Beyond The Storm
E V Thompson

Robert Hale
30 November 2010/ ISBN 0709090889
Historical 1840 Cornwall, England
Amazon US || UK

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

Newly ordained Reverend David Kilpeck has just been appointed to the tiny parish of Trevethy, near Tintagel on the windswept North Cornish coast. The church has been used for keeping animals in and the rectory is not much better, but it is a start. Not long after the arrival of David and his sister, Alice, there is a mighty storm, and a ship is foundering on the rocks. As the members of David’s congregation line up on the beach to get hold of whatever the wreck brings them, Alice spots a young girl lying on the beach. The sole survivor of the wreck, young Eliza Smith seems the answer to the Kilpeck’s prayers as she can be the maid they desperately need. But Eliza has her own secrets…

Surely no living writer brings Cornwall quite so vibrantly to life as Mr Thompson. You can hear the crashing waves and the wind blowing across the moors in his writing, and this book is no exception. I know the area he is writing about here well myself, and he has it spot on (or rather he describes it the way it surely was in those days). There is romance, mystery, history and more in this tale and something going on all the time, which makes pages turn very fast indeed. This author’s greatest skill is surely that he is such a fine storyteller, and this makes his work difficult to put down. If you haven’t read anything by him before this is a standalone and a good place to start to see why he is so popular.

Reviewer's Note: