Summer's Last Retreat

In a Welsh coastal village, a poverty-stricken girl sells fish to support her family and yearns for the boy she loves, from the author of The Posthorn Inn.

On the wild and restless Welsh coast in the early years of the nineteenth century, in the village called Mumbles, illegal smuggling is a necessary evil if the community is to survive. As a year passes, the village must come together to battle against poverty and the Excise men.

But that’s not all that goes on beneath the rugged cliffs, and it’s the last thing on the mind of young fisher girl Olwen, who is enraptured by the powerful eyes and hidden strength of the orphan they call Barrass. Will Olwen ever be able to claim him as her own, or will his dubious past catch up with them?

In Summer’s Last Retreat, Grace Thompson brilliantly captures the beauty of first love and sorrow with a gentle humor, a cast of romantic characters, and a stirring background of smugglers and the sea.