1939, and Will and Alice are evacuated to a granite farm in north Cornwall, perched on a windswept cliff. There they meet the farmer’s daughter, Maggie, and against fields of shimmering barley and a sky that stretches forever, enjoy a childhood largely protected from the ravages of war.
But in the sweltering summer of 1943 something happens that will have tragic consequences. A small lie escalates. Over 70 years on Alice is determined to atone for her behaviour – but has she left it too late?
2014, and Maggie’s granddaughter Lucy flees to the childhood home she couldn’t wait to leave thirteen years earlier, marriage over; career apparently ended thanks to one terrible mistake. Can she rebuild herself and the family farm? And can she help her grandmother, plagued by a secret, to find some lasting peace?
This is a novel about identity and belonging; guilt, regret and atonement; the unrealistic expectations placed on children and the pain of coming of age. It’s about small lies and dark secrets. But above all it’s about a beautiful, desolate, complex place.
(P) 2016 Hodder & Stoughton
But in the sweltering summer of 1943 something happens that will have tragic consequences. A small lie escalates. Over 70 years on Alice is determined to atone for her behaviour – but has she left it too late?
2014, and Maggie’s granddaughter Lucy flees to the childhood home she couldn’t wait to leave thirteen years earlier, marriage over; career apparently ended thanks to one terrible mistake. Can she rebuild herself and the family farm? And can she help her grandmother, plagued by a secret, to find some lasting peace?
This is a novel about identity and belonging; guilt, regret and atonement; the unrealistic expectations placed on children and the pain of coming of age. It’s about small lies and dark secrets. But above all it’s about a beautiful, desolate, complex place.
(P) 2016 Hodder & Stoughton
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Reviews
A beautifully evocative story of love, loss and forgiveness. You can taste, feel, see and hear Cornwall on every page as the characters pull you into their lives. Loved it.
Absolutely loved it. Very rare I sit and devour 220 pages in one afternoon.
An evocative and page-turning story of love and heartbreak, written in beautiful and poignant prose that captivated me from first word to final page
A wonderful book about love and loss through the eyes of three generations of Cornish women. Lovable, flawed, and so very human, each character had me rooting for them right until the very end. But it was the setting on the north Cornwall coast that makes me love this book: the weather, the seasons, the landscape, the house are all written so vividly that I could step into that place and instantly know my way around.
Sarah Vaughan not only writes beautifully but her stories and characters have a way of climbing into your heart and staying there long after you've turned the last page . . . Highly recommended!
A gorgeously evocative love letter to Cornwall and an unputdownable story. I devoured it.
A big-hearted story, and one that's full of love for the Cornish landscape. With the convincing detail about farming life, and intriguing past and present storyline, The Farm at the Edge of the World thoroughly transported me to the far western wilds, and made me very reluctant to leave again.
The characters are engaging, the plot nuanced and satisfying. I was blown away, to be honest, finishing the book in one greedy gulp. Highly recommended!
Sarah Vaughan's beautifully-written second novel establishes her as a compelling storyteller, weaving the two strands of Cornish farming past and present into an honest, visceral love story.
Exquisitely written . . . a truly pastoral novel - sharp, sometimes painful, but authentic with real emotional depth.
[A] fabulous sense of place and a clever, compelling story
You won't want this one to end
Heartbreaking
A great read about guilt, atonement and identity
A rich family saga told with an intensity that echoes du Maurier
A sweeping love story, earthy and passionate, whipped along by the Cornish sea winds. Wonderful
The Farm at the Edge of the world is warm, tender and full of humour and deeply moving. An assured and very affecting piece of storytelling.