If you love Cornwall or are a fan of Winston Graham’s Poldark or spend your weekends binge-watching period dramas religiously as you admire the costumes, the historical details and how people lived, loved and got on with their everyday life, then you would adore reading The Cornish Lady by Nicola Pryce. I was sent a copy of the book to review and was not sure if this book was for me as I am not into period books but adamant to read and discover more books, I decided to give this book a try. Set in Cornwall in 1796, this is a heartwarming book about the charming life of Angelica Lilly and the trails and tribulations her family goes through. This is Nicola’s fourth book in her series, The Cornish Lady is a standalone story but if you want to read it in the correct order then it starts from Pengelley’s Daughter, The Captain’s Girl, The Cornish Dressmaker and finally The Cornish Lady which I will be sharing more about with you. We are also giving you a chance to win a copy of this book, a box of Cornish Fudge as well as some bookmarks if you would like to win yourself this excellent bundle. Scroll down to read more about it.

About The Cornish Lady

Educated, beautiful and the daughter of a prosperous merchant, Angelica Lilly has been invited to spend the summer in high society. Her father’s wealth is opening doors, and attracting marriage proposals, but Angelica still feels like an imposter among the aristocrats of Cornwall.

When her brother returns home, ill and under the influence of a dangerous man, Angelica’s loyalties are tested to the limit. Her one hope lies with coachman Henry Trevelyan, a softly spoken, educated man with kind eyes. But when Henry seemingly betrays Angelica, she has no one to turn to. Who is Henry, and what does he want? And can Angelica save her brother from a terrible plot that threatens to ruin her entire family?

What we thought of the book

The Author, Nicola has a way with words, I found myself reading the book easily and the words flowed very smoothly from each page.  Although there was not much drama at the start of the book, I was still intrigued to find out more as she described the scenery, atmosphere and character well. The more I read the book, the more I got to know about Angelica who is the daughter of a famous London actress as well a wealthy smelter.  She has grown up to be a charming and beautiful woman, even after losing her mum at a young age.  As a young woman in her 20s, she now has everything on her side and with men lining up for her hand in marriage, but with her brother under the influence, a large number of French prisoners who are taking up the food rations, poverty experienced by the locals and a deep dark secret, only known to the coachman, Henry Trevelyan, her world is delicate.

I love how Nicola introduces real-life characters, as well as real historical places, historical events and even places and ships very intelligently in her book. One such example is Pendennis Castle, which is described wonderfully in her book.  If you head to Nicola’s website, she clearly explains and shows you photos (or you could see these photos in the youtube video below) of these locations and why she has picked them.  She even shares that her story started when she eyed the photographs of the Tudor kitchens in Pendennis Castle.  There has been a lot of research done via photos, historical books and visits to the local area.  There is mention of the Normal Cross Prison and the love of gardens whereby the rich collect botanical specimens when they travel only to bring them back to grow in their own gardens (which is true to the history of that era). She also writes about Elizabeth Blackwell (in her book) who was, in real life the first women to achieve fame as a botanical illustrator.  Finally, she has also used the scenery from Trelissick House which is a National Trust Property to inspire her story. There are many other examples, but I will save them for you to read and discover in her book.

I totally enjoyed reading the book and found it hard to find the time, as I wanted to read it quickly to find out what happened next as each chapter went along.  This is not ideal, when you have your 6-year-old and 8-year-old also curiously sticking their head to read the lines from the pages out loudly to get your attention… a funny moment…but really, the book is definitely worth reading, especially if you are keen on history and all this period. I am now inspired to head to Cornwall to see these beautiful locations for myself.

Here’s a teaser youtube video of some of the images or inspiration of The Cornish Lady

How much is the book and how can you buy it

The paperback version is £7.99 and there is a kindle version on Amazon for £2.84. You can buy the paperback version here.

Giveaway to Win a signed copy of The Cornish Lady, a box of Cornish Fudge and some bookmarks (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then the organiser reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for the fulfilment of the prize, after which time the organiser will delete the data.  We are not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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About Nicola Pryce

Nicola Pryce came to writing after a career in nursing. She has an Open University degree in Humanities and is a qualified adult literacy support volunteer. She is lives in the Blackdown Hills in Somerset and when she isn’t writing she’s probably gardening or scrubbing the decks. She and her husband love sailing and for the last twenty years they have sailed in and out of the romantic harbours of the south coast of Cornwall in search of adventure: it is there where she sets her books. The Cornish Lady is her fourth book: The others are Pengelly’s Daughter, The Captain’s Girl, and The Cornish Dressmaker. Nicola is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and The Historical Writers Association.

About the book
Title: The Cornish Lady
ISBN: 978-1-78649-3859
Pages: 449

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* We were given a copy of the book in return for a feature. All opinions are our own.