty.
And so Anna finds herself quickly alone and isolated.
When she starts volunteering at a nearby National Trust house in Trelissick, she learns about the history of the aristocratic Daniell family and she soon is intrigued by its history and the mystery surrounded by the tale of Thérèse Ruguel, a French army seamstress that became a lady’s maid to Elizabeth Daniell.

Dual timelines are always tricky to read. how are the two stories linked together, isn’t it all too farfetched, and won’t it be too difficult to keep up with the both tales?

But, thanks to the big time gap, I found it easy to keep up with both he tale of Anna and Thérèse.

Anna’s tale is one that makes it obvious that no matter how successful you can be, loneliness can still find you. she is determined to make a success of her latest project, but I found it sad to read how she starts to feel alone in a place where she wants to belong.
She finds a few people that don’t judge her, and I was happy for her when she found the volunteering spot, and something to do where she is accepted and welcomed.
However, despite the interest she builds concerning the mining history, she also learns that sometimes people can behave in a despicable way.
But she also learns to see people through her own eyes and not just blindly accepts the opinions of others. And that it’s those people, who have their own ghosts to hunt them down, are the purest and most honest and gentle ones.

If Anna’s story is one filled by feelings of loneliness, Thérèse’s tale is one where those feelings are reality.
I can only imagine how difficult it can be when you lose someone during war. And when that person is the only member of the family left, it is just more than just devastating…
So when she follows war artist Thomas Chalmers as his muse, I understood why she did it.
But the struggles she is facing… not speaking the language, not knowing anyone in London, and becoming even the subject of gossiping…
And even when she moves for a new job in Cornwall with the Daniell’s family, I hoped that there would be some happiness for her.

Despite the hard world both women are finding  themselves in, they try to make the best of each situation, hoping that the people they put their trust in, proof that the trust was justified.
There are some heart – breaking moments, but also moments filled with hoped, happiness and love.

I thought that the story would have some more ‘ghostly’ parts in it, but I have to admit I was happy that, despite some scary parts, it wasn’t a real ghost story.
This was a story that shows us that sometimes trust can be misused, but also that that same trust can be the right thing to do.
No matter who you decide to trust, it’s only the future that can tell us if we were right or wrong.

This was an enthralling story about two strong women, trying to make the best of a sad situation. There are hard ways they learn their lessons, but also learn that eventually, it’s only your own judgement you can trust and hope you won’t get heartbroken in the meanwhile.
The setting, descriptions that made me feel like I was walking there with the main characters made this a beautiful read.