A Cornish Legacy by Fern Britton

                                                                              

                                                    

Ebook:  416 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher:  Harper Collins June 2025

Source:  NetGalley

First Sentence: Delia squinted through the windscreen, the sun ahead dazzling her. 

Setting: Cornwall

Review Quote: ‘The warmth and empathy that have made Fern Britton such a popular TV presenter are evident in her latest novel’ Woman’s Weekly

My Opinion: 

I know more of Fern Britton from her TV career and this is actually only the second book of hers that I have read. 

In 'A Cornish Legacy' the protagonist is Delia and during the course of the novel we learn about her early life, then her disastrous marriage, followed by her inheriting to her great shock Wilder Hoo, a country house in Cornwall that she has connections to.

A pleasant summer read with wonderful descriptions of Cornwall and I found the house and garden restoration details particularly enjoyable. If Cornwall, Gardening and Country Houses appeal then this is one for you. 

Précis Courtesy of NetGalley:

Escape to Cornwall this summer with the new emotional and uplifting novel from Sunday Times #1 bestselling author Fern Britton

Set by the wild Atlantic coast of Cornwall comes a story about finding home in the most unlikely places. When Cordelia Jago learns she’s been left the crumbling manor house Wilder Hoo, perched high on the Cornish coast, she wonders if it’s one last cruel joke from beyond the grave.

Having already lost her marriage, her best friend and her career, she’s at rock-bottom. Now she’s inherited a house she hates, full of unhappy memories.

But as she fights with its echoing rooms and whispering shadows, the house begins to exert a pull on her. The wild Cornish landscape, the stark beauty of seagrass and yellow gorse against the deep blue sea, begin to awaken a connection she thought she’d buried forever.

 Could she turn around this monstrous wreck of a house – and, along the way, let go of the secrets of the past and heal her heart too?

  

Author Profile                                                                                                    

About Fern Britton and photo from her website Fern Britton - Official Website

Born in London, into a theatrical family, Fern started her professional life as a stage manager. Theatre life was great fun but within three years she graduated to television and became a much-loved presenter obtaining her national treasure status presenting ITV’s This Morning for over a decade.

Having started her TV career in Current Affairs and News, Fern has covered everything from the Queen’s Birthday Celebrations to reporting live from Basra during the Gulf War. Her light entertainment credits include such iconic shows as Ready Steady Cook, All Star Mr and Mrs and Strictly Come Dancing. She presented nine series of Fern Meets where past guests have included Tony Blair, Desmond Tutu, and Dolly Parton.

More recent shows have included two series of The Big Allotment Challenge for BBC2, For What It’s Worth, an antiques-based quiz show for BBC1 and Culinary Genius for ITV. For Channel 5, Fern presented Watercolour Challenge, and two series of Ferns Conrwall. 

Fern has even turned her talents to acting when she starred as Marie in Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s award-winning musical Calendar Girls.

Fern has twin sons, two daughters and lives in Cornwall in a house full of good food, wine, family, friends, cats and gardening books. She has a motorbike license, a power boat license and makes good roast potatoes.

Previous Review: The Good Servant

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Amazon Author Page. Goodreads Author Profile  Fern Britton - Official Website

Facebook Profile  Twitter Profile

The Good Servant by Fern Britton

                                           

Hardback: 539 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Harper Collins 2022

Source:  Tywyn Public Library

First Sentences: George VI is on the throne. The King, his wife and his two daughters enjoy great popularity.

Setting: United Kingdom

Review Quote: ‘The warmth and empathy that have made Fern Britton such a popular TV presenter are evident in her latest novel’ Woman’s Weekly

My Opinion: ‘The Good Servant’ is a fictionalised account of a true story. When the late Queen Elizabeth II and her sister were children, they had a much loved governess Marion Crawford. She taught them for many years and took her duties to the Royal Family very seriously. Yet she shocked the establishment in her retirement by selling her story, which was published as ‘The Little Princesses’

Fern Britton has taken the facts as they are known publicly and woven them into a story of ‘Crawfie’s’ life within the Royal Family.  Of course we will never know the full truth but it is a fascinating glimpse into her life during those years, until it all went horribly wrong. Was it her fault? In some ways yes, but Marion had thought she could trust certain people around her.

It certainly seemed an apt time to be reading this novel, with certain royals being so much in the news at present! Worth a read if you are interested in the monarchy and enjoy historical fiction.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

1932. Dunfermline, Scotland.
Marion Crawford, a bright, ambitious young teacher, is ready to make her mark on the world. Until a twist of fate changes the course of her life forever…

1936. Windsor Castle.
At first this ordinary woman is in a new world, working as governess to two young princesses, in a household she calls home but where everyone is at a distance. As the course of history changes, she finds herself companion to the future Queen, and indispensable to the crown. And slowly their needs become her needs. Their lives become hers.

It’s then she meets George, and falls in love for the first time. Now Marion faces an impossible choice: her sense of duty or the love of her life.

Author Profile:         

                                                   

                                                  Courtesy of Facebook Profile

About Fern Britton in her own words from her Amazon Author Page

 I am an English television presenter and journalist who has worked in current affairs and Newsrooms since 1980. In the 1990's I hosted Ready Steady cook for the BBC and through the 2000's presented ITV's flagship daytime magazine This Morning.

Since then I have discovered the joy of writing novels. The Good Servant is my tenth novel. A breakaway from my usual theme of Cornish village life by the sea. The Good Servant focusses on a real woman who spent her twenties and thirties devoted to Princess Elizabeth ( Queen Elizabeth 2) and Princess Margaret as children, but ended up an outcast.

I live in Cornwall and have four children and three cats. I have a motorbike licence, a power boat licence and I make good roast potatoes.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Amazon Author Page. Goodreads Author Profile  Fern Britton - Official Website

Facebook Profile  Twitter Profile