The Seaside Homecoming

September 23, 2024
Klassen’s latest On Devonshire Shores novel (after A Winter by the Sea) is a lively tale of second chances. Estranged from her family after a failed elopement, Claire Summers has been living with her cantankerous great-aunt in Edinburgh. When her aunt dies, Claire has only a week to vacate the property, so she answers an ad seeking someone to help manage a seaside boardinghouse. The property’s owner, charming widower William Hammond, lives there with his young daughter, Mira, and Mira’s governess, Sonali. As Claire navigates the boardinghouse’s thorny dynamics—Sonali seems threatened by Claire, who isn’t sure why—she crosses paths with her own family, who operate a boardinghouse nearby. Her younger sisters are eager to reconnect, but her mother isn’t. Meanwhile, Claire develops feelings for William. Before love can blossom, however, she’ll need to draw on her faith to overcome the trauma of her last relationship and her fear that it’s made her a tainted woman. Brisk prose keeps the pages turning as Klassen delicately unpacks Claire’s guilty feelings and fragile hopes for love. This jaunt to the British coast delights.