By Rosamunde Pilcher

This is one of the shorter short books. It is set in Porthkerris, the imaginary town based on St. Ives that features in many of her works. It was OK, but not a favorite by any means. This was mostly because the heroine, Prue, was non-descript and I didn’t think much of the hero. Usually, the heroine goes through some major growth and a learning curve, but this was not necessary as she was a pretty together young lady right from the beginning and did not have any challenges to overcome. The main interest was in the fate of Charlotte, the little girl who was unloved and neglected by her parents. I just didn’t believe in the “happy ending” which will rest on Daniel, Prue’s love interest and the hero, being able to settle down to a stable family life. It seems very iffy. He reminded me of the antagonist in Wild Mountain Thyme. I would have loved a book about Charlotte through the years and finding her own happy ending. She was twice as interesting as any of the other characters!
Another observation, apropos of nothing really is that this is the second book that Rosamunde characterizes another woman as a “nymphomaniac” just because she likes sex and has affairs or makes a pass at the hero. I’m willing to be tolerant of this “slut-shaming” as it is known today, because of the times it was written in and Rosamunde’s refreshingly wholesome view of life in general as revealed in her earlier books. **3 stars out of 5**

November 11, 2019