From the highly acclaimed author of The Photographer of the Lost, a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick, comes a tale of a young war widow and one life-changing, sun-drenched visit to Cornwall in the summer of 1923...
Esme Nicholls is to spend the summer in Cornwall. Her late husband Alec, who died fighting in the war, grew up in Penzance, and sheâs hoping to learn more about the man she loved and lost.
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While there, she will stay with Gilbert, in his rambling seaside house, where he lives with his former brothers in arms. Esme is fascinated by this community of eccentric artists and former soldiers, and as she gets to know the men and their stories, she begins to feel this summer might be exactly what she needs.
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But everything is not as idyllic as it seems â a mysterious new arrival later in the summer will turn Esmeâs world upside down, and make her question everything she thought she knew about her life, and the people in it.
Full of light, laughter and larger-than-life characters, The Visitors is a novel of one woman finally finding her voice and choosing her own path forwards.
Praise for Caroline Scott:
âA page-turning literary gemâ The Times, Best Books of 2020
'A touching novel of love and loss'Â Sunday Times
'A beautifully written must-read'Â heat
'A gripping, devastating novel' Sarra Manning, RED
âA powerful novelâ Good Housekeeping
âA heartbreaking readâ Anita Frank
'Breathtaking exploration of loss, love and precious memoriesâ My Weekly, Pick of the Month
âAchingly moving and most beautifully writtenâ Rachel Hore
âThis beautiful book packs a huge emotional punchâ Fabulous
âDrew me in from the first line and held me enthralled until the very end'Â Fiona Valpy
âQuietly devastating'Â Daily Mail
'A compulsive, heart-wrenching read'Â Liz Trenow
âPowerfulâ Woman & Home
'Page turning, mysterious, engrossing and compelling'Â Lorna Cook
âA carefully nuanced, complex storyâ Womanâs Weekly
âCaroline Scott evokes the damage and desolation of the Great War with aching authenticity'Â Iona Grey
âPoignantâ Best
'Momentous, revelatory and astonishing historical fiction!'Â Historical Novel Society
âWonderful and evocativeâ Suzanne Goldring
âBased on true events, this is a powerful storyâ Bella
âImmersive, poignant, intricately wovenâ Judith Kinghorn
âAn evocative readâ heat
âThe story left me breathlessâ Kate Furnivall
âA poignant hymn to those who gave up their lives for their country and to those who were left behindâ Fanny Blake
'I was utterly captivated by this novel'Â Isabelle Broom