Some places have our hearts for all sorts of reasons; the sea has mine even though I no longer live near to it and I have never even been able to swim. We’re an island after all and, Northumberland to Cornwall, the coastal views are magnificent. They are not just holiday destinations either, and this novel centres around the lives of people who actually live in St Ives, people who have to work there and survive the busy summer season and the quieter winter months. People whose hearts lie in St Ives.

Merryn owns a café, next door to Seth’s surf shop. Luke is Merryn’s ex-husband, recently returned to St Ives and someone she would rather not have to see. Zach used to be a competitive surfer until injury dashed his hopes and ambitions and now, he’s desperate for work. Grant Henderson is a shadowy figure who tries to remain hidden. It’s a typical community and Dickinson makes these characters seem real, gives them a history, forces them to face life’s problems, both practical and emotional while interweaving their lives. It’s a simple enough romance with a few flecks of colour to add a bit of depth – oh, and there’s a piano which is almost a character in its own right. It’s central to the plot, draws the characters together and provides a welcome focus.

‘Music, an expression of love and safety…it’s all in the heart.’ When you read this novel, you will understand why I asked myself, that day, if it was surreal or just a bizarre coincidence

.In truth, we’re invited into the lives of these characters as they wend their way through a summer season – a welcome escape from British weather at the moment. It’s a comfortable read with enough description to evoke the winding streets and spectacular views of that corner of Cornwall. Harmless, enjoyable fun.

Of course there are dramas: the return of her ex-husband discomfits Merryn; family histories, loss and hurt are kept under wraps by more than one character until they are exposed and their rawness revealed.

Music is emotive and evocative, just like the sea, and the piano and the waves find harmony. The piano means so much to so many of the characters, especially to Merryn and Zach. Merlin is the piano: ‘who calls a piano Merlin? Is it a magic piano?’ But a piano creates its own magic. It has always been a means of expressing ‘huge emotional swings’ and ‘grief…when words failed me’.

This novel is a reminder to all the ‘grockles’ and ‘emmets’ and ‘millets’ who invade popular holiday spots in high season...

Grant Henderson provided Merryn with ‘a brief period of stability and happiness’ in an otherwise unhappy childhood. She remembers him playing his piano to soothe her and comfort her but he left when her mother threw him out; Merryn felt the loss keenly and still searches for him. Zach played the piano for his mother, especially during the last few months when he nursed her. Now, with his life falling apart, he misses her more than ever and the piano provides solace.

This novel is a reminder to all the ‘grockles’ and ‘emmets’ and ‘millets’ who invade popular holiday spots in high season, that, dependent as they are on the holiday trade, the locals do actually have a life. Cornwall is a glorious place to spend the summer but the holidaymakers in this novel are secondary to the real inhabitants and their lives. ‘We are the sum of our experience’ and who knows what or who inspires us. Someone or something which might seem trivial to an onlooker can be a life force to the one to whom it matters. Merryn needs to find Grant Henderson to reclaim her experience and to feel whole again. There are those who try to thwart her because they think they know what’s best but real love helps her to find peace. This novel is heartwarming and tender, an excellent comfort on a cold and blustery day.

PS. When I was halfway through this novel, I spent a day in Leeds where, quite by chance, I saw a piano painted cream with bright colourful flowers drawn on it. It was sitting in the middle of the St John’s Centre. On my way back to the car, someone was playing it and people were gathering and there were smiles all round. ‘Music, an expression of love and safety…it’s all in the heart.’ When you read this novel, you will understand why I asked myself, that day, if it was surreal or just a bizarre coincidence.


And Then There Was You is published by HQ