This trilogy unfolds against the backdrop of the idyllic English countryside, weaving together the lives of families and communities with the rhythms of the land. It explores deep familial bonds and intricate social ties amidst a changing era, from the early 20th century through the impact of the First World War. The narrative is rich with pastoral beauty, immersing readers in a beautifully rendered historical setting. This is a story of love, loss, and the enduring strength of the human spirit in a world transformed.
Somerset, 1911: The forces of war are building across Europe, but this pocket of England, where the rhythms of lives are dictated by the seasons and the land, remains untouched. Albert Sercombe is a farmer on Lord Prideaux s estate and his eldest son, Sid, is underkeeper to the head gamekeeper. His son, Leo, a talented rider, grows up alongside the master s spirited daughter, Charlotte a girl who shoots and rides, much to the surprise of the locals."
Goodness, Tim Pears writes beautifully . The descriptions of rural life, executed with painterly exactness, are a constant delight. The prose really sings Mail on Sunday
A love divided. A world torn in two. A return. A redemption. A stirring, exquisitely rendered tale of homecoming; the final instalment in Tim Pears's epic West Country TrilogyIt is 1916. Lottie Prideaux rides the winding lanes of her childhood on her motorcycle, defying the expectations of her class and sex as she trains to be a vet. Meanwhile young Leo Sercombe finds himself a long way from home, hauling coal aboard the HMS Queen Mary in the middle of the ocean. Here life is raw, bloody and vivid, with death never more than a heartbeat away.As Leo and Lottie wander in this strange and brave new world, and as war, loss, violence and betrayal conspire to tear asunder the ties that bind the past, present and future together, can even the most fated of returns - and redemptions - hope to come to pass?