Helen Simonson has a gift for gentle social comedy that slowly reveals real depth, and this follow-up to her beloved debut delivers both. Set in a small English coastal town in the last golden summer before the First World War, it follows an independent-minded young Latin teacher whose arrival ruffles feathers well beyond the classroom. Recommended for readers who enjoyed the slow-burn charm of Downton Abbey or who simply love a beautifully observed historical novel with heart.
Find this and more secondhand fiction and non-fiction online at Loop Art & Photo Space, a Melbourne-based secondhand bookstore with a physical home at our Olinda hub in the Dandenong Ranges. We post Australia-wide via AusPost, so no matter where you’re reading from, you can browse our shelves online and have your next book on its way.