The Newcomer cover art

The Newcomer

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See <a href="https://help.audible.co.uk/s/article/learn-about-premium-plus?language=en_GB">here</a> for eligibility.
Buy Now for £12.99
Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

Cornwall is only a page away in this gorgeous, heartwarming novel – a wonderful read for the summer holidays!

She arrived in the village on the spring tide and hoped to be at the heart of it, knowing its secrets and weathering its storms.

It was to be a new beginning…

It’s springtime in the Cornish village of Pendruggan and as the community comes together to say a fond farewell to parish vicar, Simon, and his wife, Penny, a newcomer causes quite a stir…

Reverand Angela Whitehorn came to Cornwall to make a difference. With her husband, Robert, by her side, she sets about making changes – but it seems not everyone is happy for her to shake things up in the small parish, and soon Angela starts to receive anonymous poison pen letters.

Angela has always been one to fight back, and she has already brought a fresh wind into the village, supporting her female parishioners through good times and bad. But as the letters get increasingly more personal, Angela learns that the secrets are closer to home.

With faith and friends by your side, even the most unlikely of new beginnings is possible.

©2019 Fern Britton (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Fiction Genre Fiction Holidays Romance Romantic Comedy Small Town & Rural Marriage Comedy Village

Listeners also enjoyed...

 New Beginnings cover art

Critic reviews

"Incredibly atmospheric." (Sun)

"A heartfelt novel about family secrets and atonement." (Woman & Home)

"A book to truly lose yourself in." (Sunday Times best seller Milly Johnson)
Loved it, the consistency of the characters throughout the series of books is great. Roll on the next one.

Another hit

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved the humour, the picture it created of Cornwall, the lovely storyline and the splendid performance of the narrator, gorgeous characters too.

A great comedic Cornish yarn

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I recently started to purchasing Fern Britton Audio books I’ve enjoyed everyone … starting to worry the rate I’m getting through them I’m going to run out of her novels 🤣

Enjoyed another good book by Fern Britton

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
First time I have read or listened to Fern Britton books, this was a very good story really enjoyed everything about it and the narrator was easy to listen to

Good listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The whole story was fabulous so that I wanted to listen for as long as possible great book

Friendship

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed this book very much and I thought that it was brought to life brilliantly by the reader

Great story which was beautifully read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I was looking for some good old corny feelgood escapism during lockdown and picked the wrong book. The narration is good and it was well enough written to keep me there to the end - but it makes for a depressing read when the sad ending is graphically previewed at the start of the book. I couldn't warm to the characters and was relieved to get to the finish.

Not the right book to cheer yourself up with

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
second fern britton book I've read preferred the 1st
but will listen to more from her

good easy listening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed this listen but did miss the neighbours next door to the vicarage. The doctor and brother and partner. Felt strange they were not to be seen or heard.

An easy listen and a village catch up

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Lovely story. This is Much better than the last books just by having a new narrator, rather than the author.

Enjoyed this very much

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews