Phillipa lives in an English village with her husband, has a grown-up daughter and loves nothing better than walking the Lakeland hills and swimming in Cornish coves.
About the book
Under the golden Cornish sun, buried treasure and family secrets will change Emma’s life forever…
Her novels have sold almost a million copies and been translated into many languages. She is also an Audible number 1 best-seller.
Or could the real treasure have been waiting here for her all along?
I don’t think we can really pretend it’s summer anymore now that we’re in October can we? When I was reading this one though, there was still lots of warm September sunshine so I could pretend it was summer and travel vicariously to Cornwall! I really enjoy Phillipa Ashley’s novels and this one was no exception
I thought there was a bit of a Romeo and Juliet feel to the story although thankfully without the tragic ending. Emma and Luke could easily be compared to the star-crossed lovers from feuding families. I loved these two characters and was really hoping that they would be able to put their pasts behind them and make a go of things again. They were so clearly made for each other, had never been able to forget each other but could revealing the secrets between them mean their love was doomed? Well, you’ll have to read for yourself to find out.
About the Author
A Golden Cornish Summer is a heart-warming story of finding true treasure and of finding what really makes you happy. With love, friendship and community to the fore, I really enjoyed my armchair travel to Cornwall. Although it’s a book set in summer, it would be an ideal escapist read to curl up with and enjoy anytime of the year.
My Thoughts
It won the Romantic Novelists Association New Writers Award and was filmed as a Lifetime TV movie starring Kristin Chenoweth and Josh Hopkins.
Emma loved her life in the seaside village of Silver Cove. But when the discovery of sunken treasure ignited a feud between her family and that of Luke, her first love, everything fell apart. Heartbroken and betrayed, she fled.
There’s an important environmental message in the book too with a strong ecological strand. The Beachcombers in the seaside village are not looking for treasures from the sea, although they do sometimes find them. Instead they are clearing up plastic and other rubbish from the sea or left on the beach. Emma’s former art-teacher Ursula looks for one particular kind of treasure but also uses the beautiful sea-glass she finds in her art. When you read about the amount of rubbish the beachcombers collect, it’s quite sobering to think of the damage it must be doing to our eco-system.
There’s a lot about searching for treasure of sorts in this book. The backstory is of rival families searching for real buried treasure linked to shipwrecks from days gone by. The hunt for and discovery of the treasure caused a lot of ill feeling and led to the breakdown of various kinds of relationships. The resulting secrets and arguments that split Luke and Emma up many years ago, devastated her family.
As their paths continue to cross, and Emma is reminded of everything she ran away from, she starts to wonder if returning home was a huge mistake.
Now, as she wades into the sparkling surf for the first time in fifteen years, she remembers everything she loved about this beautiful place. Then a huge wave knocks her off her feet. Dripping wet, Emma is rescued by none other than Luke – who is, to her dismay, even more handsome than ever.
Phillipa Ashley is a Sunday Times best selling author of heart-warming romantic fiction. After studying English at Oxford University, she worked as a copywriter and journalist before writing her debut novel, Decent Exposure.
