A Castaway in Cornwall

GIVEAWAY

KLASSEN, JULIE

A CASTAWAY IN CORNWALL

Laura Calloway daily walks the windswept Cornwall coast, known for many shipwrecks but few survivors. She feels like a castaway, set adrift on the tides of fate by the deaths of her parents and left wanting answers. Now living with her parson uncle and his parsimonious wife in Cornwall, Laura is viewed as an outsider even as she yearns to belong somewhere again.

When ships sink, wreckers scour the shore for valuables, while Laura searches for clues to the lives lost. She has written letters to loved ones and returned keepsakes to rightful owners. She collects seashells and mementos, and when a man is washed ashore, she collects him too.

As Laura and a neighbor care for the castaway, the mystery surrounding him grows. He has abrasions and a deep cut that looks suspiciously like a knife wound, and he speaks in careful, educated English, yet his accent seems odd. Other clues wash ashore, and Laura soon realizes he is not who he seems to be. Their attraction grows, and while she longs to return this man to his rightful home, evidence against him mounts. With danger pursuing them from every side, will Laura ever find the answers and love she seeks?

My Review:

Heavy sigh. I read too fast and now it's over and I have that unsettling post-immersive-read melancholy. :-( Honestly, 'coming to' in the 21st century -- especially in this COVID era -- has left me shell-shocked and aching for the simpler times of wreckers and smugglers and shipwrecks and spies. Bwahahahaha!

Every time I read a new Julie Klassen novel I think she can't possibly top it and then the next one comes out and she does! Part of her draw for me is her impeccable research. The author's notes at the back of the book are nearly as fascinating as the novel itself! And then, the way she weaves all those facts into spellbinding fiction sends me into a bibliophile ecstasy that puts me in a speed reading frenzy until it's over all too soon. Hence the aforementioned blues. 

A Castaway in Cornwall is an atmospheric masterpiece of beguiling storytelling. Suspense. Danger. Betrayal. Romance. Oh-la-la -- the way Klassen draws out the mystery of the castaway had me on edge all the way through. Who is he? What is he hiding? Friend or foe? The answers are anything but clear cut and Laura finds herself challenged at every turn. And then there's the romance -- tinged with a certain amount of desperation as it all seems so impossibly doomed. And complicated. 

The author also challenges her characters (and readers) to examine perspectives. Can anything every really be all black or all white? And when one man's loyalty is another's betrayal...how do we determine which one is right? Plus there's a magnificent faith thread woven throughout that deftly ties in with the castaway theme in the title. So many brilliant details that enrich the read and have left me with plenty to ponder.

Stunning. Breathtaking. Unputdownable. You'll feel compelled to rush through, but try to pace yourself and savor every blissful moment.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a paperback OR ebook copy -- winner's choice

If you would like a chance to win a copy of A Castaway in Cornwall, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday December 26 2020. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!