Down to the Sea by Sue Lawrence-Historical Mystery- Lovebooksgrouptours#
I’m not usually into historical fiction but this one drew my eye being a mystery and was
recommended by a friend so I gave it a go and I am very glad I did. Set across two
timelines, the 1980’s and 1890’s it tells the story of a house. Wardie house was a
poorhouse and Jessie has been sent there after losing her father and brother to a
sea tragedy. Everyone believes that she is cursed and she is called a Winzie, after she
stepped on their boat that was lost at sea with many others lost. In the 1980’s Craig
and Rona have bought Wardie house and are turning it into a luxury care home for
the elderly with all it entails. On her own in the annex with Craig away on a course,
Rona begins to hear strange noises. Their neighbour Martha is friendly enough but
appears to be hiding something. When a new resident arrives who used to live in a
nearby house she says “Don’t tell me that yank is still here?” in a rather disparaging
way .It’s interesting albeit heart breaking to read how children were treated in the
poor house as well as the thoughts and trends of the era- for example “loose hair
means loose morals” What?? How things change. I loved this. The characters came
to life and I particularly took to Jessie and Rona. An interesting read and a poignant
one. 5*
recommended by a friend so I gave it a go and I am very glad I did. Set across two
timelines, the 1980’s and 1890’s it tells the story of a house. Wardie house was a
poorhouse and Jessie has been sent there after losing her father and brother to a
sea tragedy. Everyone believes that she is cursed and she is called a Winzie, after she
stepped on their boat that was lost at sea with many others lost. In the 1980’s Craig
and Rona have bought Wardie house and are turning it into a luxury care home for
the elderly with all it entails. On her own in the annex with Craig away on a course,
Rona begins to hear strange noises. Their neighbour Martha is friendly enough but
appears to be hiding something. When a new resident arrives who used to live in a
nearby house she says “Don’t tell me that yank is still here?” in a rather disparaging
way .It’s interesting albeit heart breaking to read how children were treated in the
poor house as well as the thoughts and trends of the era- for example “loose hair
means loose morals” What?? How things change. I loved this. The characters came
to life and I particularly took to Jessie and Rona. An interesting read and a poignant
one. 5*
For more reviews please see my blog http://nickibookblog.blogspot.co.uk/
or follow me on Twitter @nickijmurphy1
Blurb
When Rona and Craig buy a large Victorian house up from Edinburgh's Newhaven district – once teeming with fishing boats – they plan to renovate and set it up as a luxury care home. But something is not quite right: disturbing sounds can be heard when the sea mists swirl; their unpredictable neighbour makes it clear that the house was not always a happy family home. And their ‘characterful' historic pile has a gloomy cellar harbouring relics from days gone by.
Back in the 1890s, superstitious fishwives blame young Jessie for the deaths of their menfolk in a terrible storm, and she's forced into the Newhaven Poorhouse. In those less enlightened times, life was often severe, cruel even, and Jessie is entirely at the mercy of a tyrant matron. But one inmate is not all she seems. Jessie begins to pick at the truth, uncovering the secrets and lies that pervade the poorhouse – and which will have profound and dangerous consequences in the future.
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Author Info
As well as writing three very popular and well-reviewed historical mysteries published in the UK and overseas, Sue Lawrence is one of the UK’s leading cookery writers, with eighteen published cookbooks. Having trained as a journalist in Dundee, she won BBC’s MasterChef in 1991 and became a food writer, regularly contributing to Scotland on Sunday, as well as being the Sunday Times' food writer for six years. Born in Dundee and raised in Edinburgh, she now lives near Newhaven, Edinburgh – the setting for her latest novel. She has won two Guild of Food Writers Awards and a Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award, and now focuses on researching and writing historical fiction.
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