Review: On a Falling Tide by Georgia Hill
I'm so pleased to share my review of On A Falling Tide, a gripping dual-timeline story by Georgia Hill. It took me back to places I've visited, and which I've come to love. And the plot is glued together by an intriguing mystery that binds the present to the past.
On A Falling Tide takes you to the Jurassic Coast, to Lyme Regis and the surrounding area. It's an area I know well. My husband grew up there, and we visited a few times. If you're ever travelling in that direction of Dorset and Devon, do check it out!
But I digress. This novel is an intriguing dual-timeline story. The plot weaves between the present and the past, interlinking the two through a beautiful fossil. A clever ruse!
In the present, we have Charity, a young woman who has come into an inheritance through her grandfather who'd raised her. Her mother left her when she was a baby. As a result, Charity is suffering from a strong sense of insecurity. She doesn't feel worthy of a steady relationship, as any man would leave her anyway, just like her mother had done. This is a clever psychological plot which is challenged by Matt, a local boat-building instructor. He turns Charity's world upside down.
But he's not the only one. Bring in Lydia, a young lady who lived in the early 2nd half of the 1800s. A girl of 17, with a passive mother and an overbearing father who arranges a suitable marriage for her. But all Lydia wants is go fossil-hunting on the coast, and to chat to The Boy, a young fisherman called Abel who she falls in love with.
By interlinking the two women's stories, Ms Hill has created a gripping plot. As Charity delves into her family history, she finds that the more she uncovers, the more it begins to intertwine with Lydia's life. I'm not going to give away any of the clever twists Ms Hill weaves into the story, but suffice to say, Charity ends up with more than she bargained for.
There is an underlying sense of danger, as Lydia's ghost haunts the coast, hissing, 'Dragon's teeth'. The meaning will be explained in the story. It's real Gothic goosebump territory!
On a Falling Tide is a novel of tragedy, of loss and unhappiness, but also of overcoming your own inner demons. A highly engaging and gripping read that keeps you thinking about the characters long after you finish reading. A read I can highly recommend.
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Blurb:
Two haunting love stories and a hundred and fifty-year-old curse…
When the beloved grandfather who brought her up dies, Charity is left struggling to cope. Alone and rootless, she’s drawn to the sleepy fishing village of Beaumouth near Lyme Regis and begins to research her family tree.
A chance encounter with attractive boat-builder Matt sparks a chain of mysterious and unsettling events and leads Charity to uncover the story of a young girl who lived in the village over a hundred years before.
In 1863 all Lydia Pavey wants to do is follow in Mary Anning’s footsteps and become a ‘fossilist.’ Instead, she is being forced into marriage to a man she barely knows.
Charity’s obsession with Lydia becomes all-consuming and she risks losing everything. With a longed-for family tantalisingly in reach, will Charity find the happy ever after she’s yearned for and, most importantly, can she save the man she loves?
Buy links:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B082334S8K/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082334S8K/
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About the Author:
Georgia Hill writes warm-hearted and up-lifting contemporary and timeslip romances about love, the power and joy in being an eccentric oldie and finding yourself and your community. There's always a dog. It's usually a naughty spaniel of which, unfortunately, she has had much experience. Her books are firmly rooted in small seaside towns similar to the one she lives in and she loves history especially when it insists on rearing up and battering at the present.
As a child she had an invisible friend called Gonky who lived on the third stair from the bottom. As an adult her invisible friends inhabit her head and refuse to leave until she commits them to paper. Readers of her books can escape into a cosy world of words and, no matter what challenges her characters face they will, ultimately, have a happy ending.
Find her on Twitter @georgiawrites and at www.georgiahill.co.uk.
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