Turning The Tide by Christine Stovell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a very atmospheric book. It describes the sea and the bleak, beautiful watery landscape near Little Spitmarsh with so much affection that you can’t help falling a little in love with the setting yourself.
Harry Watling runs an ailing boat yard and loves Little Spitmarsh exactly the way it is. Matthew Corrigan is a property developer who has started renovating the old boat house next door and has big ideas on how to turn the town around.
The best thing about Harry and Matthew’s relationship is that the thing that keeps them apart – aside from the row over the fate of the boatyard – is their personalities. Harry is stubborn and prickly (I loved Harry!). Matthew is smooth and confident. They each handle the problem in their own way and end up pushing each other away.
The book gives you the points of view of a number of quirky characters from the village. They are a little annoying to start with, but they soon grow on you. The main reason I didn’t give this book five stars is because, well, did we really need to know what the dog was thinking?
Overall, a great book. It takes a while to get into it, but once you get your head round all the characters and points of view, it trips along at a good pace. Harry is a fantastic heroine – hard working, strong willed and very easy to like.
Rhoda Baxter 