The Sea Gate

De: Jane Johnson

Narrado por: Jayne Entwistle, Barrie Kreinik

“I need your help getting Chynalls in order so I can stay in my own house. Come down right away!”

After the death of her mother, Rebecca is sorting through her empty flat. Starting with the letters piling up on the doormat, she finds an envelope postmarked from Cornwall. In it is a letter that will change her life forever. A desperate plea from her mother’s elderly cousin, Olivia, to help save her beloved home.

Rebecca arrives at Chynalls to find the house crumbling into the ground and Olivia stuck in hospital with no hope of being discharged until her home is made habitable.

Though slightly daunted, Rebecca sets to work. But as she peels back the layers of paint, plaster and grime, she uncovers secrets buried for more than seventy years. Secrets from a time when Olivia was young, the Second World War was raging, and danger and romance lurked round every corner …

©2020 Jane Johnson (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing

A thoroughly enjoyable story

This is a new author for me and I will certainly seek out more books by her. The story was interesting from the beginning and just got better and better. I enjoyed the narration although the voice for Olivia was grating at first but as the story proceeded it grew less so. A wonderful story that interweaves a WWII story with a current day mystery resulting in a very richly satisfactory ending. I highly recommend.

Good story

A bit drawn out in parts, but worth sticking with it. Love the main characters and how the story came together

Really great story!

Characters very well fleshed out and great details connecting the two timelines. Really great story! So well written! Also the narrators were great!

Character development five stars!!

Really enjoyed this! Worthwhile plot and lovely characters! They seemed to unfold as the story went which just adds a richness that’s really enjoyable.

The narration was excellent. I loved the story.

I liked the whole thing. The story was historical, and went back to a small community in England where a love story takes place. A really good listen.

Very enjoyable!

I really enjoyed this story. So creative and involved. I love the quirky characters. I hated to see this one end. I have read other books by this author, and she is an extremely good storyteller.

Genius

Absolutely genius! This Hass to be a true story! There is no way someone could have made this up! I will buy this book for all of my bookie friends! Loved it loved it loved it!

Better than the sum of its parts

At first it seemed a bit like a cobbled together version of so many other similar dual timeline novels with one foot in the present and the other in WW2.
I enjoyed the present day story best- the narrator was flawless and enjoyable to listen to, the MC was identifiable and growing and healing in all the right ways, and the story had strong Mary Stewart mystery vibes.
The WW2-era half of the story was harder - the story was mostly compelling but turned a bit lazy when it seemed to devolve into one long sexcapade between a 16 year old girl and an escaped POW, and that narrator had a grating performance that didn’t help.

But the ending was unexpected in many ways as well as immensely satisfying, and that together with the present day story lifted the whole into a solid 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 because the parrot is hilarious.

Too many coincidences

One of the most implausible stories I’ve listened to this year😟 a multitude of gaps in the story, which the author tried to explain away in the last chapter; too many coincidences throughout the plot, and some unnecessary, cringy sex scenes. The only redeeming feature were the two excellent narrators. I read several positive reviews, and I’m just shaking my head ….