I'm delighted to be today's stop on the blog tour for Annie's Lovely Choir by the Sea, the debut novel from Liz Eeles.
Annie Trebarwith loves her independence, but having just reached the end of her latest job contract and found her boyfriend in a compromising position with a work colleague, it's making her think about her life. So when she receives a letter from a solicitor telling her about her maternal great aunt Alice that she knew nothing about she's curious and decides that a trip to Cornwall might be just what she needs.
Being a city girl Annie is like a fish out of water in Salt Bay, there's no phone signal so she feels cut off but then she meets Kayla, the barmaid in the local pub and the pair soon become friends. Knowing Kayla means that Annie meets more of the locals, not all of whom are fans of the Trebarwith family and finds out a little bit more about her family and the village of Salt Bay.
Annie never planned on staying in Salt Bay for long but with Alice's health failing she agrees to stay until a permanent carer can be arranged. It's during this time that Annie finds out about a tragedy that affected the whole village and that's when she comes up with the idea of reforming the local choir. It's a decision that will change her life completely.
Annie's Lovely Choir by the Sea is a truly wonderful and charming book, full of characters that I really cared about. The way that Annie's back-story was slowly revealed enabled me to feel a genuine warmth for her and made her believable. I've never been to Cornwall but just from the authors very visual descriptions I feel as if I have now, I could almost taste the salty sea air and hear the seagulls screaming as they swooped over the cliffs. Liz Eeles has very skillfully balanced the levels of humour and seriousness and the end result is a book that will leave you with a smile on your face as well as a serious case of the warm and fuzzies. If a book could give you a hug then this one would give you one that you'll remember and I'm delighted to hear that there's another book on the way.
About the author
Liz began her writing career as a journalist for newspapers and
magazines before moving into the health sector as a communications manager and
press officer. The low point of her career was abandoning an interview with
Cliff Richard after two questions because she was about to faint – her excuse
is that she was newly pregnant at the time.
Liz is from Gloucestershire but now lives by the sea in West Sussex with
her husband and grown-up daughter. She spends a lot of time meaning to
meditate, avoiding exercise, and missing her son who lives in London.
You can follow the rest of the blog tour on these wonderful blogs:
With kind thanks to Kim Nash at Bookouture for the review copy.
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