The Cliff House by Amanda Jennings

February 08, 2018

Set in the hot summer of 1986, with powerful waves, open skies and bold cliffs, I was going to be biased from the first page. It's set in Cornwall, my favourite place!

Located on the dramatic coastline of Cape Cornwall, The Cliff House offers an escape from isolation and loneliness for sixteen year old Tamsyn. Spending her summer holidays obsessively spying on the exotic and entrancing residents of the glamorous art deco house, Tamsyn yearns to share the Davenports' luxurious life. After a chance encounter with Max and Eleanor Davenport's rebellious daughter Edie, she soon learns that their shiny world is a mirage, designed to mask the fault lines in their family. Nobody is perfect.

Infatuated with her new friend, Tamsyn is overcome with longing for a life so at odds with her own. Edie and Tamsyn's friendship is intense, with a hypnotic and dangerous power pulling the teenagers together.

Some paragraphs are breathtakingly atmospheric, but author Amanda Jennings doesn’t shy away from depicting the harsh realities of a struggling county. Set in the summer of 1986 it ties in with the end of the tin market and the closure of tin mines in Cornwall. Tamsyn’s older brother Jago is unemployed due to the local tin mine closing whilst her “Granfer” has lungs full of dust. He splutters and wheezes throughout the novel, each breath laboured and painful to read. Tamsyn’s father was an RNLI volunteer, who drowned saving others at sea. Mother Angie holds down numerous jobs, one of which being the cleaner for the Davenports, throwing the two families into stark contrast.

With careful nods to the reliance Cornwall has on the tourist industry Amanda forces you to reconsider what happens to a place in the months that you aren’t there.

Brimming with obsession, jealousies and insecurities, this book is so much more than a holiday read. Unbelievably addictive, this book swells with tension. If you enjoyed watching The Affair or loved Liza Klaussman’s Tiger’s In Red Weather and Emma Cline's The Girls, pick up this book!