The Sea Scape

Love once again conquers all, including class differences, in Lide's ( The Legacy of Tregaran ) appealing romance set in 19th-century Cornwall. Feisty Guinevere Ellis, known as Jenny, lives with her scheming mother, the maid of all work at run-down Penwith Farm. By chance, she mets and falls in love with Julian Polleven, a gentle aristocrat. But their love, naturally, is destined to follow a hard course. Julian must leave on a military assignment, and Jenny flees the farm and Farmer Penwith's lecherous grasp. For the next few years, life proves cruel at times but more often rewarding, as Jenny meets the brother she never knew she had, bears Julian's child and forms friendships with the gruff but kind residents of a Cornish fishing village. When Julian is presumed dead and his father threatens to take her daughter from her, Jenny learns the value of compromise. Although Jenny's reflections on past events distance the reader and Lide's attempt to capture the Cornish dialect is frustrating, this tale of love, longing and desperate struggle works its sure charms. (Aug.)