The Visitor Paperback – 1 July 2015

This is a very well written period piece, which sets a personal story of love and loss in a fictional Cornish village, during the decline of the pilchard fishing industry. It begins in the 1880s, immediately jumps forward to 1936 and continues to move back and forth as it explores the memories of Pearl, a lifelong resident of the village. The novel is structured in such a way that the flashbacks to Pearl's adolescence slowly come to dominate her days and nights in 1936.The pilchards feature prominently as the elusive shoal becomes a character in its own right. At one point, Pearl likens its movements to that of 'a woman, swimming and slicing through the sea'. There are many memorable scenes involving the pilchards, but my favourite is the passage which describes an attempted catch from the vantage point of the cliff, where Pearl looks on anxiously as the huer waves directions to the fishermen below.Stansfield's understated prose is peppered with words and phrases from the region such as 'mizzle' and 'wisht', which help to place the reader in the desired time and place. The Visitor is a very enjoyable debut novel, which does both its setting and its subject matter justice.

Admittedly there were only four reviews but they each gave it five stars when I bought it. I found it extremely well written, with believable characters. I found the accounts of the village in its heyday of pilchard fishing fascinating. But it would have been nice if there had been a plot.....instead we are treated to an increasing litany of doom and gloom with no climactic ending, no surprises, just the main character's rather repetitive descent into ill health and Alzheimer's - the book ends with a whimper not a bang in the words of the famous poet and you are left wondering if the admittedly good history lesson was worth the effort.It goes to show that new authors probably get their friends and family to write glowing reviews and I will be more careful next time.

I adored this book and from the very beginning, I was hooked. Completely swept away by the detail and the fascinating descriptions of life in a tiny, picturesque fishing village in the late 1800's - 1930's, I devoured chapter after chapter and hated to have to put the book down.I do agree with part of what another review has said though, in that as the book goes on you do get the sense that there will never be a happy ending... I was saddened by Pearl's story, heartbroken by her decline into dementia and genuinely devastated for the people of the village of Morlanow that they struggled so hard to earn a living or to change their way of life... But I still love this book. 5 star rating for sure.

A story set in Cornwall in a village dependent for its livelihood on the pilchard catch. But times change and those unwilling to move on find themselves confused, bitter and critical of others who know that things must change. A fascinating insight into the lives and the attitudes of the period.

I love Katherine Stansfield's books. This was her first and is a beautiful and mysterious story set in Cornwall in 1880 and 1936. It is a love story with a full Cornish flavour and keeps you guessing until the end. Heartily recommended.

Tthe idea for the story is ok but not much happens over too many pages. Also found the characters were not very well written. Would have been better as a short story

This is a very sad story in more ways than one, but is, nonetheless, well worth reading. It is clearly well researched and gives insight, not only into the changes wrought by circumstances on a Cornish village but, by imputation, to any community forced to abandon its main source of employment. As well as all that, it is beautifully written.

I really enjoyed and was fascinated by this book. It tells the story of Pearl from childhood to old age in a Cornish fishing village, skilfully weaving her present situation with scenes from her past. The descriptions of the fishing industry and the lives of the fisher families were vivid and interesting.A very satisfying and well constructed book.