The Light at Wyndcliff (The Cornwall Novels)
Lovely Evelyn Bray, raised in reduced circumstances under her grandfather’s authority in the steward’s cottage on the Wyndcliff estate, has long felt herself an outsider. She yearns to join her recently remarried mother in Plymouth to start life anew. However, when Liam Twethewey, the handsome new master of Wyndcliff, arrives to take up residence, a strong connection develops between them. Meeting with unexpected resentment in his plans for a china clay pit, Liam seeks out Evelyn’s knowledge of local affairs and the couple draw closer. A shipwreck with survivors creates fresh troubles for the pair, and several other personal dramas conspire to keep them apart. When a darker secret involving Wyndcliff is revealed, loyalties are questioned, and relationships endangered.
The author faithfully depicts the rough Cornish coast of the 1820s, with its rocky coves and windswept moors, the slow simmering romance between the attractive principals is skillfully done, the suspense is intriguing, and all is brought to a satisfying conclusion. Except for a few modern-sounding phrases (e.g., “morphing into”), this charmingly written, gentle tale of manners and romance hits the right notes.
