Tremarnock – Emma Burstall

Single Mum Liz and her daughter Rosie live in a Cornish village. Liz works two jobs to keep the wolf from the door, she relies very much on the kindness of others especially to look after Rosie when she is working.

When she is not working, her time is taken up with Rosie. Rosie is a wonderful child and is so beautifully written by the author, that you feel that you want to be looking after her too.

Despite the life they have made for themselves, both Liz and Rosie have some tough times and ones that you could never predict. I did not see any of them coming and was taken aback by events as they unfolded. I had to keep reading.

The novel was really intriguing and it seemed to encompass something very different as well as being what I like in a good old fashioned village tale. The scenery depicted came away from the page, the emphasis of those who lived their all the time and those who flitted in out of village life was apparent and you could feel the community spirit as the story develops.

What I most liked about this novel, was the fact that romance was not the main plot, it was in fact a minor detail. Too many books can be swamped with predictable romantic situations. The book has much more of moral story to tell. In fact more than once did the question “what would you do given the situation” come up. I am not sure having finished the book and now reviewing it I would ever know. It showed me one thing, that happiness is a personal thing and that no matter what you cannot buy it and it can show itself in some unexpected places.

I question how much experience the author has of the situations that she describes within the pages of this novel. It really feels like it is coming straight from the heart, straight from personal experience and if it is not then the empathy and sympathy knows no bounds and it is that which makes it a well written novel and one to read.

You  get so much from this book and also the knowledge that there is going to be another book following this one set in Tremarnock. There are still some unanswered questions, characters we still need to know a little more about and whilst I can see where the second novel could go. I really believe that this author will not take it there. I have to now wait………

Thank you to the author for sending me a copy of this book for review. Tremarnock is out now on kindle. 

It is 7 years since I read Gym and Slimline, Emma Burstall’s first novel. Since then I have always followed her output and been lucky enough to read all her novels. What I love about them is that they are all so different, they cannot be readily pigeonholed. Plus though they might be classed as women’s fiction, chic-lit of whatever the latest label is, they are far far above that and more people should be reading them. 

I am going to repost over the coming weeks the reviews of her other works and also hopefully get the author to feature as well. 

Do tell me if you have read any of her novels?