Hope Lives Here
And Then There Was You by Miranda Dickinson is a very charming contemporary novel that I enjoyed.
The novel is set in St Ives, Cornwall. In the back streets there is a café that offers love, hope and care to all who pass by. Characters unite over food and music.
We see the power of music to awaken souls and memories. Music takes us back down the years. For the leading lady, a song transports her back to being seven years old again, the only time in her life when she really felt loved for two short years. She was given hope by a man who was the closest thing she ever had to a father. Whenever she hears a certain song, it is her heart’s cry to see him again. “I still have my memories, and they don’t require living space.”
When dreams are shattered, characters are broken, losing their sense of purpose. “I just want to feel like me again.” They need to re-connect with what they once loved, but in a new, different way.
The power of the sea draws people in. For some it is the surf; for others it is an early morning stroll. “The sea is a pull to people who need reassurance [and] hope.”
It is the simple things in life that give the greatest pleasure. “Enjoying coffee by the beach before the rest of the town is even awake, is such a gift.” Connecting with nature sooths souls.
A character has been hurt in the past by her ex-husband. She has had to re-build her life. She bravely declares; “the only things that Luke Pengelly can grab from me now are the things I let him take. He took my past and five years of my life. I won’t allow him to take my future.”
We see the influence of mothers on lives. One character is bereft, struggling with the loss of his mother. “I need to be near her, even though she isn’t her anymore.” It is the sea that awakens memories.
For another character, her experience was the opposite, having a mother who didn’t care. Both characters have been shaped by their unique upbringings – and both are gentle souls.
All the characters were well drawn, warm and welcoming. Miranda Dickinson’s artistic pen has enabled both the characters and the Cornish landscape to come to life.
This is a book that will warm your heart and soul as we witness the power of the sea, the music and the people who inhabit our lives, however briefly.
In this book we can truly say, hope lives here.
I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinons are my own.
JULIA WILSON