‘The Feud’ by Amanda James

Synopsis

When secrets run deep, revenge will surface…

Matthew Trevelyar leaves his job in London to return to his Cornish roots in the village of St Agnes. After losing his wife to leukaemia, he wants to make a fresh start. 

His new life is going well until Matt returns to his cottage to discover a grim warning on his doorstop. The message is clear – Leave now and go back to London.

Not wanting to give up his new life, Matt eventually discovers that there has been a 200-year-old feud between his family, the Trevelyars, and another local family, the Penhallows.

When Matt learns that one of his ancestors burned down a barn belonging to the Penhallows, and that there were tragic consequences, he understands why his family name is mud. But why is Matt paying for the sins of his ancestors now? And is there more to the feud than meets the eye?

 

My Review

I have been a fan of Amanda’s writing for a little while now.  I must admit that I have only read a couple of her books but I have loved those that I have read.  I read the synopsis for ‘The Feud’ and I knew that this was the book for me.  Without further ado, I opened the cover and began to read.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘The Feud’ but more about that in a bit.

The characters in this book are frighteningly realistic and show just how feuds between families can go on for years and years and years and from generation to generation.  I have to say that there was one character who I could have quite cheerfully slapped around the face with a wet flip flop at the start of the book for how she reacted to the new arrival in the village.  The character in question has brainwashed her granddaughter and manipulates her into acting unlawfully.  I felt for the granddaughter and I couldn’t help but hope that she rebelled against her grandmother.

Oh my word, ‘The Feud’ is one of those books that struck a chord with me in a way, because it shares similar characteristics with my own family.  We don’t just have feuds with outsiders but we also have feuds within the family and that can prove problematic at family gatherings, which are thankfully rare.  One feud in particular has been passed down from generation to generation and stems from one bitter and twisted individual, who I won’t name because you never know who might be watching.  Our family has a saying ‘a grudge is for life and not just for Christmas’.  Anyway enough of my family burblings as I have digressed so back to the review I do go.

I was hooked on reading this book from the moment I picked it up.  The story starts with a bang and I felt compelled (in a nice way) to read on because I needed to know how the story would pan out and to find out the truth of why there was this feud and how the feud originated.  Amanda is one of those great authors, who grabs your attention from the start and she reels you in much like a fisherman would do to a fish on the end of the line.  Resistance is futile.  I don’t mean that in a bad way- far from it because I really enjoyed reading the book.  I soon became addicted to reading the book and I found that it was unputdownable.  I feared that if I put the book to one side then I might miss something, so as to avoid missing out, the book came everywhere with me.  It wasn’t exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been.  There were more twists and turns and ups and downs than you would find on a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride.

In short, Amanda James has done it again and she has written a gripping tale, that will have you on the edge of your seat.  At least that’s how I felt. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers.  I can’t wait to read what Amanda James comes up with next.  Here’s hoping that we don’t have too long to wait but whilst I wait I will be reading her other books that I haven’t yet read.  The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.