The Cottage in the Clouds by Caroline Young

                                                  

Ebook:   327 pages      

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance                                            

Publisher:  Feb 20th 2026 by Storm Publishing

Source:  NetGalley - My Kindle

First Sentence: Anwen's day ended with a brief walk in the woodland around her cottage, as her days had done for more years than she cared to count.

Review Quote: ‘Really captured my heart' Reader Review

My Opinion: 

Caroline Young writes heart-warming stories about ordinary people and their everyday lives in Wales. This is the third of her novels that I have read, previously they have been set on the beautiful island of Anglesey, where she lives. This is the first novel she has set anywhere other than the island, this time the setting is in the mountains of Eryi or Snowdon. Living on the edge of the National Park myself  it is lovely to be able to visualise the locations that the author describes so well.

The main protagonist in 'The Cottage in the Clouds' is Elin Pugh who is currently feeling very unsettled in her London life. A call to help an elderly friend back in Wales where she grew up sounds like the ideal escape and opportunity to decide what she wants to do next with her life.  Anwen, the elderly lady who played a large part in Elin's childhood is a talented artist but known locally as very grumpy and somewhat of a recluse.  The homecoming makes Elin realise that something is missing from her life. As she and Anwen become closer and secrets from the past come to the surface, Elin begins to feel that maybe this is where she is meant to be.  The big secret I guessed early on in the novel as it is rather predictable, however that did not detract from the story as the truth is slowly revealed to Elin.

Recommend this gentle story to lovers of Wales looking to be transported to the wild and beautiful  countryside whilst enjoying a tender tale of finding oneself.

Thanks to Storm Publishing, the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review ' The Cottage in the Clouds' 

Previous Review:  Coming Home to the Windmill by the Sea.   The Lighthouse Keeper of Anglesey

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

When Elin Pugh’s life in London crumbles, she returns to the Welsh mountains of her childhood to care for Anwen Jones, the enigmatic artist who once filled her young heart with dreams of creativity and freedom.

Anwen lives alone in a ramshackle cottage high in the hills, surrounded by cats and decades of dust-covered paintings. Fiercely independent and famously difficult, she’s spent years driving away visitors with her sharp tongue and signs warning trespassers to ‘Go Away’. But as Elin settles into life in the shadow of the mountains, she discovers that beneath Anwen’s prickly exterior lies a woman with an extraordinary story to tell.

Helping the ailing artist catalogue a lifetime of work, Elin begins to uncover long-buried secrets about her own past that her mother has kept hidden for over thirty years. Soon she discovers that her journey home was about more than escaping – it was about finding out who she really is, rediscovering the life-changing joy of creativity and learning where she truly belongs.

A sweeping story of love, loss and the wonder of the natural world, The Cottage in the Clouds explores how creativity and unexpected bonds can help us to heal and find our way back to ourselves.

Author Profile:           

         

Caroline Young has always written stories and found inspiration in the world around her, be it a bustling city or a windswept beach. She has worked for many years as a writer of non-fiction books for children, which allows for few adjectives or creative expression, so she keeps these things for her fiction. As the mother of three grown-up daughters, she now has the time to focus on her own writing, and tell the stories she wants to tell. Caroline has a degree in English from Cambridge University where she was exposed to wonderful writers from every age, and she aims to relate just some of their ideas and language to her life and writing. Caroline's idea of paradise is a bright day with a bracing wind and the sea, waiting for her to dive into it (even in January!). She hopes to write stories that the reader can lose themselves in, which take them somewhere different and fill them with joy in the beauty of the natural world, and all the amazing people in it.

            

Amazon Author Page.     Goodreads Profile.   Caroline Young - Storm Publishing

Photos and Biographical information Courtesy of the above links.