Skin Deep

Travel Guide

Cote d’ Azur

Cordelia heads to Nice to start life over – or at least to adopt someone else’s. She sets herself up on the Côte d’Azur using her looks and her charm to get by.  However, her age is catching up with her and so she is not getting the attention of men she is used to. Beauty is, ironically, only skin deep.

Appearances can be deceptive. Wherever you are, you can pretend to be someone else:

I could probably have been an actress. It is not difficult to pretend to be somebody else. Isn’t that what I’ve been doing for most of my life?

“I wanted to live a life with open sky and the sound of waves to soothe me to sleep. I wanted isolation”.

From the glamour of the Promenade des Anglais to the Negresco hotel which plays a major role in the story, the rich and wealthy location contrasts nicely with the Island of Inishcrann.

Island of Inishcrann (fictional)

Oh the tiny Island of Inishcrann , which translated from the Irish language means The Island of the Tree. This is the second location of the book and fits well with the change in Cordelia’s character.

It’s bleak, lonely and cold.  In Delia’s mind, she was the Queen of Inishcrann and the world was her oyster. Her father is largely to blame for this character trait. He tells her folklore tales of the islands  and how one day she will be Queen of Inishcrann.

These island stories are peppered throughout the novel. An island which means danger, isolation and an untameable nature.