'The prose is spare and beautiful, the narrative simple but sound – it is as finely wrought as poetry'… Jago’s distinctive voice emerges, a true and clear and entirely convincing creation, always reaching towards the light and life’ The Guardian

A hypnotic read, gentle, generous and compelling’ Mail on Sunday

‘A beautifully written, authentic and deeply moving portrait of adversity, care and hope’ Daily Mail

‘Charnley has created his own world in this impressive debut, and it possesses its own unique magic’ Telegraph

‘simply rewarding’ Times Literary Supplement

My debut novel, This, my second life, is out now, published by Hutchinson Heinemann .

he novel came from my own experience of having a cardiac arrest and sustaining a life-changing brain injury. It is set on the coast between St Ives and Zennor in Cornwall, an area that is woven all through my life. My parents had a small house in St Ives until my mother died in 2017, where she worked and we spent endless holidays on the beach and walking the coastal paths. My wife and I were married in St Ives, and when our son was born, we moved down there for a year so I could focus on my writing. I didn’t start writing This, my second life, until some eight years later, but the foundations for it were laid during that year and during all the family holidays before it.

About This, my second life

After suffering a severe brain injury, Jago Trevarno is taken in by his uncle and only living relative, Jacob, to convalesce in the safe haven of Jacob’s small coastal farm in West Cornwall where the Atlantic Ocean meets ancient granite cliffs. Away from the modern world, together they live according to the rhythm of the sun and the animals they care for.

As Jago begins to adjust to the reality of his new life, he gets caught up in the murky world of local villain, Bill Sligo, who appears to have designs on Jago’s uncle’s farm and in particular a field containing a disused mine-shaft. Jago determines to find out why Bill Sligo wants the field – and in so doing puts his own life in grave danger…

As well as celebrating the healing power of nature and a loving relationship between uncle and nephew, this novel follows a journey of hope and resilience as Jago comes to terms with this, his second life. My greatest hope for the novel is that it leaves readers feeling uplifted and with a sense of peace and contentment that stays with them long after reading it.

 © Patrick Charnley

You can order This, my second life here:

This, My Second Life by Patrick Charnley | Waterstones

This, My Second Life: Amazon.co.uk: Charnley, Patrick: 9781529155259: Books