This is a lovely, heartwarming dual timeframe story set in Cornwall during WWII and the present day. It’s a family saga, a tale of secrets and regrets. It fits all the bills for me with the two timelines, a skeleton in the cupboard and a fabulous setting.

I love that it’s set in Cornwall. The descriptions are wonderfully written and easy to visualise. The story itself flows well and the two timeframes are woven together beautifully. The characters are well drawn and likeable. It’s a moving love story, but it also touches on the harsh realities of living on a farm, especially during a war. It doesn’t always hold back from the grimmer aspects of life but it does point out that there can be light at the end of the tunnel if one is only patient. There is a little surprise at the end which I wasn’t expecting!

A captivating, engaging and uplifting story which I thoroughly enjoyed and can recommend wholeheartedly. ( )

1939: Siblings Will and Alice are evacuated to Skylark Farm in north Cornwall. There they meet the farmer's daughter, Maggie. Four years later they have all grown and events unfold that will forever haunt all parties. 2014: Alice is dying and after 70 years and driven by guilt, decides she must return to Skylark Farm. When Lucy, Maggie's granddaughter, makes a mistake at work then discovers her husband is having an affair, she flees home to Cornwall and Maggie's arms. Will she be able to help save the farm, rebuild her life, and help her grandmother deal with Alice's arrival and the confession of her lifelong secret.

The story of a multi-generational Cornish farm and the family trying to ensure it's survival. ( )

I had not read anything by Sarah Vaughan before and not is this something i would normally pick up having just read the burb on the back. But pick it up i did and i am glad i did.
The burb doesn't do this book justice; It tells the stories of the women mainly from a Cornish farming family and their personal struggles alongside the ever changing farming life. With the two main stories spamming 70 years i found the book a real delight to read, a good mix of predictability, character development and heart breaking and warming story line i found myself finishing this in the wee hours. ( )

I was a big fan of Sarah Vaughan's first book, The Art of Baking Blind, so I was looking forward to The Farm at the Edge of the World, but also approached it with trepidation. What if I didn't love it? What if it didn't live up to my expectations? Well, I'm happy to report that it more than exceeded my expectations and I absolutely loved it.

For a relatively short book, it took me a little longer to read because I wanted to savour every word. Usually, when I get towards the end of a book, I can speed up but with this one I felt like I didn't want to rush it.

The Farm, the one at the edge of the world, is in north Cornwall. In 1944, Maggie is a teenager on the cusp of womanhood, living on her family's farm. Will and Alice are evacuees who go to live there. Something momentous and terrible happens in Maggie's life and in 2014, 70 years later, things finally come to a head. At the same time, Maggie's granddaughter, Lucy, returns to her childhood home after being desperate to leave years earlier. Her marriage may be over and her career is floundering and maybe her old home isn't so bad after all.

Firstly I'd like to say how much I enjoyed Sarah Vaughan's writing. There is a love story and the descriptions of the depth of feeling are exquisite. Often with time slip novels I find I enjoy the more contemporary story more than the one set in the past but in this book I enjoyed both equally and found both to be moving, full of emotion and intensity.

Farming is hard and that comes across here, particularly in the 2014 storyline. There are some quite harsh scenes but in portraying a working farm you can't make it all about cute animals and scenery. The remote, sometimes beautiful, sometimes brutal setting is very atmospheric.

I love the device of flitting back and forward between two different periods, but I know some struggle with a non-linear style. I think it helps it all to unfold and it worked very well for me and kept me turning the pages to find out what happened, sometimes with a sense of foreboding as I could see how the story was going.

This is a really lovely story with interesting and well-drawn characters. I'd highly recommend it. ( )