‘A book that stays with you and widens your perception of how people and place intertwine’ MATT COLLINS
For over five decades, Beth Lynch has been repeatedly drawn to a rocky spot on the North Cornwall coast, where her earliest memories are rooted in idyllic family holidays. Following the deaths of her parents, strange occurrences around the cove leave Lynch questioning how well she truly knows this place of slate that so irresistibly calls to her. Why has it become so unsettling? Is she safer staying away?
Through encounters with quarrymen, wartime women and an enigmatic archaeologist – along with JMW Turner, Tennyson, Trollope and the Hardys – The Cove reflects lyrically on change: in ourselves, in places and in the transformative dance between the two.
For over five decades, Beth Lynch has been repeatedly drawn to a rocky spot on the North Cornwall coast, where her earliest memories are rooted in idyllic family holidays. Following the deaths of her parents, strange occurrences around the cove leave Lynch questioning how well she truly knows this place of slate that so irresistibly calls to her. Why has it become so unsettling? Is she safer staying away?
Through encounters with quarrymen, wartime women and an enigmatic archaeologist – along with JMW Turner, Tennyson, Trollope and the Hardys – The Cove reflects lyrically on change: in ourselves, in places and in the transformative dance between the two.
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Reviews
Lynch writes lyrically about the natural world
A mesmerising, elegiac mix of meditation and memoir
Beth Lynch is a gifted writer
Much like reading Where the Hornbeam Grows, I was continually taken aback by the skill and nuance of [Lynch's] observations - how vividly, beautifully and of course lyrically she conjured both the scenery and atmosphere of every place in the book, not least the cove itself. The Cove also brought freshly and sharply to mind the physical places that have been anchors in my own life, highlighting elements I'd not thought about, as only the good books manage to do . . . This is a book that stays with you and widens your perception of how people and place intertwine
A beautiful memoir. I loved the literary and historical layerings to the narrative . . . a delightful sense of tension, even jeopardy