Member Review

Cover Image: The Little Shop in Cornwall

The Little Shop in Cornwall

Pub Date:

Review by

Becky F, Reviewer

After Claudia’s divorce, she packs her bags and heads to Cornwall, ready to embark on a whole new adventure. From big city girl to coastal shop owner, she leaves her old life behind to become the person she’s always wanted to be.

Jason, recently widowed and looking for a new life in Cornwall after exhausting himself in Edinburgh, is searching for a new start for him and his grieving, angsty teenage daughter Maddie, proving a difficult task when he can’t even get her to open up to him about how she’s feeling.

When Maddie forms her new friendship with Claudia, and becomes drawn to her shop, Jason isn’t happy about the stores stock and it’s healing properties that Maddie seems so interested in,

But isn’t it a good thing that Maddie is finally opening up? Albeit a stranger she met on the shore instead of her father. Will he ever suspend his disbeliefs and trust this new woman who has entered his daughters life?

Can opposites attract? Will the grief of losing a loved one consume you forever or does time heal all wounds?

The cover, name of the book and blurb drew me in immediately, I was after a more lighthearted read and this book didn’t fail to satisfy my needs. After visiting Cornwall once as a teen, I desired to be transported back to the sea breeze, crashing waves and little shops along the shore.

The visuals I was able to conjure up whilst reading this book was second to none; beautiful ocean views, sparkling crystals, dog walkers, coastal walks... I now want to pack up my life, say goodbye to my old self (like the main characters Claudia and Jason) and live beside the sea in a small community where you know everyone, even though in the book, the coastal town of Porthsteren is not a place for privacy, everyone knows your business.

The main themes of the book centred around loss, grief and love. The main characters heartache were revealed in relatable ways and i found myself forming a strong love for Claudia and Jason, their paths intertwining when they needed it the most.

Claudia’s shop, the Healing Waves store, her meditation classes, her mindfulness activities such as drawing pictures in the sand and watching the waves take the pain and worries away back to sea was beautifully described, pulling me in to this new way of thinking like a wave storming into the grains of sand. I really resonated with the anxiety in this book, and found Claudia’s teaching actually helping myself along the way. Claudia not only helps Jason’s grieving, teenage daughter Maddie, she helped opened my mind as a reader to letting negative energy go, to want to put positive affirmations into the universe.

I thought The Little Shop in Cornwall was very emotional, a breath of fresh air (or one full of sea salt), and written extremely well, I was on the adventure with Claudia and Jason, embarking on my own journey. I want nothing more than to visit Claudia’s store, attend her workshops, hold her crystals in my hand and feel the sand beneath my feet, a blaze in the scorching heat.

I did find the ending a little rushed, but nonetheless I truly adored this story and I would love to hear more from these characters.

I’ve never read one of Helen Pollard’s books before, but I am now on a mission to read them all. I can’t wait to start a new adventure to the Little French Guesthouse.
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