The returning tide by Liz Fenwick.
Two sisters and one betrayal that will carry across generations . . .

In wartime Cornwall, 1943, a story between two sisters begins - the story of Adele and Amelia, and the heart-breaking betrayal that will divide them forever. Decades later, the effects of one reckless act still echo - but how long will it be until their past returns?
A fantastic read. I loved the story. 5*.

Fans of romantic historical fiction will adore this novel set in Cornwall in 1942. A story of two sisters, is an emotional read.

Sometimes a book comes along and you know you were destined to read it. I purchased The Returning Tide in audiobook form. So I could listen whilst I worked. The problem was I was getting no work done. I was hooked from chapter one. I really enjoyed the audiobook version but I read faster so I took to kindle to read during the day and on my evenings I listened to the audiobook.

The book flip-flops from the 1940's to 2015, it's a lovely switch that I really enjoyed. We are taken from Cornwall to Cape Cod, having been to both placesI was lucky to be able to be able to have the advantage of remembering the smells and scenes from my travels.

I fell in love with the characters, the paths that life (Liz Fenwick) chose for them. For once I didn't know the ending of the book, the big reveal was shocking to me. I am usually pretty sure of how a book will end, but not with The Returning Tide, I found it very refreshing that the outcome was not rushed and that I to had to go through the journey with Adele, Lara, Amelia, Bobby and more.

A definite highlight of my year, it's truly fantastic. I cried, laughed and broke with the characters. I cannot wait to read Liz Fenwicks other reads.

Huge thanks to Liz Fenwick for the story and the characters. I will cherish them always. Thanks to Orion and Net Galley for my advanced copy to review.

Windward, 1945 - The marquee is out there on the lawn waiting for the wedding guests. Adele watches on and wonders how she has got to this point.

Windward, 2015 - The wedding marquee is out on the lawn waiting for the guests. Elle watches on and wonders how she ended up here.

It is in fact not the intervening years which complete the story it is that which has passed before.

Adele and Amelia, twins, identical perhaps by sight but not by personality. Amelia is the more carefree perhaps reckless one, Adele the constrained thoughtful one. But as war has started to reach Cornwall and the men they know are disappearing, the girls, once old enough join the WRNS in 1943 to escape. Ironically it is Adele who finds herself in London and Amelia who is restricted to a driving job in Cornwall. It will be the first time that they have been apart and not had the other to wholly rely on.

The story of the sisters, continues as war progresses. War separates and divides, as if a tide is washing in and out. The sisters keep in contact but rarely see each other. That is until one day when events mean they will never see each other again.

Across the ocean, Lara is struggling to cope with the loss of her great-grandfather, the breakup of her marriage and the loss of her job. She feels adrift and nothing seems to be able to settle her. When her great-grandfather's last word is Adele, she wants to find out more about the man and the great-grandmother she never knew, and of course Adele.

This is historical fiction at its best. Liz Fenwick has taken all the right elements, a time in history which was defining for the course of the Second World War and one that is on occasions missing from history. We have families struggling on both sides of the Atlantic with their secrets about the past. You of course as reader know information that some of the characters don't but I was totally enthralled with how they were going to find out and how all the pieces of the story fitted together.

The story is told in alternating time frames and I admit there are a lot of jumps to begin with, but once you overcome that you will be gripped by the story and totally unaware of the joins in the time frames. This was also helped for me with the letters between the sisters, in the main to fill in the gaps as the story progressed. It was a useful technique to bring the story together and emphasised how news was imparted during such times.

A chance conversation with a member of her family led to Liz Fenwick writing this novel which is very different to her previous work. Whilst this is not an exact retelling of events, elements of reality are very much between the pages and it is worth remembering that what you are about to read in this book, did in fact happen.

One simple action was all it took for the course of someones life to change irrevocably. As the tide went out, it was never going to return......but what if it did.........?

An excellent read and one of the best books I have read so far in 2017.

The Returning Tide is the first of Liz Fenwick's novels I have had the pleasure of reading. I know she has written many more, but this one was recommended (and appealed) to me due to its historical setting.

The Returning Tide opens with limited information about something that is surely set to be hugely important to the novel. Some sort of betrayal has happened between Adele and Amelia, something unspeakable. The intrigue and tension is set for the story that follows.

Adele and Amelia are identical twin sisters, coming of age as World War Two breaks out. The War leads them both in different directions for the first time in their lives. Both become WRNS or WRENs as they were more popularly known (Members of the Women's Royal Naval Service) and are given different postings.

Adele is posted away from Cornwall, she has never been away from her family or her sister, and she is scared, but excited to be undertaking an important, but sensitive and secretive assignment for the war effort. Amelia is remaining in Cornwall, her work equally important, but she remains close to her family.

The sisters write as often as time and the postal service will allow them, Amelia keeping Adele amused with her tales of beaus, and despairing of Adele's seeming inability to fall in love. It isn't that Adele doesn't want to fall in love, it's just that she isn't as confident as her sister and more importantly hasn't found the right man.

Running alongside this tale is a time slip story set in the present day with Lara nursing her dying Grandfather in Massachusetts. He never wants to talk about the war, but Lara is so proud of him looking at his photographs and documents on his death bed that she can't help but push him a little.

Her pushing leads her to Cornwall after his death, to discover exactly what he meant by mentioning a name she'd never heard before in his dying moments. Determined to find the truth, and discover if she may have family in Cornwall, Lara is unprepared for the treasure trove of family secrets that she is about to uncover.

I don't want to say too much more, so I'll just leave you with this - The Turning Tide is a beautiful novel, and Liz Fenwick now a firm favourite on my 'to read' list of authors.

The story starts with Ellie preparing for her granddaughters wedding at her home Windward on the Helston River in Cornwall. Although it should be a joyous occasion Ellie who is in her 90s has misgivings and it keeps taking her mind back to the wedding that took place there in 1945.

Lara is at her grandfathers bedside in the US he is dying and she and her twin brother are devastated but when the time comes the last word her grandfather says and repeats twice is Adele - who is Adele they have never heard of her - the grandmother they thought that he had been grieving for all of these years was called Amelia!

A great story then follows with flashbacks to the second world war and tells the heart breaking story of Adele and Amelia, identical twins. I loved the closeness between them and the way they called each other Half in their letters when they were separated in the war and the tragedy that followed. I have loved all of Liz Fenwick's books but think this one is the best

THE RETURNING TIDE by Liz Fenwick
A sentimental journey, via crossed paths and the busy junction where past and present collide with secrets, passions and misplaced loyalties.
I am not one for reading wartime-based books so I, initially, didn’t really fancy reading this particular novel but, as I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this Author’s other books, I dived in and I ended up thoroughly enjoying The Returning Tide by Liz Fenwick and I couldn’t put it down. It really grabbed me and was one of those books where the characters stay with you.

The story itself has plenty of twists and turns and keeps you on your mental-toes by chopping and changing the eras.
Not all, make do and mend or dances, Liz, who obviously put in plenty of dedicated research, also recreates the horrors of war – especially in one nail-biting, scene experienced by the helpless-feeling, Adele. I actually felt quite educated about some aspects of the day to day realities of living and working in the war. All that research certainly paid off.

If you enjoy books by Rosamunde Pilcher or Kate Morton, you will enjoy the books of Liz Fenwick. If you love Cornwall, you will enjoy these, if you love contemporary fiction, you will enjoy these. I’m not a huge fan of romantic fiction, but if you are, you will love these. Luckily for me, Liz’s books offer far more than just a love interest element so will appeal to a wider audience – especially The Returning Tide.
I look forward to the next book by Liz Fenwick – whichever era it is set in!

A full review can be found on my blog (WTDN) and the book of the Week feature (Sunday Girl on Siren FM 107.3) is now available on catch-up on my Mixcloud page.

The Returning Tide by Liz Fenwick

It is the summer of 2015 and a family is gathering in the beautiful Cornish village of Mawnan Smith to celebrate the marriage of young Peta. It will take place at Windward, the home of Peta’s grandmother, Elle. Windward holds many memories for Elle, especially now, because it was here, seventy years before, that another wedding took place and it changed her entire life. There is nothing she can to do to prevent the rush of memories. Ghosts walk everywhere.

Meanwhile, across the ocean in Cape Cod, Lara’s great grandfather is reaching the end of his days. As Lara holds his hand through those last moments, he utters one final word: ‘Adele’. Lara has never heard the name before and is surprised that his dying breath should be spent on a woman other than Amelia, his much mourned English wife who had died many years before. He never remarried. Only too happy to run away from problems in her own life, Lara leaves the Cape to spend time with a family friend on the Cornish coast, an area which held special meaning for her great grandfather and Amelia. Lara is determined to discover the identity of Adele and to learn more about those months when her great grandfather was stationed in Cornwall during the Second World War. The past is about to come to life.

I’m the first to admit that The Returning Tide is not my usual type of read but this was one of those occasions on which I read a synopsis of a novel and I knew instantly that I had to read it. The first reason is its movement between two periods of time – World War II and the present day, and the long-term effect of that war on the people we meet in this book. Secondly, it is largely set in my favourite place on the planet – Cornwall, particularly the bit around Helford, which I visit every year and to which, one of these days, I dream of retiring. Thirdly, I love family sagas, especially those which move through the wars of the 20th century. So, I picked up The Returning Tide and hardly put it down again until it was finished the next day. I fell in love with it instantly.

Liz Fenwick writes exquisitely. She poured me into the lives of these people, the generations of families and friends, and made me care deeply for them, even the present-day youngsters. Our main characters, Elle and Lara, are easy to like and Elle in particular is a compelling personality as she undergoes the trauma of reliving painful memories. It’s through Elle that we revisit the past and begin to understand her relationship with her twin sister. There is a real sense of carpe diem amongst these young people during the Second World War. Time is short, quite literally for some of their male friends. Elle is a Wren, deciphering telegraph messages, and she has to listen in to such things that they will colour her life. Elle is altered completely by the war, and so too is her sister.

The detail of these historical sections is marvellous. I’ve always been interested in the history of Cornwall during World War II, you can see the evidence of it everywhere, from wartime structures to gravestones that speak of great personal tragedy. The Returning Tide brings the past vividly to the fore but does it in such an evocative and moving way. Through tales of love and loss.

The novel is divided between the past and the present and, while the sections in the past were my favourite, I was also engrossed by the modern chapters, largely due to the forceful personality of Elle. Elle unites the novel in wonderful ways. She made me cry and smile.

There is great sadness in The Returning Tide, but it’s inviting. I wanted to read it with chocolate and red wine. It was hugely comforting despite the tears. Because it’s also a story about love and it is very tender, especially in its treatment of Elle’s grandson Jack.

The Returning Tide is a beautiful novel in so many ways, from its gorgeous locations and its characters, to its prose and its spirit. Liz Fenwick is a wonderful storyteller. For a few hours she transported me away to somewhere else entirely. I could almost feel the Cornish sea air brushing against my face.

Although I love Cornwall this is my first Liz Fenwick. This particular book grabbed my interest and I’m glad it did as I lost myself in this compelling story of wartime love, secrets and betrayal.
It begins in present day with Elle watching a Marquee being erected at Windward, her home in Falmouth. Her thoughts are in the past as she remembers a very different wedding there many years ago. Meanwhile in America, Lara is at her Grandfather’s bedside. His last words are puzzling, as he repeats a name that is not her Grandmother’s.
Both of these women are part of a story dating back to 1940, and twin sister’s Adelle and Amelia. The two sisters are so close they feel like two halves of one person but despite their bond, events occur that tear them apart, having repercussions for years to come.
I liked the whole feel of this story, old houses, thing’s hidden away in attics and letters that reveal secrets. I loved the story in the past and when the time switched to present day I couldn’t wait to get back into the 1940’s to see what happened. Liz Fenwick has written an emotional story that really gets across the fear and grief of war and how so many people were scarred by their experiences. This is a fabulous story for readers who, like me, enjoy the books of Kate Morton and Lucinda Riley. I am definitely a fan of Liz Fenwick now.