To research your family, to find a link through love

Synopsis

Cornwall, 2020

At the beginning of lockdown, teacher Carla Burgess needs to make some changes to her life. She no longer loves her job, and it’s certainly time to kick her on-off boyfriend into touch. But then, while walking on the cliffs she meets, Mani Dolcoath, a gorgeous American with a dark aura.

Mani is researching his family history, and slowly their lives and their heritage begin to entwine. The discovery of a locked Georgian tea caddy in the barn on her parents’ farm intrigues Carla, but then she starts to see orbs, something that hasn’t happened since her grandmother died. They terrify her and she’ll do anything to outrun them, but will she lose Mani’s friendship in the process?

Cornwall, 1810

Harriet Lemon’s position as companion to Lady Frances Basset (Franny) perfectly conceals the fact they are lovers. But when Franny is raped and falls pregnant their lives are destined to change forever.

The one person who may be able to help them is Franny’s childhood friend, William Burgess, a notorious smuggler. But he has secrets of his own he needs to protect. Will his loyalties be divided, or will he come through?

My review

When Covid hits the world, Carla Burgess has time to reassess her life. Is teaching still making her happy? Or should she finally pursue her dream? But not only careerwise Carla is cleaning up her life, it also means that she puts a decisive end to her relationship (if it can be called like that) with Kitto.
Covid means lockdowns, which means that Carla is spending most of her days at her parents’ farm. And she joins her father in researching their family history. Covid also means social distancing. But that doesn’t mean that Carla cannot befriend Mani, an American who came to Cornwall for a job and has decided too to research his family history.
Little do they know that both their researches will be connected with Harriet Lemon, a companion of Lady Frances Basset in 1810. But Harriet is so much more than just a companion, as they are also romantically involved.
However, when Frances is raped and pregnant, she and Harriet have to hide the pregnancy by hiding themselves. And they must put their trust in Frances’ friend, well – known smuggler William Burgess… 

I am always intrigued by dual time lines, especially as often each story could be standing on its own. But the difficulty is linked two separated stories without being too obvious about it.
And with this book, there is the extra intrigue, as there is the illegitimate love story of Harriet and Frances, and Carla finding her way in a Covid – world. 

I liked reading both stories, but Carla’s was perhaps my favourite of the two. Perhaps it was because Carla’s tale is set just a few years ago, which makes it more recognizable and relatable? Because haven’t we all had difficulties in a changing world. Haven’t we all had the time to reassess our lives and even made choices that changed our lives? 

For sure I saw a lot of myself in Carla, as I was also very strict about the imposed rules, and got angry seeing when people just didn’t. Of course Carla finds it difficult too, but she does it out of love, as she wants to protect her family. 

So even when she meets Mani, and the urge to get physically closer (in the literally way! 😊), she follows the rules as the she doesn’t want to face the worst case scenarios of the consequences.
Yet that doesn’t hinder the both of them of getting closer. Even if they are strangers, somehow they make the connection. And seeing their friendship blossoming even in the hardest times, was great to read. 

There is a supernatural touch in this story, which affect Carla. As I am absolutely not a fan of the supernatural twists stories can take, I somehow accepted this touch, as it wasn’t that extreme. It still doesn’t turn me into a believer of such things, yet I could get over it 😊. 

Harriet’s story was not what I expected it to be… I thought it would be more about the growing romantic feelings between Harriet and Frances. And I have to be honest, I was a tiny bit disappointed to read that they were already past that point.
But that doesn’t take away that I enjoyed reading about them, as their love for sure was genuine and the love of the truest kind. 

Not only did it sadden me to see how their love needed to be hidden. Yes, I understand that it were different times back then, but in my opinion, no matter what time you are living in, there is nothing love with loving whoever you want.  
But it also saddened me to see how Frances was the one who was being raped, yet she is the one who needs to go into hiding and keep her pregnancy hidden. It’s always the ones who have been hurt that have to pay the price… 

Each story stands perfectly on its own, and there is an obvious connection between the two women. But the more you read in the story, the more you see that the link between them isn’t only the obvious one, but it’s also about the way they feel.
Both characters are very protective of those they love, and would do anything for them. But they also share the sense of loneliness and isolation. They are limited in what they can do, in different ways for each of them, yet in common anyway. 

And that is the beauty of this book. Because Carla and Harriet couldn’t be more different from each other, yet they also have a lot in common, despite the years that separate them.
It made me appreciate once again all the liberties we have in our own lives, compared to the 19th century, but also compared to not so long ago when we couldn’t do what we wanted and live freely…