Having thoroughly enjoyed the previous books in Kim Nash’s Cornish Cove series, I was thrilled to be gifted the opportunity to read and review this latest instalment, and to be able to catch up with some much loved characters from Driftwood Bayand hear their stories.
I was delighted that Meredith was in this book, but wondered why her Mother, Lydia, wasn’t ready to share the contents of the box her ex Husband had sent her. Its symbolism in relation to the present was most certainly not lost on me. My curiosity was most certainly piqued though, in that it wasn’t really just a case of Lydia not wanting to show Meredith the box, but more a case of Lydia actively hiding said box and its contents from Meredith. I could certainly see Lydia’s temporary next door neighbour, Dianne, sniffing out that there was something going on, and not stopping until she discovered the details in all their juiciness. Unfortunately the box wasn’t the only thing that Lydia was keeping from Meredith. Her ex husband, Peter, did sound quite lovely so I must admit to a piquing of my curiosity, as to why the pair had ever split up. He certainly seems in touch with his sensitive side. Saying that though, Peter had been Lydia’s fifth Husband, so could she in some way be quite attached to the idea of being divorced? Who knows! My musings are mere speculation, but we may find out some more of the juicy details.
It was interesting to read that Lydia likes being around people who don’t know about her past; is it really that salubrious? What we learned about her early years with Meredith though, was utterly heartbreaking. Personally, I take great comfort from being around people who have known me for years! It was great to see the lovely Martin back again, but I was astonished by his comment about some people not wanting to live near the sea. I was as baffled by this as Martin, as I love living near the sea. Just because I share Lydia’s views on the Floridian sea, it doesn’t mean that I don’t love our coastline. When it came to health, I really felt for Lydia and hoped that the old adage about me news being good news, was going to ring true for her. Nancy was a wonderful character; I adored her tangible relationship with the books in her shop. Those books genuinely seemed to be bringing an unadulterated joy to Nancy’s existence; forgetting that she is ‘just’ a character in a book, Kim Nash’s writing brought Nancy to life for me, and I felt as though a little of her joy rubbed off on not just Lydia, but on me too. Talking of joy, I was pleased to see Lydia grasp the mettle of joy and start a list of things that are joyous to her. Is Drftwood Bay a generally joyous place? It most certainly seems to being peoples ‘inner hugger’ to the core! I loved the sentiment of Celia’s parting toast – for people to live their best lives – and I felt as though Driftwood Bay was the very place to do just that.
Martin seemed really quite keen on Lydia, at times seeming to follow her around a bit like a lovelorn puppy. I liked both Martin and Lydia, but their love lives really were the polar opposite. Martin on the one hand, wonderfully devoted to his late Wife both when she was alive and after her passing away – and Lydia, having been through at least 5 Husbands. I say at least 5, because while we know that Peter was Husband number five, it is unclear as to whether other not Lydia was married after Peter at all. I could forgive Lydia a couple of Husbands, but once you get to at least number five, it feels as though some kind of behaviour could be at play. I may be totally wrong, and if so I apologise to Lydia! There I go again! Kim Nash’s writing is such that I genuinely start to feel as though these characters are my friends, in the unique way that Kim brings these personalities to life. This may explain why I so felt for Lydia, when we learn the story of why she no longer dances, having loved to dance as a young woman. Pass the tissue box please……..quickly…..! Martin seemed a wonderful, person to spend time with and I felt as though his occupation – reusing and upcycling things almost seemed brought to life, with how he was delving into Lydia’s past life and bringing life to her former passion – dancing. Martin spoke of bringing people cherished items back to life and that was exactly what he was doing with Lydia – bringing her back to life. I looked forward to following their burgeoning friendship, but also hoped that all was well between Lydia’s Daughter Meredith and her partner Clem (Martin’s Son).
I loved Lydia’s burdening sense of joy and the way it was seeming to permeate through the residents of the cove. Perhaps we should all make an effort to sit down at some point every day, and think about the things that bring us joy. I completely understood and shared Lydia’s love of new stationery! Which is marginally more joyous, completely filling a trusted old notebook, or starting a new untouched treasure?
This book brought to the fore a range of emotions, but I wasn’t sure about how I felt at Vi having a wonderful day out at a funeral! At first it made me laugh, especially at the thought of her ‘fleecing’ the buffet, but it kind of stuck in my mind like a literary version of an ear worm (a word worm?) – It preyed on my mind and in the end I felt rather sad about it! As for Vi posting parcels in the dog poo bin……! You can say what you like about Vi, but in my opinion, she sums up how you want to behave……to be, once you get to a certain age! More thinking about you and what you want… how you want to act…..what you want to wear; less worrying about what others might think! On a side note though – why is Vi behaving in such a cagey manner lately?
Will the neighbours work out what is going in with Vi, and doesLydia still have a chance to take part in the dancing competition? To find out the answers to these questions, and more, you will need to read this great book for yourself.
Purchase link: https://mybook.to/memoriescornishsocial
Eatwell Reads-Well 