Published April 23rd 1992. In the fading years of the last century, Guinevere Ellis, Jenny-the-Bastard, farmhand and maid-of-all-work, falls in love with Julian, son of the local gentry. Her quest for a future leads her into a quest for the past. By the author of “Tregaran”, “The Legacy” and “Command of the King”.

A love story between classes set in Cornwall, there is little more to be said regarding the plot. Despite the story being fairly one dimensional there were many lose ends and in places, seemly nonsensical decisions made by characters, as if to shimmy the story along. Very occasionally it did feel like “yes, now we’re getting somewhere” as the story would take an interesting turn, but these moments would soon fizzle out.

I found it hard to find any rapport (or even slight connection) with the protagonist, finding her quite limited with very little depth to her “personality”. Some of the side characters seemed far more interesting, but almost no time was dedicated to them.

In an attempt, I assume, to help set the scene, the author made the decision to write dialogue in a Cornish dialect. This was my biggest issue with the book as if you know Cornish dialect then you do not need it written out for the voice in you head…if you do not know Cornish dialect then it’s quite probable that the writing will be a source of frustration. As someone who is familiar with the Cornish dialect I found it pointless verging on humourous.