Wrecker

I felt this was a book that didn't quite know what it wanted to be. Hailed on the cover as having ‘an edge of Gothic' it wasn't Gothic enough for me. It's called Wrecker but seemed to be more about a religious revival in Cornwall than about Wreckers, but I'm not sure it could fall into Christian fic either. It had elements of historical romance to it but it wasn't romantic. I thought the caption on the front about her life being in danger was rather misleading, it never feels as if she is in any actual peril. I also found the constant use of the word ‘ass' (to mean rear end) a bit odd, as well as a sentence blanking out a swear word - either use it or cut it, we all know what you mean!
Mary had promise as a main character, yes she's gutsy and flawed, but as a reader I got mad at her for not being a good narrator; even when major things are happening to her you don't get much of a sense of how she actually feels.
I liked the depiction of Cornwall and the residents of the village, there are some good descriptive passages and some quite funny bits, but I found the main characters frustrating, particularly the illusive Gideon, who isn't really described and has no clear motives throughout the story, he doesn't even have a good reason to build the Chapel, he just sort of falls into it ‘because'. Mary falls for him, but there doesn't seem to be any reason why, she just seems to decide he's someone new to fixate on. Most of the women just felt like snobby stereotypes to me, particularly Gideon's wife. Not a big fan of the ending either. I think maybe I just got a bit cross as I was expecting a different book!