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Are you a fan of Julie Klassen? Fans of Christian historical fiction and the romances of Jane Austen will likely enjoy getting lost in the pages of a Julie Klassen book.
I will confess. I was planning on sharing an interview with another “K” author for today’s post as part of my A to Z Challenge but that’s been postponed so I sailed through Julie Klassen’s latest book, A Castaway in Cornwall, so I could bring you this review. Hope you enjoy learning more about the book!
About Julie Klassen
Julie Klassen loves all things Jane—Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. Three of her books, The Silent Governess, The Girl in the Gatehouse, and The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, have won the Christy Award for Historical Romance. She has also won the Midwest Book Award, the Minnesota Book Award, and Christian Retailing’s BEST Award, and been a finalist in the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Awards and ACFW’s Carol Awards. She blogs at http://www.inspiredbylifeandfiction.com.
Julie and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Julie Klassen’s A Castaway in Cornwall Book Description
Laura Callaway daily walks the windswept Cornwall coast, known for many shipwrecks but few survivors. She feels like a castaway, set adrift on the tides of fate by the deaths of her parents and left wanting answers. Now living with her parson uncle and his parsimonious wife in North Cornwall, Laura is viewed as an outsider even as she yearns to belong somewhere again.
When ships sink, wreckers scour the shore for valuables, while Laura searches for clues to the lives lost. She has written letters to loved ones and returned keepsakes to rightful owners. She collects seashells and mementos, and when a man is washed ashore, she collects him too.
As Laura and a neighbor care for the castaway, the mystery surrounding him grows. He has abrasions and a deep cut that looks suspiciously like a knife wound, and he speaks in careful, educated English, yet his accent seems odd. Other clues wash ashore, and Laura soon realizes he is not who he seems to be. Their attraction grows, and while she longs to return the man to his rightful home, evidence against him mounts. With danger pursuing them from every side, will Laura ever find the answers and love she seeks?
Julie Klassen Consistently Writes Entertaining Historical Romances
I have been a fan of Ms. Klassen’s writing since I first discovered her first novel, The Apothecary’s Daughter (2009), over a decade ago in the stacks of the Thousand Oaks Library. Now I enjoy reading the Kindle versions of her books thanks to OverDrive‘s borrow system.
She is not afraid to deal with complicated and morally questionable topics such as pregnancy outside of wedlock, lying, extramarital affairs, etc. And her characters are always flawed and for that reason, it’s so much easier to relate to them and be cheering for their happily ever after ending. And no, I am not giving much away. I was able to predict who would wind up with whom within the first ten chapters.
Julie Klassen’s two leading characters in her latest novel, A Castaway in Cornwall, are flawed and full of secrets that threaten their individual happiness and future as love interests. The mystery surrounding the male protagonist, Mr. Lucas, was believable and compelling. I wanted to keep reading so I would find out who he was and what happened to him. The mystery surrounding the female protagonist, Miss Calloway, was only slightly less interesting.
The only weakness in Julie Klassen’s A Castaway in Cornwall has to be the way she wrote the backstory. We would get sudden flashbacks intermingled in the primary storyline and there was no exacting break between past and present so if you are like me then suddenly you find yourself having to go back and re-read the last couple paragraphs to figure out what is happening and in what time frame the narrative is.
It’s a personal issue but I really wish that authors would not spend so much time on flashbacks with dialogue and action. Give us some backstory but don’t break up the main storyline with constant vignettes.
Hope this review has been helpful and that you enjoy reading A Castaway in Cornwall.
Suggested Christian Interviews and Books to Read
- 4 of the Best Christian Historical Romance Authors
- Tracie Peterson, Historical Romance Author; Exclusive Interview (2021)
- 7 Attitudes of the Helping Heart by John Christopher FRAME: A Book Review
- Exclusive Chuck Bentley Interview: Seven Gray Swans
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