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Original poster

Cornwall books?

33 replies

Jouley · 12/01/2019 13:17

Hi
I've decided to try the 50 books in 2019 and I'm planning ahead. I'm going to Cornwall for the first time ever this summer and I'd love to read some atmospheric books to get a bit of a sense of place, etc. Please send me some recommendations!
I'm not into thrillers, I loved Rosamunde Pilcher's Coming Home and The Shell Seekers.
Thank you

OP posts:
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chapthedoor · 16/01/2019 18:43

Penmarric by Susan Howatch. It's a multi generation family saga based on the lives of Kings. One of my all time favourite books.

BikingBeatrix · 15/01/2019 17:37

Try The Shell Seekers by Rosamonde Pilcher.

MealyPotatoes · 15/01/2019 17:24

Love, Lobster and the Art of Moonlight Kissing by Karin Walker.

SatsukiKusakabe · 15/01/2019 08:53

Yes isn’t it in Lyme Regis?

ImportantWater · 14/01/2019 23:33

Over Sea Under Stone is a children’s book, but v atmospheric I think.

BikeRunSki · 14/01/2019 23:30

I think French Lieutenants Womens is set in Dorset.

lastqueenofscotland · 14/01/2019 23:15

Rebecca

Is the French Lieutenants Woman set in Cornwall or have I made that up? Been about 10 years since I read it

tripfiction · 14/01/2019 20:37

Curated books set in Cornwall www.tripfiction.com/find-a-book/?location=Cornwall&btitle=&bauthor=&genre=Genre... Liz Fenwick .. Amanda Jennings writes a good mystery.... liked "Somewhere Beyond the Sea"... Fern Britton...

babybythesea · 13/01/2019 11:13

If you read Jamaica Inn (Daphne Du Maurier) you can go there - it's two seconds off the A30 not long before you get to Bodmin. They have some of Du Maurier's things there so if you read her stuff it will all feel a bit more 'linked'. I don't really do thrillers, but I LOVE Rebecca.

Black Rabbit Hall - Eve Chase. I live in Cornwall and we read this for my book group, and had a giggle at the accuracy of her descriptions of driving along tiny country lanes...

cdtaylornats · 12/01/2019 23:43

Lists of Cornwall books

www.goodreads.com/genres/cornwall

CecilyNeville · 12/01/2019 23:35

Notes from an Exhibition is also my favourite Patrick Gale book; I rather feel like re-reading it now, having been reminded of its existence.

Camomile Lawn is good, and Mary Wesley's other Cornwall-set books are Jumping the Queue and Harnessing Peacocks.

FaFoutis · 12/01/2019 23:22

Whereabouts are you going OP?
I recommend 'Zennor in Darkness' too. I like the pub in Zennor.

HeronLanyon · 12/01/2019 23:15

Tangye’s nature reserve is very lovely up in the cliffs.

waterandlemonjuice · 12/01/2019 23:05

Jamaica Inn
Frenchman’s Creek
Rebecca

All Daphne Du Maurier

BestIsWest · 12/01/2019 22:59

Also Jenny Colgan.

You won’t better Rebecca or My Cousin Rachel though.

BestIsWest · 12/01/2019 22:57

Fern Britton has written a few set in Cornwall too.

Myfanwyprice · 12/01/2019 22:53

I enjoyed ‘The gathering storm’ by Rachel Hore, I’m sure it was set in Cornwall.

snozzlemaid · 12/01/2019 22:48

And I've got a feeling she's a mumsnetter too.
She uses ds etc on Twitter.

snozzlemaid · 12/01/2019 22:47

Liz Fenwick has written a few set in Cornwall.
If you like Rosamund Pilcher you'd like hers too.

Queenofthedrivensnow · 12/01/2019 20:51

There's a set of books by derek tangye (sic) non fiction. He and his wife left jobs at clarifies I think to live on the cliffs in far west Cornwall and sort of farm. They are called things like 'sun on the lintel' 'a gull on the roof' easy reads and really beautiful.

SatsukiKusakabe · 12/01/2019 20:40

I mean it is, but not in the sense that Ben Affleck might be in a movie version. Du Maurier is nonetheless good for atmosphere.

Original poster
Jouley · 12/01/2019 16:41

Thank you so much for all of these replies! I'm going to see if I can get hold of these. 😁

OP posts:
tobee · 12/01/2019 16:28

Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca is a thriller though.

BikeRunSki · 12/01/2019 15:38

Why The Wales Came - Michael Morpurgo.

It’s is a children’s book (9-10 I DH age group I’d say) but I loved it, and it is set on the Scilly Isles about 100 years ago. It has a real Cornish flavour to it.

Parthenope · 12/01/2019 15:37

Oh, and Sarah Moss’s Signs for Lost Children, partly set in 19th c Falmouth, partly in Japan.

And if you like children’s books, two of Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising series — Over Sea, Under Stone and Greenwitch — are set in Cornwall.