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A “hedgehog” romance between two bereaved people.
This is a feel-good story about two people who have reason to feel very bad indeed having both lost the most important person in their lives, neither of whom was a romantic partner. Both are frightened of forming new relationships or even carrying on with many aspects of normal everyday life associated with their departed most important persons. Even small steps are a significant risk and challenge to them. They have to form friendships very carefully, like hedgehogs.
The author creates an environment for them, the fictional Cornish resort/fishing village of St Aidan, where this kind of healing is possible. And what is depicted is indeed healing rather than “moving on” or “replacement” because the relationship being formed is romantic and sexual in nature and neither of the relationships ended by tragedy was. This is made possible by a community of people who, while not neglecting their own interests, abstain from putting their own wants above the evident needs of others. Even new members of the community are looked after and coaxed back into life. It is a utopia, but one which might be within our grasp if we allowed common decency to take precedence over political doctrine and group identity.
The fact that a flight-impaired white pigeon survives for the entire novel suggests that St Aidan is also a utopia largely free of ginger and white tomcats.
“A Winter Warmer at the Little Cornish Kitchen” by Jane Linfoot is published in the UK by Harper Collins on the 30th of September 2022
