The Secret Shore
Liz Fenwick, ‘the queen of the contemporary Cornish novel’ according to The Guardian, goes back to the Second World War for her latest book. Oxford-educated Dr Meredith (‘Merry’) Tremayne is a skilled mapmaker working for the Naval Intelligence Division in a secret, subterranean world next to Horse Guards Parade in London. She is one of very few women in the role and is exceptionally good at it.
But she is called back to her home in Cornwall when her French mother, an artist, goes missing. Mystery surrounds Maman’s disappearance. It is in the midst of this family crisis that Merry finds herself working with a team running secret flotillas to northern France, her geographer’s skills in great demand. It is a far cry from the enclosed office in London, and Merry is at the heart of the action. The intrigue is heightened when she meets an enigmatic and handsome American officer.
Told in the first person by the protagonist, the novel’s main setting is Cornwall, a place Merry (and the author) loves and knows well. The story twists and turns with its themes of love, loss and secrets. Fenwick’s clear prose and pacy writing style add to the drama.
Last year’s winner of the Romantic Novelists Association’s Popular Romantic Fiction Award, the author says she has long wanted to tell the stories of the secret flotillas operating out of the Helford River. They were run by Royal Navy Lieutenant Gerry Holdsworth for the Special Operations Executive to make contact with the French Resistance and carry and return agents and airmen from France. Where possible, she has used the real names of the men and women involved, including Commander Ian Fleming, who went on to create that most famous of secret agents, James Bond. The result is a compelling read.
