Cornwall


<p>Forget <em>Wuthering Heights</em>. For brooding landscapes, crumbling mansions, and slow-burn romances with dramatic cliffs, emotional chaos, and very bad decisions, you need our read-and-watch list of Cornwall’s best gothic and gothic-inspired tales.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/10/dusk-bodmin-moor-copy-2-1000x667.jpg" alt="dusk on bodmin moor" class="wp-image-32024" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/10/dusk-bodmin-moor-copy-2-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/10/dusk-bodmin-moor-copy-2-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/10/dusk-bodmin-moor-copy-2-768x513.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/10/dusk-bodmin-moor-copy-2-787x525.jpg 787w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/10/dusk-bodmin-moor-copy-2.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rebecca-by-daphne-du-maurier"><em>Rebecca</em> by Daphne du Maurier</h2>



<p><strong>READ</strong>: The benchmark. A young bride, a brooding widower and a Cornish house saturated with obsession, memory and menace. Gothic romance doesn’t get more iconic, and Cornwall is central to its mood and power.</p>



<p><strong>WATCH</strong>: The <a href="https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81002196" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lily James adaption</a> of <em>Rebecca</em> landed in 2020, but many fans still hail Hitchcock’s 1940 classic as the definitive version. </p>



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Rebecca | Official Trailer | Netflix" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LFVhB54UqvQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-poldark-saga-by-winston-graham"><em>The Poldark Saga</em> by Winston Graham</h2>



<p><strong>READ</strong>: The Poldark saga spans 12 novels across the late 18th and early 19th centuries, following Ross Poldark as he returns from the American Revolutionary War to find family, love, and fortune in turmoil. Romance, betrayal, and rivalry with the ruthless George Warleggan ensue, as Ross’s heart and Cornwall itself are tested at every turn.</p>



<p><strong>WATCH</strong>: The BBC adaption needs no real introduction either, bringing Cornwall’s rugged coastlines and turbulent 18th-century drama to life, with Aidan Turner as the brooding Ross, navigating, as in the books, love, betrayal, and family conflict, all in a visually stunning and passionate retelling of the classic saga.</p>



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<iframe loading="lazy" title="Poldark | Trailer - BBC" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7A0U6kQNCN0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-my-cousin-rachel-by-daphne-du-maurier"><em>My Cousin Rachel</em> by Daphne du Maurier</h2>



<p><strong>READ</strong>: Set on a remote Cornish estate, this is a masterclass in romantic ambiguity. Is Rachel a victim, a villain, or something more unsettling? Darkly seductive and dripping with atmosphere.</p>



<p><strong>WATCH</strong>: Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin star in 2017&#8217;s suspenseful, atmospheric tale of love, obsession, and mistrust, set against the windswept Cornish countryside.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="My Cousin Rachel | Official HD Trailer #2 | 2017" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l787QxuR51I?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-dangerous-collaboration-veronica-speedwell-mystery-nbsp-by-nbsp-deanna-raybourn"><em>A Dangerous Collaboration</em> (Veronica Speedwell Mystery)&nbsp;by&nbsp;Deanna Raybourn</h2>



<p><strong>READ</strong>: Veronica Speedwell is an intrepid lepidopterist with a mysterious past in Victorian England who finds herself solving high stakes mysteries a la Sherlock Holmes. Her&nbsp;partner in crime is a tortured, bad tempered but oh so virile natural historian by the name of Stoker– will they or won’t they ever admit their feelings for each other?</p>



<p>In book four of the series,&nbsp;<em>A Dangerous Collaboration,&nbsp;</em>Veronica and Stoker are invited to a house party on a remote island off the tip of Cornwall. It quickly becomes apparent that there is more to this house party than meets they eye, and they find themselves investigating their hosts wife’s mysterious disappearance from their own wedding three years previously. An incredibly well-written series with a delicious slow burn romance, each book is a perfect escape, but the writing is so intelligent it’s a guilty pleasure that’s calorie free.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-jamaica-inn-by-daphne-du-maurier"><em>Jamaica Inn </em>by Daphne du Maurier</h2>



<p><strong>READ</strong>: Bodmin Moor provides a bleak, lawless backdrop for smuggling, violence and dangerous attraction. Less swoony romance, more gothic grit, but undeniably Cornwall at its most ominous.</p>



<p><strong>WATCH</strong>: Hitchcock loved a du Maurier book to adapt and his 1939 of Jamaica Inn stands the test of time. Or, try the 2017 TV adaption starring Jessica Brown Findlay.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Acorn TV | Jamaica Inn" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YHKr27Pfj8M?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><em>Zennor in Darkness</em> by Helen Dunmore</h2>



<p><strong>READ</strong>: Zennor in Darkness is a more modern story, set in 1917. Among the characters living in Zennor that the young artist Clare encounters are D. H. Lawrence&nbsp;and his German wife&nbsp;Frieda,&nbsp;who have fled from London to an isolated farmhouse. Dunmore’s debut novel explores the events which led to Lawrence’s expulsion from Cornwall (on suspicion of spying) as well as describing the beautiful West Cornish countryside.</p>



<p><strong>LISTEN</strong>: Not a TV adaptation but a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000x50d" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BBC Radio version</a> &#8211; keep an eye (ear?) out for repeats.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><em>A Cornish Affair</em> by Liz Fenwick</h2>



<p><strong>READ</strong>: If you’re a fan of a romance novel set in deepest most beautiful Cornwall but in the more present day, then pretty much any of Liz Fenwick’s books will be right up your street. In&nbsp;<em>A Cornish Affair,&nbsp;</em>Jude runs out on her wedding, flees to Pengarrock, a crumbling cliff-top mansion in Cornwall, and takes a job cataloguing the Trevillion family’s extensive library. Exploring relationships, friendships and learning to love ourselves, fans of Liz Fenwick’s books enjoy her beautiful descriptions of the Cornish countryside (in this case, the Helford River) almost as much as the plots themselves.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="668" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/10/river-helford.png" alt="river helford" class="wp-image-20834" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/10/river-helford.png 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/10/river-helford-300x200.png 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/10/river-helford-720x481.png 720w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/10/river-helford-768x513.png 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/10/river-helford-786x525.png 786w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-in-the-mood-for-more">IN THE MOOD FOR MORE?</h2>



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<li><a href="https://cornwall.muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/arts-culture-things-to-do/murder-mystery-nights-traitors-experiences-cornwall/">Trust no one! Murder mystery nights &amp; traitors-inspired events in Cornwall</a></li>



<li><a href="https://cornwall.muddystilettos.co.uk/people/dr-laura-varnam-daphne-du-maurier-cornwall/">My fave places: Dr Laura Varnam’s Du Maurier Country</a></li>



<li><a href="https://cornwall.muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/walks-near-me/readmoney-cove-polridmouth-cove-fowey/">Muddy Walks: Fowey to Polridmouth</a></li>
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Gothic romance in Cornwall: 7 books and films to swoon over

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