The Secrets of Harbour House

Liz Fenwick

A NEGLECTED Georgian house overlooking turquoise seas holds not just an array of magnificent art treasures but heartbreaking memories of a powerful but forbidden love… and it will take a lost and grieving young woman to unlock its hidden secrets.

Summer always springs to vibrant life when Liz Fenwick – the queen of Cornish fiction – sweeps us away to the bejewelled corner of the country that this Massachusetts-born expat has made her own, and her brand new story is brimming with all the mystery, drama and romance that are the hallmarks of her enthralling books. Fenwick (pictured below) fell in love with an Englishman and now enjoys family life in beautiful Cornwall whilst channelling her writing talents and energies into atmospheric and beautifully crafted novels which connect with both the landscape she adores, and the human condition that she writes about with such startling insight and veracity. 

And The Secrets of Harbour House is a visual and verbal triumph… an emotionally-charged and sensual tale of love, loss, passion and redemption weaving seamlessly between past and present, and steeped in the sea vistas and sparkling sunlight of Cornwall, and the lush elegance and dazzling glories of a long-ago summer in Venice.

Thirty-year-old Kerensa (Ren) Barton is struggling to cope with the recent death of her beloved father in a road accident. Her mother’s health is frail after a stroke and the family’s well-established auctioneering firm in Penzance is now being run solely by her uncle, Stephen Barton, who chucked Ren out of the business eight years ago after she made a catastrophic pricing error.

It knocked Ren’s confidence and left her with a breakdown and symptoms of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, making her more and more dependent on her controlling boyfriend Paul who says he is ‘always looking out for her’ and makes constant checks on where she is and what she’s doing.

Three days after her father’s funeral, Ren is unexpectedly sent by her uncle, now running the auction company alone, to catalogue Harbour House, a neglected home overlooking the sea in Newlyn, and it’s a welcome escape for her. Until just a few years ago, it was the home of two very elderly women, artist Bathsheba Kernow and sculptor Vivian Sykes who died in what may have been a suicide pact. It would appear that they left no will and Ren – who is an amateur artist herself and has a passion for putting women back into the history of art – is determined to discover more about the two women and the treasure trove of artworks inside their house.

And there’s one painting in particular which catches Ren’s eye… a hypnotically sensual portrait of a beautiful young woman which dominates the hallway, exudes a beguiling combination of sexual power and innocence, and is full of longing, sadness and intelligence. Captivated and intrigued, Ren finds herself piecing together the enigma of Bathsheba (Sheba) Kernow, a fiercely talented young artist who left St Ives almost a hundred years before, eager to escape a society that wouldn’t understand that she was ‘different’ instead labelling her ‘unnatural’ and ‘a freak.’

And so we meet Sheba in May of 1934 as she sets out on her quest to ‘find her place in the world’ and embarks on a daring train journey from the underbelly of Paris to the heady luxury of Venice and, along the way, makes a chance encounter that will change her life forever and draw her into the most dangerous and forbidden of love affairs. For Ren, still reeling with her own grief and misgivings, and facing an uncertain future with her boyfriend, Harbour House possesses secrets that will change her life too… in ways she could never have imagined.

Fenwick’s home nestles near Frenchman’s Creek – the enchanting cove on Cornwall’s Helford River made famous by renowned novelist Daphne du Maurier – and here she finds her inspiration from the famous colony of artists known as the Newlyn School who settled in the small fishing port near Penzance in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

Harnessing a Sapphic love story which broke boundaries and tested loyalties with the spectacular backdrop of an area which offered those pioneering artists scenes and lives scarcely touched by the industrial revolution, The Secrets of Harbour House proves itself to be a literary gem, rich in artistic history, lyrical and descriptive storytelling, and heart-rending drama. At the centre of the action are two generations of talented women who suffer the slings, arrows and emotional pain of outrageous male manipulation across different  timelines, and it is their battle to find happiness, however brief and whatever the risks, that dominate this captivating romantic odyssey.

Written straight from the heart, full of warmth, sensitivity and thought-provoking issues, and given extra power by a compelling mystery and fascinating insights into early 20^th century art history and social mores, this is top of the class for summertime reading!
(HQ, paperback, £9.99)