Summer's Shadow by Anna Wilson

Her mother's will states that Summer's legal guardian is her uncle Tristan: a man Summer has never even heard of before. Forced to leave her life in London, Summer moves to Tristan's creepy, ancient house in Cornwall. There she is met with indifference from him, open hostility from her cousin, and an aunt who has chosen to leave rather than to tolerate her presence.

Soon Summer comes to believe that the house may be haunted. But is it haunted by ghosts, or by the shadows of her family's past?

Scared and lonely, Summer begins to spend more and more time in the beautiful sheltered cove she discovers nearby. But she's not alone. A local boy frequents it too. Can Summer find first love and the answers to the mysteries of her new home with this good-looking boy who appears to be too perfect to be true?

Even though this is a young adult book, it was one I, as someone in my late twenties, really enjoyed.  I devoured it extremely quickly, before passing it on to my mum, who read it in a few hours and also thought it was a great book.  

Yes, it is light reading but I never really thought of it as a book for teens.  Wilson's writing is sophisticated and had me totally immersed in Summer's story and her new, and intriguing, beautiful surroundings. 

Summer's Shadow follows Summer as she tries to come to terms with losing her mum, and the sudden upheaval of moving away from everything, and everyone, she knows to live with people who are supposedly family but treat her in a very different manner.  Who are these people and how did they know Summer's mum?

I have to say, I wasn't at all surprised when it was revealed how Tristan is related to Summer.  It didn't come as a shock, but this didn't take anything away from the book for me.  I had also guessed a couple of the other "unknowns" along the way, but despite this, I really enjoyed following Summer's story.

Wilson creates the atmosphere and the imagery of this enchanting tale from Cornwall perfectly.