Reviewed by Emma Crowley
When she is given the opportunity to move to a remote tidal island off the Cornish Coast, Marisa Rossi decides some peace and quiet might be just what she needs.
Since the death of her beloved grandfather back in Italy, she's been struggling to find a way out of her grief. Perhaps this will be the perfect place for her to recuperate.
But Mount Polbearne is a far cry from the sleepy little place she was imagining. Between her noisy piano-teaching Russian neighbour and the hustle and bustle of a busy community, Marisa finds solitude is not so easy to come by. Especially when she finds herself somehow involved with a tiny local bakery desperately in need of some new zest to save it . . .
Many thanks to Little Brown Book Group UK via NetGalley for my copy of Sunrise By the Sea to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
If you want an entertaining read with picturesque settings, warm, loveable characters and a splash of romance than Jenny Colgan’s books are the ones for you. She never disappoints and has this unique ability of drawing you in from the very first page as the characters walk off the page to meet and embrace you and even when you have finished each wonderful story you are just longing for more. Sunrise by the Sea provided me with all the above traits and more and really took my mind off everything going on in the world as once again I was whisked away to the tidal island of Mount Polbearne and back to characters that I had fallen in love with in the previous Little Beach Street Bakery series.
This is book number four and honestly I thought given it’s five years since Jenny had written about this setting I didn’t think we’d ever get a book again featuring Polly and Huckle, not to mention Neil the puffin. Thankfully wishes do come true and this new story was a joy to read and I’m sad it’s over. Out of all four books in this series this really is the one that can be read as a standalone as, although Polly does feature, it’s a new character Marisa who has the dominant role. As I was reading I never thought that new readers would be confused or feel that they were missing out having not read the previous three books. That’s the sign of a really good author and I think having such a break between this book and the last meant that the author really approached this new story with fresh eyes and really was giving it her all.
Marisa is one of the best written characters in a book that I have read in a long time. Whilst reading time and time again I found myself nodding along in agreement with how she was feeling, what she was experiencing and how she was coping with it. There was no shying away giving fleeting descriptions of her state of mind and as a character she was all the better for this. It meant that I could identify with her in so many ways. She is in a bad place both mentally and physically but perhaps the wonderful and special island that is Mount Polbearne and its supportive residents in particular Polly might be able to work their magic enabling Marisa to see light at the end of the tunnel.
Since the death of her Italian grandfather Marisa has become a shell of her former self, she is truly and utterly heartbroken. Grief is holding her down like a ball and chain and her family and friends can’t understand why this death has affected her so much. In a way she can’t understand this herself either. She has always been quiet but now she has become more or less a recluse, taking leave from her job as a births, deaths and marriages registrar and staying locked in her room despite the best efforts of flatmate Caius to get her out. The layer upon layer of sadness that she feels just builds and builds. It’s growing too large for her and she has established a sturdy wall around herself. She lives in a world of fear where to step outside the door is next to impossible. Grief, anxiety, loneliness, anger and desperation eat away at her and erode any remaining shred of self confidence that she possess. Her wellbeing and mental health are at all time low and she views the world as a cold, noisy, hostile environment. Caius reaches a point where he can’t take it anymore and she needs to go. Thankfully his Uncle Reuben has holiday homes recently built on Mount Polbearne and no holiday makers can go there as the road has not been completed. Before she knows it Marisa has arrived on the island after a journey that does nothing to dissuade the way she is feeling.
I loved the description of the holiday homes. It seemed like just the place that Marisa needed to be, hiding away from the world until she could begin to try and fix herself so to speak. I could visualise these little units high up at the top of the island, almost cut off in a way as no one really went there given Reuben didn’t get the road finished. It was an oasis for Marisa. OK she never left the house, taking a step outside just wasn’t happening for her but still she was cocooned and safe. By this point she has reduced her world to a tiny space which could not harm her. Grief and anxiety has made her selfish in a way but I think if you are so crippled by this illness she had (for that is what it was) then you see no way out of it and you do only think about yourself and can’t take on board the advice others are trying to give you. You do question whether there is more than her grandfather’s death that has made Marisa this way? What has made herself so scared and tying herself in endless knots?
The inclusion of Marisa’s grandmother and their method of communication was just brilliant. It was a great way to bring strands of the story together in the most heart-warming and genuine of ways. Without it I don’t think the meaning/message that Jenny was trying to achieve would have been possible. It may seem like this book is all doom and gloom from what I have said about Marisa but it’s not at all and that’s thanks to the wonderful writing of the author. She brings so much light and shade to the story and infuses more serious moments with such fantastic humour that has you laughing out loud. Polly’s four year old twins, Daisy and Avery, were so expertly written. So blunt in what they said and they were like a tonic for Marisa and provided plenty of funny moments throughout the book.
It’s unusual for me to really love both the main female and male characters in a story. It’s usually the female character I am more drawn too. Marisa was a fantastic character and thankfully a break from the norm in characters I have read about in this genre. But equally as good was her neighbour Alexei. Himself and Marisa are the only two to occupy the holiday homes and he is a big bear of a Russian man who teaches music to the local children. How refreshing to have a male character who is a bit different from the norm. One who is big and burly and to Marisa a complete pain as he plays and practices his music at all hours of the day and night with the sounds coming through the thin walls preventing her from finding any peace. But underneath his gruff exterior Alexei too was hurting. Perhaps in not as such and deep and destructive way as Marisa but yet there was pain beneath his kind eyes. He had such a wonderful relationship with the children he taught and would help in any situation. But Marisa and himself really misunderstand each other and it’s through lack of communication this happens. I just really loved these two characters and by the end you just wish that you too had an Alexei in your life.
As always the community spirit and just all round warm feelings and goodness shine through from this series of books. It’s here in spades and that’s why I enjoy Jenny’s books so much. I loved how we still got a glimpse into how Polly was coping with running the bakery as it all started with her and she has come so far since we first met her. Times are tough for her and she sees no way out of the inevitable despite the best efforts of Huckle as well. She needed a light bulb moment to turn things around and maybe it could be found in the most unexpected of people? Also when the worst fate threatens to befall the island can everyone pull together? When push comes to shove can those that are needed most step up to the plate despite battling their own problems and uncertainties? Also Reuben is as exuberant and extravagant as ever and towards the end I just loved the over the top scenes with the party. It was like Jenny just let rip and let her imagination run riot with everything she could think of and it was just brilliant.
Sunrise by the Sea is a book that you will easily lose yourself in. It provides comfort and escape and lots of humour too. It’s a book that you will want to re-read as you will want to with all of Jenny’s books and it’s not often I say that about an author. I’m already looking forward to The Christmas Bookshop which publishes in October.
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