Book Review / The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan

1939, and Will and Alice are evacuated to a granite farm in north Cornwall, perched on a windswept cliff. There they meet the farmer's daughter, Maggie, and against fields of shimmering barley and a sky that stretches forever, enjoy a childhood largely protected from the ravages of war.

But in the sweltering summer of 1943 something happens that will have tragic consequences. A small lie escalates. Over 70 years on Alice is determined to atone for her behaviour - but has she left it too late?

2014, and Maggie's granddaughter Lucy flees to the childhood home she couldn't wait to leave thirteen years earlier, marriage over; career apparently ended thanks to one terrible mistake. Can she rebuild herself and the family farm? And can she help her grandmother, plagued by a secret, to find some lasting peace?

This is a novel about identity and belonging; guilt, regret and atonement; the unrealistic expectations placed on children and the pain of coming of age. It's about small lies and dark secrets. But above all it's about a beautiful, desolate, complex place.

Published:     30th June 2016
Publisher:  Hodder & Stoughton
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

MY REVIEW

What I liked about this story...  On first look at this book, it looks like a very easy read, maybe chicklit?  Definitely not chicklit.  What this story has is history and a lot of drama - and I loved it!!  You have the past where you see Will, Alice and Maggie.  Will and Alice arrive at Maggie's home farm escaping the war.  They build a friendship between them.  Something happens one summer which separates them.  You then have the present day where you see Maggie as a grandmother living at her farm with her family.  The farm is not doing so good and her grandaughter Lucy returns to the farm having discovered that her husband was having an affair which led to mistakes nearly being made at work.  We follow Lucy as she tries to rebuild herself and help rebuild the farm.  You have two separate stories, one in the past and one in the present, that are both unfinished.  I loved trying to figure out how each one of those ends.  

What I didn't like about this story...  There was only one part that really bugged me about this story and that was what happened to Will after that summer in 1943 when things went wrong.  I was so disappointed after learning what really happened and felt that if something else had happened instead of what really happened the ending would have been a lot more enjoyable.