First off I want to thank NetGalley and the publishers for this. I’ve never read anything from this author and I’ll say that she did not disappoint. Now, that being said it took a little bit to get me truly hooked. I enjoyed the back and forth between the past and the present day. Becky is back home to wrap things up after her mother’s passing. Herself feeling a little lost and lonely, in a long term engagement with little love between them she finds herself going through her mother’s mail and discovers a letter from a long lost cousin asking for her mother’s help. Needing the change, hiding from results of some medical tests she decides to find the long lost relative. Between the walls of this house lies family secrets, Becky finds herself reevaluating things, only digging herself into a bit of a deep hole when she unearths some things that have been kept hidden for many years. Follow her as she takes care of Olivia and eventually unearths those memories hidden deep in the cellar.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada and Net Galley for the digital arc!

For fans of stories with a house as one of the characters. Thoroughly enjoyed this dual time-line novel that explores the relationships of two women (4 if you include side stories) over a 70 year time period. The story was different from the typical in that it also explores race and prejudice in a credible and non-preachy way.

I loved the exotic feel of the story - while firmly grounded in the English countryside, there are elements of faraway lands and history. There are wonderful touches of humour and great plot twists. One element I particularly enjoyed was having watching the change in the main characters as the story develops. Olivia, who initially comes across as strong, capable and independent eventually shows her actual vulnerability while Becky, timid and victimized with low self-esteem grows strong.

Great setting, just enough romance, believable and diverse characters and plot made this a terrific read.

Small spoiler:
Just one small plot hole bothered me - the lack of a phone signal plays an important role in the story but by the end of the story this is no longer a problem? Perhaps I missed something. And though there was a nice wrap-up of storylines at the end, I found myself wondering how Becky's mother fit in time-wise - were her visits before the war? How did her relationship with Olivia become so strong?

Wow! A richly woven tale fraught with imagery and atmosphere and characters that were wonderful to read with. This was a fantastic story. Equal parts historical fiction and romance with a dash of suspense thrown in. I normally read thriller/mystery type books but I could not put this one down. Told in a past/present format we get to experience multiple points of view. This book make me laugh, made me cry and made me cringe in horror more than once.
Put this book at the top of your reading list!

The Sea Gate is a rich historical fiction story in the style of Kate Morton.

Rebecca, a woman recovering from cancer, in a dead end relationship with a selfish artist, is shocked when her mother dies. She makes her way to clean out her mother’s apartment wondering why her mother never told her she was sick. While sorting through the pile of mail she stumbles upon a letter from her mother’s cousin, Olivia, requesting aid to restore her home in Cornwall to its former glory.

Rebecca heads to the house, called Chynalls, and finds an empty house aside from a swearing parrot. Cousin Olivia is in the hospital unable to return home until the house is updated to support her deteriorating health. Rebecca sets to work, cleaning up guano and dust, only to stumble upon mystery after mystery, including a tunnel leading from the cellar to the sea where Rebecca finds a finger bone.

The story is told beautifully between Rebecca and a teenage Olivia facing the atrocities of World War II. Mysteries slowly unravel as Olivia’s story is told while Rebecca finds herself digging deeper and deeper into her cousins life. When threats begin to darken Rebecca’s door she starts to fear for her Olivia’s safety and begins to wonder if it wasn’t an accident that landed her in the hospital in the first place.

The setting is perfect, an crumbling mansion overlooking the ocean you can’t help but get pulled in to the mystery. It definitely reads like a Kate Morton but with a happier ending, I was totally pulled into the characters and really enjoyed this read!

What an exciting and amazing book this was to read. Thank you Simon & Schuster for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

We meet two very different characters throughout this story. Rebecca, whose mother had just passed away, sorts through her letters only to find an interesting letter from "eldery cousin Olivia". She has no recollection of who this is but once she reads the letter, realizes that Olivia needs her. Without thinking, she decides to pack her bags and go to Cornwall to meet her mother's "elderly cousin". Upon her arrival to Cornwall, she questions her decision. This 90-year old woman is in the hospital, her house is a complete disaster, and who raised this rude parrot, Gabriel?

Jane Johnson has done a fantastic job writing the story from both povs. We go through Rebecca's turmoil in present day and Olivia's turmoil during WWII. I had fun reading it. She takes you on an adventure filled with secrets, historical moments, romance, and I'm sure you will enjoy reading this as well. I would highly recommend it.

I'd probably rate this somewhere between a 3.5 and a 4, if I had the option of half stars... I liked it, but took some issue with it as well.

Goods/pros - well written, well developed and the time shift between the 1940s and the present were well done. The 1940s was well researched and the difference in the eras was well executed. Becky and Olivia were lovely, and well rounded.

Bad/cons - the men weren't so well described and written, they were also archetypal; the really bad dudes and the saving angels. I felt like a lot of the denouement happened in the 3 chapters, the coincidences were too great, and some people get away with some truly heinous things.

I believe this was marketed for readers of Kate Morton, not having gotten through one of those, I can't speak to that, but if I do recall the bit of Morton I read before I DNF'ed it, this seems much more fast paced, and maybe a little 'cozier'.

This was an incredible read!
I originally requested it because of its cover and how much ocean inspired art work can really intrigue me into a book. However, the story held on to me throughout the duration of the whole story. Even the ending was perfect!
This is the first time that I'm reading something by Jane Johnson and I'm excited to read more of her work.

The story was held between two different character points in two different eras and the transition between the characters flowed seamlessly. The ending of the story was perfectly satisfying, It's been a while since I have been able to enjoy a book from beginning to end.

💫 Book Review 💫 ⁣
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐆𝐚𝐭𝐞 by 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘯⁣
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I’m going to start by saying this was nothing that I thought it would be and everything I expected I would want in a British historical fiction. Two women (Olivia & Rebecca) narrate this novel as it flips back and forth between the years. Rebecca is a young woman who just found a letter from her deceased mother’s cousin begging for help. Becky vaguely remembers an eccentric relative living in Cornwall when she visited as a little girl. The pull to go see Olivia is heightened as she’s at her own crossroads in life; having just finished treatment for cancer, feeling weighed down by a brutal boyfriend and not knowing where she wants to go next. ⁣
Enter Olivia: eccentric is right. But beneath that is a lot of heartache and loss mixed with a sense of duty and hidden secrets. ⁣
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If that doesn’t have you intrigued then I also say there suspense, murder, two women finding their own paths of what makes them happy and a delightful parrot who holds the keys with his nasty words. ⁣
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This historical fiction family drama by @janejohnson has made me want to visit the Uk even more!

#flowersfavouritefiction @flowersfavouritefiction

A mystery begun with a letter to Becky's late mother from her cousin Olivia leads to a trip to Cornwall and more puzzling questions.
The story alternates between current times and WWII, with thorough descriptions of wartime life in that part of England and the mindset of folks at that time.
The Sea Gate is an engaging tale of hidden romance, secrets and intriques terminating in a satisfying conclusion.

The book really did not get exciting until half way. Basically a book about forbidden and lost loves. The main characters Rebecca and Olivia experienced challenges in their personal lives. They were mediocre characters whose strengths only surfaced when challenged. The book also deals with war, separation , jealousy, prejudice, and survival. An okay read about secrets and family and personal relationships.

I really enjoyed this book! The premise was intriguing and I was definitely not disappointed. I wasn't really expecting it to end the way it did but I was so happy it did. Stayed up way too late to finish because I couldn't put it down

A historical family fiction set in preseason and WW11 times. A lovely book about family and relationships, love and loss, a very empowering story.

The Sea Gate is a half historical (WWII) and half modern day novel set mainly in Cornwall, England. It is vey emotional and deeply descriptive. The story involves several families and generations connected by a web of secrets and skeletons. They are what keep you interested because it is not a simple book to read with the lingo and many characters. I got lost a number of times because of the volume of characters and jumping between the eras. The characters were believable and well defined but I still managed to mix them up. Perhaps it was the jumping around between 1943 and the present. After a few surprises, the book pulled together in the epilogue. I would recommend this book, if you can give it some time translating (I used my google mini to help me!) Enjoy!
I must say, if someone could find me a Gabriel, box him up and send him to Canada, i would be forever indebted to them. I loved his sass. I received an ARC of this novel to express my honest opinion.

The Sea Gate by Jane Johnson is a wonderfully descriptive read set in Cornwall. The dual timeline may take a bit to get used to, but this WWII historical fiction read has everything to make it worthwhile persisting; strong female characters, a ramshackle house with secret tunnels built on a cliff, fractured family dynamics, and hidden artwork.

After her mother’s death, Becky finds a letter from her mom’s cousin, Olivia, asking for some help in repairing her home in Cornwall. Leaving London behind, Becky arrives to discover Olivia in hospital and a pile of work to be done on the house before Oliva can return. Work that needs organized and no wifi signal in sight! As Becky begins on her to-do list, surprising things from the past resurface.

Olivia, a cantankerous old woman stuck in a hospital, has buried secrets. She has gone to great lengths to protect those she loved, but now her adventurous cousin’s daughter is snooping around and some secrets are just best left buried. You’ll love reading about young Olivia and the strong, courageous woman she was during WWII. It creates juxtaposition for the ‘old biddy’ we read about and gives the readers insight into her character development. Unlike many other novels set in WWII, Johnson uses the bombings to further her storyline; enemy troops landing, defended ports, and POWs. It’s not just another novel set during the war, it’s a novel about life during the war…and that makes all the difference.

It is an utterly spellbinding account of a strong woman, peppered with just enough input from a crazy, talking parrot, to keep you turning pages and losing track of time. It is obvious that Jane Johnson is an accomplished writer as she can suck you into her writing, almost make you feel the sea air against your face and have your imagination scurrying along the tunnels out to sea!

Thanks to Jane Johnson and Netgalley for this advance reading copy.

The Sea Gate is an delightful read with a large list of engaging characters. As great niece Rebecca arrives in Cornwall to help a newly discovered great aunt, and unravels the life of aging Olivia, she uncovers smugglers, land girls, Resistance fighters, WW2 POWs, Cornish customs and, of course family secrets. Rebecca’s own London family get involved in the action adding a twist or two. To top it off, Olivia lives with an aging parrot who has the requisite salty language and has been telling her secrets for years, if anyone had listened. The story is fast paced. The plot is complex, connecting Olivia’s past to the situations Rebecca encounters. The many threads are satisfyingly tied by the story’s conclusion.

I struggled a little bit with The Sea Gate. I enjoyed the plot and the physical story of the book as well as Becky and her struggle to deal with her life. I also really enjoyed Olivia, her toughness and her strength as an old woman battling her own demons. But I also found this book to have some inappropriate content as well as some triggers for people that made me question even finishing this book in the first place. While I would be happy to recommend it, it would come with a BIG but first.

I was drawn to this book by the beautiful cover but alas it fell flat for me. I didn't care for the main characters and some of their decisions didn't make sense. I enjoyed the descriptions of Cornwall and would try another book by this author but unfortunately this one isn't for me.

Having never experienced a Jane Johnson book, I am very happy to have picked this as my first. Beautifully written and wonderfully descriptive. It transports the reader into a world of mystery, secrets kept, duplicity and everlasting love. Where one women finds her true self and the other finds that in the end love prevails.
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A lovely work of historical fiction, sure to satisfy fans of Kristin Hannah and Jennifer Robson.
This tale of how World Wars impact small towns and their unassuming citizens is a story of family, obligations, secrets, and lies.
The characters evoke empathy from the reader, the dual timelines keep you engaged from start to finish.

Intrigue passion and tales of humanity at its worst. Loved this novel. Giving me a glimpse of yet another aspect of WW11. Gut wrenching at times and uplifting at others. Highly recommend The Sea Gate.