Prime Position
Published 25th July 2025
Prime Position: A Novel on the Cornish Housing Crisis
This is a story of relationships and life in the Cornish village of Porthallett, set on the south coast of Cornwall, where photographer Kenwyn Tabb finds he is the latest to be evicted to make way for yet another luxurious second home, as the scourge of second and holiday home ownership continues throughout the county.
Kenwyn is a member of a half-hearted group of Cornish patriots calling themselves ‘c4c’, and he becomes further enraged when he discovers his close friend Jackie’s parents are to be thrown off their mobile home retirement site based on the all-dominant Penquiddick Estate land.
The debt-ridden Penquiddick Estate has recently been inherited by the reluctant James Crago, who would really prefer to work on his sculptures than deal with the estate’s financial decline. He finds solace in giving the management job to Mark Shipwright, an estate agent with a taste for profit over people.
When James decides to scrap the traditional village show at Penquiddick for an upmarket literary festival, it is the final straw for locals, and ‘c4c’ decide to sabotage the festival. But as the locals unite to protest at the destruction of their community, the demonstration takes an unexpected turn, spiralling disastrously out of control and risking consequences none of them could have foreseen.
ISBN: 9781852002190
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: hardback
Length: 254
Published 25th July 2025
Prime Position: A Novel on the Cornish Housing Crisis
This is a story of relationships and life in the Cornish village of Porthallett, set on the south coast of Cornwall, where photographer Kenwyn Tabb finds he is the latest to be evicted to make way for yet another luxurious second home, as the scourge of second and holiday home ownership continues throughout the county.
Kenwyn is a member of a half-hearted group of Cornish patriots calling themselves ‘c4c’, and he becomes further enraged when he discovers his close friend Jackie’s parents are to be thrown off their mobile home retirement site based on the all-dominant Penquiddick Estate land.
The debt-ridden Penquiddick Estate has recently been inherited by the reluctant James Crago, who would really prefer to work on his sculptures than deal with the estate’s financial decline. He finds solace in giving the management job to Mark Shipwright, an estate agent with a taste for profit over people.
When James decides to scrap the traditional village show at Penquiddick for an upmarket literary festival, it is the final straw for locals, and ‘c4c’ decide to sabotage the festival. But as the locals unite to protest at the destruction of their community, the demonstration takes an unexpected turn, spiralling disastrously out of control and risking consequences none of them could have foreseen.
ISBN: 9781852002190
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: hardback
Length: 254
Published 25th July 2025
Prime Position: A Novel on the Cornish Housing Crisis
This is a story of relationships and life in the Cornish village of Porthallett, set on the south coast of Cornwall, where photographer Kenwyn Tabb finds he is the latest to be evicted to make way for yet another luxurious second home, as the scourge of second and holiday home ownership continues throughout the county.
Kenwyn is a member of a half-hearted group of Cornish patriots calling themselves ‘c4c’, and he becomes further enraged when he discovers his close friend Jackie’s parents are to be thrown off their mobile home retirement site based on the all-dominant Penquiddick Estate land.
The debt-ridden Penquiddick Estate has recently been inherited by the reluctant James Crago, who would really prefer to work on his sculptures than deal with the estate’s financial decline. He finds solace in giving the management job to Mark Shipwright, an estate agent with a taste for profit over people.
When James decides to scrap the traditional village show at Penquiddick for an upmarket literary festival, it is the final straw for locals, and ‘c4c’ decide to sabotage the festival. But as the locals unite to protest at the destruction of their community, the demonstration takes an unexpected turn, spiralling disastrously out of control and risking consequences none of them could have foreseen.
ISBN: 9781852002190
Size: 217x140mm
Binding: hardback
Length: 254
About the author:
Alan Davis
Now retired from his Cornish GP practice, Alan Davis had previously worked in Western Scotland and rural Canada.
He has been involved in the WaterAid charity and raised funds cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats, and is also a volunteer water quality monitor for Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
Alan was moved to write Prime Position out of concern about the housing shortage in Cornwall due to holiday and second home ownership.