Peninsula

Peninsula, the second novel from Tanya Ravenswater (Jacques, 2017) is a beautifully told love story with a dark secret at its heart. 'To lay the past to rest, once and for all. To be able to forget the bad, remember the good. To reconnect with the indisputable beauty of the landscape.' Gillian and David - strangers with their own reasons for returning alone to Northern Ireland. When they find themselves in neighbouring holiday cottages, their intention is to avoid getting involved. Life is everything but predictable. Forced to resolve issues from the past, each must stay in the flow of a present which brings its own challenges. In reconnecting with the 'raw truthfulness of the countryside', they feel driven to confront inescapable truths about themselves and others - and drawn to consider fresh, uncharted possibilities for the future. A compelling novel about people being alone and together; the upsides and downsides of family and community; about those with the power to wound or heal; dialogues and silence; about bridges broken and bridges to be built. Peninsula is a lyrical evocation of a landscape; another iteration of Ireland's 'terrible beauty'. And a story which acknowledges the darkness in human experience, while celebrating the pleasures and the lighter side of being alive. Tanya Ravenswater is the author of the novel Jacques and the short story collection, Modern Fairy Tales For Grown-up Girls. She is also an award-winning poet. Born in Northern Ireland, she now lives in Cheshire, UK.