i mean its Liz Fenwick. its Liz blooming Fenwick. so what could go wrong...nothing is your answer every single time. she is wonderful. i can remember my first book by Liz and i think she only served to make loving books an even bigger addition to my life. and any books from her since have only cemented her as one of the best authors ive come across. ever. and that i hope she feels immense pride in every single day. and i dont just mean because i feel that, why would she care about little old me. but i have seen every other author i love praise her too so that is saying something.
anyway enough praise because im cringing at my own self right now.
this book. once again i dont really need to say more. it was brilliant.
the book takes us back to the land that Liz always describes so well. the Cornish places she describes have me wanting to be there. but as i cant be just hearing and reading her stories has me filled with the place anyway. and in this book we go further afield as we are taken in a dual timelines to Venice. it was interesting to read about this era in time as its not one i usually have the opportunity to in the books i read. i also love the artist subject in this. it was so compelling to read about the story of the woman we are learning about in the present tense but also as she learns about the woman from the past.

Whilst the first few chapters didn't grab me, I'm glad to say that I soon fell deeply in love with this story. It is a dual timeline/POV story following Kerensa in the present and Sheba in the 1930s. Kerensa is tasked with valuing an intestate estate for two dead artists following the death of her own father. As she discovers the secrets for Sheba's life and art we also follow Sheba herself as she falls for the wealthy Katherine who is trapped in a loveless marriage to her abusive and controlling husband Paul. Paul has been using Katherine to write his poetry for years when we meet Katherine on a train to Venice. This marriage mirrors the toxic relationship of modern protagonist Kerensa who is stuck with Paul an arrogant controlling professor who doesn't have his girlfriend's best interests at heart.

The sapphic love story was beautifully portrayed giving the reader just enough steam without being gratuitous or overly sexual.

The descriptions of the areas allow the reader to jump into the stories well and the arcs of all characters are well done and enjoyable.

I really loved the way the author wrote and will be looking at her other works for sure!

I love Liz Fenwick’s writing, she always has a great story to tell. The Secrets of Harbour House is no exception. In fact it is my favourite of hers so far. I particularly loved the 1930’s sections - they were mesmerising & full of atmosphere & it was clever how they were woven in and around the present day sections which were also full of drama. The locations are all sublime from Venice to London to Cornwall & the characterisations spot on. I could feel the grief that Ren feels for her father & then also her mother’s situation and then her growing confidence as she rediscovers herself after Paul’s treacherous behaviour. A really cleverly woven story - and a great ending.

I found this to be a lovely easy read going back and forth in time between today and WW2. The overall story is good but I found the characters of Paul and Stephen to be very OTT and annoying. Kerensa, the main character throughout, was likeable but I found her relationship with her uncle to be patronising and disjointed at times. She was portrayed as someone who was a shadow of their former self, and she thus came back into herself throughout the story. The story between Bathsheba and Katherine was interesting as of the time. Overall, both stories were ultimately about tainted love and both relied on an element of serendipity. I felt the epilogue was a nice round off, but perhaps a bit contrived.

An intriguing dual time line story set between Venice and Cornwall. Harbour House holds it's many secrets.

Kareensa has come home to cornwall after her fathers death to sort out his part of the family buisness.
After arriving there she finds her parents and the suction house finances are in a bad way and needs to get to the bottom of it.
She is asked to catalouge a house thats been left empty for a couple of years when both owners died there close together and a will has never been found.
While doing this she uncovers the true identity of the owners and discovers a love story that was forbidden then.

Back at the auction house she discovers her uncle has been upto no good with the buisness and her dads was bailing the buisness out while he was still alive and has left the family with no money.
She comes up with a plan to get her mum the money she is owed and help her as her health is not good.

This is a story that will whisk you away not only to Cornwall but also to Venice, a place I have heard about but never been too. Kerensa is from Venice and working for her father, she finds herself in Cornwall to valuate items in a very run down property. This is perfect for her as she needs to get away for a bit. When Kerensa finds a painting, she goes and researches into it. She has things going on in her life that she needs to come to terms with. This was storytelling at it's best, Liz always finds a way to make you completely entranced in her books. I enjoyed all aspects of this book, the history and the art and I found it useful to know a little more about both of these. I really enjoyed this spellbinding read.

A fantastic read . Covered some delicate subjects well . Being a gay woman in the thirties, woman artists who were not allowed to be famous as they were woman. A horrible controlling person, deceit , old age. Wow it had it all.all. A very loyal best friend. Set in Cornwall and Austria. Moved back and forward in time . Not my favourite way to read but it worked.. Good twists you did not see and a neat ending. Read it . Absolutely loved it.