2008-05-25 Emotional romance

Wendy K Harris is one of my favourite Transita authors and I was not disappointed with this follow up to The Sorrow of Sisters, her first novel. Blue Slipper Bay is just as emotional as her first and once again set in the Isle of Wight, with familiar places and characters. It is not necessary to have read the previous novel to enjoy this one, although I would recommend doing so, because the main protagonists are new characters.
Sophie, Jill and Nick who all have traumas in their pasts that they need to reconcile if they are ever going to be happy. Their stories link seamlessly into the lives of the characters previously met in The Sorrow of Sisters. A broken marriage and bereavement bring Sophie to the island to visit her best friend Jill and hopefully restore some balance in her life. Jill meanwhile has some soul searching of her own to do with regards to the effect of her childhood on her behaviour within her marriage, which consequently has put a strain on her relationship with her husband Ash. Nick has sought the island as a retreat from deep grief that is taking him years to recover from.

The theme of love and forgiveness intertwines these characters together as friendships and relationships develop and teeter on the brink of failure. Everything works out as one would hope by the end though because this is after all, though written in a good literary style, still a romantic novel.

I look forward to reading her third novel Roken Edge which will apparently once again be set in the Isle of Wight.