The Cornwall Sabbatical

It's highly entertaining and i had a lot of fun but it's also thought provoking and a story that shows the damage of the gentryfication.
I liked the storytelling and the style of writing.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A native son returns home in this memoir about a man coming home to Cornwall with his Swiss wife. When Cox left Cornwall, or at least the Cornwall he knew, it was rough and tumble, but now it’s become one of the most visited and sought after locations to live in the UK. Cox explores, both the old and the new, painting a picture of a way of life long gone. With humor, good grace, and a touch of melancholy this memoir, it’s both delightful and haunting.

This was a delight. I so enjoyed the book, not least of all because I’m currently absolutely in love with all things Cornwall. So well written with warmth and depth.

Having just returned from a short break in Cornwall, the title grabbed my attention.
The author, a Cornish lad, having lived and worked abroad for many years, returns to Cornwall to study for a post graduate degree at Falmouth university. He is accompanied by his Swiss wife, Marlis and they rent a cottage for the year.
The sections in the book are divided into seasons and these in turn into chapters. At the start of each chapter there is a short quote eg. Chapter 39 ' Cornwall - A place where the drum beats differently'.
During the year they travel all over Cornwall. The mix of childhood memories and present day musings together with comments from Marlis provide an enjoyable and informative read, often with a touch of humour.
The author concludes with various statistics regarding employment, house prices and discusses tourism and the issues surrounding second homes.
Highly recommend.


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I visited Cornwall in the summer as had the summer off so this intrigued me.

A Cornish chap returns to Cornwall with this wife to study for post grad degree at a Cornish University. They rent a cottage for a year and travel all over the county during differing seasons.
There is reminisenses of childhood and present day issue with tourism - which was manic for me in places like Port Issac, second homes and local employment

A really interesting read with some humour thrown into the mix

Recommended read.

Like the author I enjoyed a mostly idyllic childhood in Cornwall and thus feel well qualified to say this book is an absolute gem. For me it brought back many happy memories of adventures spent on sunny beaches and rugged cliffs but it also taught me a great many things I did not know about the Duchy.
Jonathan E. Cox writes beautifully with wry humour and his love of Cornwall and the Cornish permeates every single page. He is well informed about the geology, history, politics, culture and folklore of the county. He appraises everything and puts it into context with a post-Brexit landscape that battles against homelessness and drug addiction.
If you've not yet visited Cornwall this book is an essential first step towards discovering its magic.

Being from Cornwall I rarely read books about Cornwall by "outsiders". They never really understand the place, and always seem to be looking for something Cornwall can't give them and then blaming Cornwall for not being the place they have projected on to it. Jonathan Cox is Cornish, and has been away so is able to see the county through fresh eyes. The book is very readable and highly entertaining. I will be repeating the Port Pendennis/Donald Trump story for a while. There is a lot I didn't know in this book, a lot I recognise and which made me smile, and nothing to wind me up. This is a rare thing - a book about Cornwall that I think a lot of people in Cornwall will enjoy. This is a book I recommend wholeheartedly.

My Grandmother was from Cornwall and came to the United States after WW2. I visited Cornwall as a child. I loved reading about Jonathan Cox's adventures in Cornwall and learning more about the area than I know from my grandmother's reminiscing. The author did a great job of keeping your interest through his storytelling and humor, all while educating us on the vast history of the Cornwall region.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this great book!!

Jonathan Cox and his Swiss wife, Marlis, decide to spend a year in Cox's birth county of Cornwall, and the resulting book is a mix of current information, the struggles of being a returnee/immigrant and historical information and memoir. This means you're rarely stuck on the same topic for long, and it does follow the year around, but it darts around a bit.

Cox takes a writing course at university and they live in Falmouth, and from there make visits all over the county, to lots of places familiar to me from my own past visits there (I particularly enjoyed reading about looking at the seals at Godrevy, something I have lovely memories of doing). I did learn a lot - Truro is apparently England's wettest city and Penzance the heroin capital of the South-West ... There were some bits I knew about, such as the German love for Rosamund Pilcher, as I once memorably encountered filming in St Ives of one of her books by a German film crew and cast.

There are statistical appendices in the back, although quite a few statistics through the book, and it was an interesting read with a real flavour of Cornwall through an expert's and returner's eyes.

Review posted 29 October on my blog.

Many, many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this new work! I really enjoyed this new book by Jonathan Cox. Mr. Cox returns to his roots to work on a graduate degree at Falmouth University. Mr. Cox and his wife explore the Cornwall region - much changed since the time that he grew up there. Cornwall is a very unique area with respect to the culture and geography. Mr. Cox travels this area and details his adventures. Well-written and light-hearted, and quite funny. Highly recommended. I read this while on a very long plane ride so I was able to read it straight through.

Jonathan Cox returns to Falmouth university and decides to explore Cornwall with his wife. He writes about his adventures. Funny, a travelogue of Cornwall that is well written and fun to read.

this is a book that is easily read chapter at a time, as each one deals with a different location in Cornwall that the author and his wife visit, while living in Cornwall to allow hoim to attend university there, to become a writer. paty history lesson, part travelogue, part current conditions (economic and social culture), each chatpter gives you a little window into the sould of the inhabitants, as if you were really there. Having said that, some chapters are really heaving on economics and stats, and that is where the book lags badly. It's an interesting look at cornwall, it's just can't make up its mind what type of book it is.