Book Review of
New Girl In Little Cove
Lynn's Review
New Girl in Little Cove by Damhait Monghan was published in 2021.
I really enjoyed this debut novel set in Newfoundland in the 1980s. I think I first heard about it from Annie from The Bookshelf Thomasville, GA on her podcast. This was the perfect book at the perfect time for me. I read it in one day when I was sick. It was a quick read with a great storyline.
Rachel, a first-year French teacher, takes a job at a Catholic school in a small coastal town in Newfoundland. I found this book charming and fun.
I grew up in a small town in rural Oregon, which is a totally different life than small-town Newfoundland, but some things about small-town life are the same. New Girl in Little Cove does a great job of making you feel like you are in that small town.
I think this is a great book for those that loved Anne of Greene Gables, but would enjoy something a little more grown up and modern.
I will say that I did not enjoy the ending of the book so much. What happens is probably very true to life in a small town, especially a Catholic one, but it inserted modern controversy into the storyline that I did not feel fit the rest of the book. And the bribing of a priest to get your way probably does happen, but again it made the book lose a little bit of the charm for me.
It would have been a five-star read if not for the ending.