Publication Date: March 22nd from Michael Joseph
Source: Netgalley
Cornwall, 1940.
In the hushed hours of the night a woman is taken by the sea.
Was it a tragic accident? Or should the residents of Penhallow have been more careful about whom they invited in?
In the midst of war three women arrive seeking safety at Penhallow Hall.
Each is looking to escape her past.
But one of them is not there by choice.
As the threat of invasion mounts and the nightly blackouts feel longer and longer, tensions between the close-knit residents rise until dark secrets start to surface.
And no one can predict what their neighbour is capable of . . .
In a house full of strangers, who do you trust?
I absolutely adore the way Kate Riordan writes – So beautifully done, especially with regards to settings (in this case Cornwall) where you just sink into the story and live there for a while.
In “The Stranger” we find a multi-layered, intriguing character drama, three very different women hiding out from the war at Penhallow Hall – we start on the night one, Diana, goes missing, then we head back in time, seeing the weeks leading up to this – and it is fascinating, absorbing and wonderfully addictive.
The author captures the sense of time and place perfectly – telling a haunting tale of past and present, letting us come to know the characters through their thoughts and actions and weaving an intriguing web of relationships and secrets. Diana, the danger seeker, absolutely engaged me and I just couldn’t stop turning the pages until I came to the end.
It is richly layered, authentic and full of depth – set in a time of unrest and unease, that is exactly how the reader feels as they go through – Penhallow Hall a character in it’s own right and the rugged, beautiful Cornwall setting coming to life straight off the page.
The Stranger is another literary delight from Kate Riordan, I cannot wait to see what she does next.
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