Blog Tour Book Review / Penhaligon's Attic by Terri Nixon

1910. Anna Garvey arrives in Caernoweth, Cornwall with her daughter and a secret. Having come from Ireland to take up an inheritance of the local pub, she and her eighteen year-old daughter Mairead are initially viewed with suspicion by the close-knit community.

Anna soon becomes acquainted with Freya Penhaligon, a vulnerable girl struggling to keep her family business afloat in the wake of her grandmother's death, and starts to gain the trust of the locals. As their friendship deepens, and Freya is brought out of her shell by the clever and lively Mairead, even Freya's protective father Matthew begins to thaw.

But when a part of Anna's past she'd long tried to escape turns up in the town, she is forced to confront the life she left behind - for her sake and her daughter's too . . .

Published:    1st December 2016
Publisher:  Piatkus
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 1, Penhaligon's Saga
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

MY REVIEW

The one thing I love about trying new authors is that a story comes along that you just can't stop reading until the very last page.  This was one of those stories for me.  I picked this up on a rainy Sunday late morning and finished it early that evening.  To then discover that this is going to be a Saga, I can't cant wait to read more...

There are so many parts of this story that I loved but to name a few...   Firstly, there is the story of Freda who lives in Caernoweth at first with her mother and father.  Her father being a fisherman and a drunk until one night when Freda nearly died when he completely changed.  We get to watch Freda and her family as they evolve throughout the years and become close despite the fact that Freda's mother took her away to London for a short time while her father cleaned up her act. 

You then have Anna who arrives in Caernoweth with her daughter.  They have a secret that you don't get to find out until very near the end of the book and I have to admit that this was not a secret I was expecting.  I love it when that happens. 

You then have a mix of the two stories, which I won't go into too much detail on this because I don't want to spoil the story for you.  All I will say is that this story is a roller coaster of emotion and I enjoyed every minute of it.