This week I'm sharing my review of The Drowned Village by Norma Curtis and the first thing I want to say is - wow! So much plot packed into just 250 pages - and not just plot, but emotion and vivid characterisation.
This atmospheric and beautifully-written book is a dual-time love story with the present day at the beginning and the end, and the past sandwiched in the middle.
In a letter to her readers at the end of the book, Norma Curtis says: "There are many things in our lives that get covered over as time passes," and this is the theme that runs throughout the book, seen in the choices made by various characters years ago, and also in the build-up to the flooding of the village of Capel Celyn, a village whose occupants were forced to leave so that it could be flooded and turned into a resovoir to provide water for Liverpool.
The writing is warm, honest and compassionate as the author explores her characters' deepest hopes and fears in this tale of lost love, long-held regrets and the search for happiness.
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Blurb:
Based on an incredible true story... How could a once beautiful and lively village just disappear?
Britain, 1954.The Second World War has ravaged the country, and for years families had been forced to go without to help the war effort. Even in the tiny stone village of Capel Celyn – where time seemingly stands still in the lush beauty of the surrounding hills – the war has left behind empty tables and broken hearts. But then the residents learn that their beloved village is at risk of being taken from them, and in the most shocking way imaginable. Who will be brave enough to save it?
Present day. Al Locke, retired Navy Captain, sets off up the well-worn track through the valley, towards the pretty village of Capel Celyn, determined to find the girl he once loved. Elin Jenkins: the dark-haired Welsh beauty he was going to marry after the war… until tragedy tore them apart.
But what he finds in that silent valley is a mystery greater even than their own. The village, once lively, is underwater. A shimmering ghost town in the depths of a vast lake. How can he find Elin when all trace of her has vanished? And will she be capable of forgiving him for his part in their tragic loss?
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The Drowned Village on Amazon
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