A Castaway in Cornwall Julie Klassen

Laura Callaway daily walks the windswept Cornwall coast, known for many shipwrecks but few survivors. She feels like a castaway, set adrift on the tides of fate by the deaths of her parents and left wanting answers. Now living with her parson uncle and his parsimonious wife in North Cornwall, Laura is viewed as an outsider even as she yearns to belong somewhere again.

When ships sink, wreckers scour the shore for valuables, while Laura searches for clues to the lives lost. She has written letters to loved ones and returned keepsakes to rightful owners. She collects seashells and mementos, and when a man is washed ashore, she collects him too.

As Laura and a neighbor care for the castaway, the mystery surrounding him grows. He has abrasions and a deep cut that looks suspiciously like a knife wound, and he speaks in careful, educated English, yet his accent seems odd. Other clues wash ashore, and Laura soon realizes he is not who he seems to be. Their attraction grows, and while she longs to return the man to his rightful home, evidence against him mounts. With danger pursuing them from every side, will Laura ever find the answers and love she seeks?

In all transparency, I read this book a few years ago! I read it from Netgalley and never wrote my review for it. I can't remember what was going on at the time, but I feel awful for never having reviewed it. From what I remember I really liked the book and I recall the further I got into the story the more I liked it. I liked Laura. It was like you could feel sorry for her since she had lost her parents and was being raised by family and it seemed almost in competition with her cousin (I think), but not the cousin herself-but her mother. The two young women were fairly different but got along. 

There is a gentleman who she helps take care of, but he definitely doesn't seem to be who he says. He's mysterious and Laura finds herself a bit drawn to him. They go off onto an adventure to return him home and at one point all seems to be over--

I did enjoy this novel. It's a historical Christian fiction. It was a really well written enjoyable read. I don't feel as if it came across as "Christian" as much as a gentle soft story. Good, wholesome and clean are words that come to mind, but there was a well written story. I would absolutely read more books by Julie Klassen. 

As of December 1, 2009, According to The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), product reviewers on blogs must disclose whether they received products for free or received payment for their review. The books I review on this site (A NOVEL REVIEW) are sent to me by publishers, authors or downloaded from Netgalley. This is a very common practice. I never take payments for these reviews and all the reviews on this site are my own thoughts and feelings and are not influenced. Links on this site through Amazon are a part of their affiliate program and I may receive a small compensation if you purchase through one of the links that appear on this blog.

The Missing Pages By: Alyson Richman

    From international bestselling author Alyson Richman comes a love story, a ghost story, and an elegy to the healing power of books.

     Harry Widener boards the Titanic holding tight to a priceless book he just purchased in London. After mayhem strikes the ship, Harry’s last known words are that he must return to his cabin for his treasure. Neither the young man nor the book are seen again. In his honor, his mother builds the Harry Widener Memorial Library at Harvard to memorialize her son and house his extensive book collection.

​     Decades later, Violet Hutchins, a Harvard sophomore recovering from her own great loss, is working as a page at the Widener Library. When strange things begin happening at the library—books falling off shelves or opening to random pages—Violet wonders if Harry Widener’s ghost is trying to communicate the missing pieces of his story from beyond the grave. 

 This powerful and haunting novel is perfect for readers of Marie Benedict’s The Personal Librarian and Sulari Gentill’s The Woman in the Library.

Genres

Historical Fiction

Historical

My thoughts. I always love dual storylines that come together, so I knew this was up my reading aisle so to say. I am going to be honest--I had a couple of hesitations about The Missing Pages. First, a male perspective--I know I know not very enlightened of me, but I don't read a lot of books with a man as the protagonist. Second, this really sounds like a story about a lot of books. Now I'm a bit of a Bibliophile myself, so I was open to the idea, but I just couldn't imagine how a ghost, books, libraries and a historic male protagonist would converge into a great read. The book had my attention with its beautiful cover, a great author and a book synopsis a little different than a lot of books, 

Let me tell you, I fell in love with Harry. I loved his ghost and his story. I honestly enjoyed reading about his part of the story more than Violets. Not that there was anything about her storyline that I didn't like-I did! I just wanted to know his story, understand his motivation! I was willing Violet to go faster in her search for learning more about Harry! I don't want to give any of the story away, but you learn his demise pretty early on, but when you get to the moment---have the Kleenex handy! I was heartbroken!

Violet. Oh, sweet Violet.  Her story was a story of healing. I was rooting for her the entire book. I wanted so much for her. I was angry at how she was treated at one point. I loved her tenacity to uncover Harry's true story. I wanted a happy ever after for her.

I really enjoyed this book. I highly recommend! 

As of December 1, 2009, According to The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), product reviewers on blogs must disclose whether they received products for free or received payment for their review. The books I review on this site (A NOVEL REVIEW) are sent to me by publishers, authors or downloaded from Netgalley. This is a very common practice. I never take payments for these reviews and all the reviews on this site are my own thoughts and feelings and are not influenced. Links on this site through Amazon are a part of their affiliate program and I may receive a small compensation if you purchase through one of the links that appear on this blog.