Book reviews: Spring into a new season of romance with Orion Books

The Returning Tide by Liz Fenwick

Cancel all appointments, switch off your phone and put out the ‘Do Not Disturb’ notice because Liz Fenwick is back with another breathtaking Cornish odyssey.

There won’t be a moment to spare until the sparkling seas of The Returning Tide have retreated as a sumptuous, scintillating wartime tale of love, loss, betrayal and heartbreak unfolds amidst a picturesque coastal village.

Fenwick, a Massachusetts-born ex-pat who fell in love with an Englishman and now enjoys family life in beautiful Cornwall, has put the county firmly in the spotlight with a string of ravishing novels including the critically acclaimed Under a Cornish Sky and A Cornish Affair.

Her new, addictive saga packs a powerful and emotionally-charged punch with its awesome backdrop, compelling wartime drama, cast of intriguing characters and a sweeping storyline full of mystery, dark secrets, friendships and romance.

The family of Elle Rowse gather at the beautiful house Windward in Mawnan Smith near Falmouth in May of 2015 to celebrate the marriage of her radiant great granddaughter Peta to her fiancé Fred Polcrebar.

In a few days it will also be the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe but Elle would rather forget the war than celebrate the historic victory. ‘Some things should be forgotten,’ she muses, ‘and my war was one such thing.’

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Lara’s beloved great grandfather is slowly dying in a rest home. His English wife Amelia died after only six years of marriage, cutting tragically short a romance that everyone said was a true love story.

But in his dying moments, the old man mutters just one name… Adele. With her own marriage about to end and with six months paid leave from work, Lara heads off to stay with a family friend in Cornwall determined to learn more about her great grandfather’s life when he was stationed there in 1945.

What she uncovers is a tale of one reckless act that is still echoing across seven decades…

Families take centre stage in this haunting, cross-generational story which is packed with fascinating wartime detail as Fenwick’s carefully crafted prose slips seamlessly between past and present, darkness and light, hope and despair.