Reviewed by Emma Crowley
When Ava Morrow’s beloved father Jack is killed on his lifeboat at sea, the Cornish village of Port Promise unites in grief. Jack’s twinkling eyes and warm smile are remembered by the whole village, and Ava is determined that he will never be forgotten.
Inspired to follow in her father’s footsteps, Ava quits her job and begins to train as a lifeboat volunteer, alongside her best friend Harry, who was with Ava’s father the night he died. As they work side by side every day, Ava begins to see Harry, with his sea-green eyes and his sandy blonde hair, in a different light. Ava’s mother and sisters are worried about Ava’s safety and want her to stop, and Harry is the only person who really understands what she needs to do. Still, she pushes her feelings to one side, afraid to risk their friendship.
But when, one summer’s evening, Harry reveals a tragic secret about the night that Jack died, Ava’s world is turned upside down once more. Will his secret drive her away from him and the new life she loves?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Lifeboat Sisters to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Lifeboat Sisters by Tilly Tennant is the first in a new trilogy and I adored it from beginning to end. First of all, the fabulous cover can’t but fail to draw you in and then once you start you are enchanted by the fabulous setting of Port Promise. Instantly, you find the characters interesting and engaging and you are keen to know more about them as you can sense that they all have a story to share. The books centre around the Morrow sisters with the specific focus of this story on Ava, the youngest of the three. The two other sisters, Gaby and Clara, do feature and we get to know a little about them but their individual stories will be revealed in future books. Although, I did enjoy picking up on certain little things that gave a hint as to what their storylines could be.
We begin with a very dramatic opening which highlights the important, vital and dangerous work the RNLI do and all voluntarily. This is further highlighted throughout the book with impeccable research having been done. Jack Morrow has just retired from the lifeboat crew as he failed his most recently medical. Now he is manager of the station but when a call comes through that well known fisherman Robin is in need of help, he throws caution to the wind and sets off with the crew. Alongside him are Kas, Killian, his son-in law, and Harry a long term friend of Ava’s. Disaster strikes and Jack is lost at sea leaving the lives of the Morrow sisters and their mother Jill shattered forever.
Fast forward six months later and a memorial is being held for Jack. It’s a tough day for all the family. They are attempting to mend but when the anchor of your family as gone it is very hard to do. There has always been a male Morrow serving the community despite the dangerous, demanding, physical and unpredictable work involved in rescue. The story of Iziah Morrow explains all this so it’s easy for the reader to see how important the family are to the community and what a part the lifeboat service has played in the family also.
Jill is not the same person she once was and Ava, the youngest of the sisters, is deeply worried about her. Jill’s fire has gone out, her lust for life and her gardening work has evaporated and she is not functioning as she once was. Seaspray Cottage, the family home, echoes with memories of Jack that will long linger but physically they can’t have him back. Ava was a person who always went out of the way to do things that people didn’t expect her to do but the death of her father has made her realise her true calling. ’Her destiny was to follow in his footsteps, to save lives as he did, no matter what it took no matter the personal risks or costs’. She enjoys her work teaching water sports but deep down the lifeboat rescue is calling her and despite knowing it will further tear her family apart she is insistent that she will volunteer.
Ava faces stiff opposition from her family although Clara was the most supportive. I felt Clara really understood Ava and would back her up when needed. Gaby, being the eldest and full of confidence and assertiveness, had no qualms telling Ava how she felt about her decision and if she had her way husband Killian would no longer be volunteering either. As for Jill, I completely understood her viewpoint. She didn’t want to lose another family member to the seas as she didn’t think she could ever recover from another loss having barely survived what she has been through. In fact, I could understand all points of view relating to what Ava wanted to do and in my mind there was no clear cut answer as to what decision she should make. I was interested to see how it would all play out? Could a satisfactory outcome be reached for all concerned? Would Ava be able to follow her dreams, or would she have to put her calling aside and continue on the way she had been in her life?
Ava is stubborn and obstinate but in a good way. She knew her own mind and what she wanted and she was determined to reach that goal in some way despite the challenges thrown in her direction. ’I want to live my life, not the one my mum or you or anyone else wants for me’. She is resolute in her choices and I think because she was this way because there was an aspect of unfulfillment in her life which slowly started to emerge as the chapters passed by. She always did her best not to allow emotions to cloud her judgement and this trait is certainly needed in the lifeboat service. She provides everyone with a strong argument for joining the crew but I felt that she had so many things to consider that at times she wasn’t looking at the entire picture and considering other people’s opinions which like Ava’s were all valid. ’I’ve being coasting along not feeling like the whole version of myself and not understanding why until now. I need to do this. I have to this’. Really, she was caught between a rock and a hard place. Alienate, frustrate and anger her family if she joins but on the other hand when there is a longing deep inside you and the sea has always been part of your life and it needs you and you need it. Then perhaps she should trust her instincts and just go for it. I hoped the decision she made would be the right one for all involved.
There are lots of characters apart from the sisters that make an appearance who all add to the community feel in Port Promise. Marina is best friends with Jill and runs a hardware ship with her husband. Betty runs the café/tea tooms and Cormac is not that long in the village and runs the fish shack. I hope that Cormac features even dominantly in book two as I got a strong sense that he has an important role to play. But it’s Harry who is the main male character in this book. He runs a cider press business with his father Sandy and was there on the boat the night Jack was lost. He hasn’t been out on any rescues since the accident staying on land doing office work. He is haunted by what he witnessed and feels he is to blame for what happened. Should he have been more insistent that Jack remain on land? Should he have been the one to jump into the sea?
So many questions and what if’s haunt him and it affects how he interacts with Ava. They had been good friends since school and deep down you just knew that he had feelings for her but guilt, anxiety and pain were eating away at him and he needed help to battle through his emotions and issues. Harry struggles along silently and I could see how frustrated Ava was with him. His confidence is gone in more ways than one and I didn’t like how he treated Ava when she was only trying to help him as she knew how much he was suffering. Theirs was a difficult path to thread given their two differing personalities and with so much at stake the right steps needed to be taken.
The Lifeboat Sisters was a fantastic read and a brilliant introduction to the series. The book should come with a warning that you won’t get any work done because once I started it I found it increasingly hard to put down. So do yourself a favour and set aside time when you can read uninterrupted because Ava and co get under your skin and won’t let go until you have reached the final page. It was obvious that Tilly Tennant thoroughly enjoyed writing this book as such love, care, detail and attention was poured into every aspect of the story. I couldn’t find one fault with it, not that I went searching but if there was something wrong or something I didn’t like, trust me I would have said it.
Death and grief are challenging subjects to navigate but Tilly did this so well with great empathy and compassion and you feel for each of the sisters and Jill as they weather the storm of loss and try to rebuild their lives. I could easily identify with them and felt such an affinity and understanding with each of them. This was a book that I got totally lost in and I really didn’t want it to end but knowing that book two, Second Chances for the Lifeboat Sisters is already available to read made reading the final sentence that much more bearable. It won’t be long before I dive into it but in the meantime I suggest you read book one as it’s an enjoyable read with difficult subjects dealt with very well and of course the prerequisite dash of romance is there too.
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