The Cornwall Sabbatical (2023) by Jonathan E. Cox: A Non Fiction

Thanks to The Book Guild and NetGalley for providing me review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

🔶️ Subtitled as 'Observations Through a Returning Pirate's Kaleidoscope', this is the debut book of Jonathan E. Cox, former journalist who returned to his mother land of Penzance, Cornwall, to study for a postgraduate writing degree at Falmouth University.

🔶️ Jonathan Edward Cox left Cornwall in his teens, and for thirty years he built a career in journalism and financial analyst abroad. Then, Covid-19 came, and, like for most of us, changed the direction of his life. As he returned to Cornwall with his Swiss wife, Cox realized that Cornwall had taken a huge change, some to the better, but some not so welcomed. This book chronicled his new view of his beloved changing Cornwall.

🔶️ The book opens with his first day at the university. It's a pity, that Cox doesn't explore more on this subject. I would have loved to get more glimpses - only tiny glimpses - of the university life. Cox mostly explores places - cities, villages, landmarks, beaches. During these travels, he reminisces his childhood, what the place had used to be, what it had meant to him, and how it becomes today. And with that, he would present some history and statistics on related subjects. I have nothing to complain about the travels - those are what I picked this book to read for, to get into places I've never been before, to breath in the atmosphere - but I would be more pleasant with less statistics; I never like statistics. One or two is okay, it is a non fiction anyway, but this book has too many for my taste.

🔶️ What I cherished most is the local folklore stuff like The Hal-an-Tow during Flora Day, a festive event in Helston. Flora Day is a spring festival to celebrate the end of winter and mark the arrival of the new vitality and fertility with the trees and flowers bursting into life. [helstinfloraday.org.uk] Tradition has it that early on Flora Day morning, youths go to the neighbouring woods to collect branches of sycamore. On their return, they are joined by other young people, dressed to represent the characters in the Hal-an-Tow song. [helstonhistory.co.uk] I think it was the culminating moment of Cox's growing emotional re-attachment to Cornwall and his mother land. His two daughters visited Helston for this particular event, and it was an heartwarming family moment for them.

🔶️ Second of my favorites is when Cox explaining about some landmarks which have literary significance. Godrevy Lighthouse, for instance, was Virginia Woolf's inspiration behind To the Lighthouse. In Landewednack village, there is a cottage called The Mariners', whose window is the inspiration of E.M Forster's A Room with a View. And in Bolventor, we get the legendary Jamaica Inn, on which Daphne du Maurier had titled her book published in 1936. 

🔶️ All things considered, this was quite an exciting book to get to know Cornwall. Cox wrote it straightforwardly with some dry, sometimes wry, witty humor. You'll feel quite refreshed by the sea breezes after finishing the book. And if you plan to have a Cornish holiday, this book is the perfect guide for you, especially to warn you about the seagulls. What about seagulls? Well, you need to read the book to get at it, hint: they are quite funny! ;)


Rating: 3,5 / 5


**The Cornwall Sabbatical: Observations Through a Returning Pirate's Kaleidoscope was published on 28th September 2023.