A novel by E. M. Curnow COMING
Isolde's year, from her side: boarding school, a friend who sneers at the village until Isolde surprises herself defending it, her mother's coast, her father's grief. The other half of the story.
In The Girl from the Marina, Isolde’s year is told from her side: the distance of boarding school, Saskia’s visit, and the unsettling moment when a friend who sneers at Polperran makes Isolde see the village differently. Alongside Demelza’s friendship run quieter, deeper currents: her mother’s coast, her father’s grief, and the feeling of belonging to more than one place.
Readers aged 12 to 15 will find a thoughtful, emotionally honest novel with a clear, page-turning rhythm and room for wry, recognisable humour in the push and pull of friendship. Its drama is rooted in loyalties, family sadness and self-discovery rather than high peril, offering reassurance without flattening the difficult feelings. It is a book for readers ready for nuance, tenderness and unanswered questions.
As part of E. M. Curnow’s Polperran novels, The Girl from the Marina deepens the shared village world for older readers who have grown up beside it. Familiar threads are seen from a new angle: the marina, the boarding-school world beyond the harbour, Demelza’s place in Isolde’s life, and the Cornish coast as both memory and home. It is the other half of the story, quietly and carefully told.