Hi again. This is my second post on the 3 Book Tour for the latest additions to Tania Crosse’s Devonshire series. These are Historical Fiction based on Dartmoor, Cornwall and are all stand alone. 2nd up is THE QUARRY GIRL. I hope you enjoy my review.
The Quarry Girl by Tania Crosse
Format: Kindle
Publisher – JOFFE BOOKS
Publication Date – 16th September 2020
Genre – Historical Fiction
Author – Tania Crosse
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A heart-breaking tale of compassion and conflict set at Dartmoor’s Foggintor Quarry in Victorian times and based around the opening of the Princetown Railway and the Great Blizzard of 1891.
In August 1883, the first steam train on the new Princetown branch line makes its triumphant passage across Dartmoor, passing by the quarrymen’s hamlet at Foggintor. For Ling Southcott and her young sister, Fanny, this is a momentous event, for the railway will connect their isolated neighbourhood to the market town of Tavistock and beyond, making the outside world accessible.
Ling’s future seems ready-mapped, but her sharp, enquiring mind and love of books lead her to higher aspirations. When she is injured in an accident on the railway, she is rescued by a handsome young doctor, Elliott Franfield, and this encounter with a man of education – so different from her dear but unambitious childhood sweetheart, Barney – is to alter the course of her life forever…
My Review
It is the 1800s and the Princetown Railway has just been built. Ling is happily ‘walking out’ with Barney who works at the Quarry as do most of the menfolk in their little village. They don’t have much money but they do have each other.
The whole village turns out to see the arrival of the first train with great excitement but it very nearly ends in tragedy when Ling falls onto the railway line in front of the incoming train. Her life is saved by Elliott, a trainee doctor and there begins the problems for Ling that will last many years and bring much heartache.
This is a lovely story that really brings to the fore the lives and responsibilities of the people who lived and worked in that period. Hard working and living hand to mouth but with a determination and values that are rarely seen these days. The people in those times accept their lot in life and get on with it as best they can and that is what Ling does. A moment of lust and she is married to Barney but the stranger who saved her life has taken up residence in her heart.
A very emotional and moving story with very realistic characters and very eye opening descriptions of the danger and toil of work in the quarries.
A brilliant read that will appeal to readers of historical fiction.
Tania Crosse author bio
Historical novelist Tania Crosse was born in London and lived in Banbury Street, Battersea, where her two most recent titles are set. However, at a very young age the family moved to Surrey where Tania’s love of the countryside took root. She always enjoyed reading and has composed stories ever since she could hold a pen. After studying French Literature at university, she devoted twenty years to bringing up her family. But her passion for writing never left her, and side by side with her in-depth research into Victorian social history, she began to pen her novels in earnest as her family grew up.
When Tania discovered Morwellham Quay, the restored Victorian copper port and now living history museum in Devon, she fell in love with this magical place and felt a spiritual compulsion to create a story that would illustrate life there in times gone by. This led to the publication of her debut novel, ‘Morwellham’s Child’, and now Tania has fourteen published titles with which to thrill her readers.
Tania has now completed her series of novels illustrating the rich history of Tavistock and the surrounding area of Dartmoor from Victorian times to the 1950’s. She is now working on a series of Twentieth Century stories set in London and the south east. She draws very much on her own experiences of life to create her books. She hates being catagorised as a writer of historical romance. The history comes first, she insists, and the human tales develop from her research. The characters lead harsh, demanding lives and their stories are often cruel and harrowing.
Tania has been happily married for forty five years and claims she would never have achieved her success without her husband’s support. They have three grown up children, two grandchildren and three grand-dogs!
LINKS
Website: http://www.tania-crosse.co.uk/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TaniaCrosseAuthor/
Twitter: @TaniaCrosse
You may also like:
The Wheelwright Girl and The Ambulance Girl by Tania Crosse
1/3 – BOOK TOUR: The Gunpowder Girl by Tania Crosse
2/3 – BOOK TOUR: The Quarry Girl by Tania Crosse
3/3 – BOOK TOUR: The Railway Girl by Tania Crosse
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