Book Review: The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. © 2010 Sourcebooks Landmark (originally published in the UK as Sophia‘s Secret). ISBN 9781402241376. Trade Paperback. Historical Romance. 544 pages. Source: advanced reading copy.
Synopsis: In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.
Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn the story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors, and starts to write.
But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who can know the truth of what really happened all those years ago—a tale of love and loyalty…and ultimate betrayal.
Review: Carrie McClelland has written four bestselling historical romances and now has traveled to Scotland to write what she hopes is the fifth bestselling. She rents a small cottage on Crude’s Bay, which is located near the ruins of Slains Castle. It is through dreams where Carrie often comes in contact with her characters, and this time is no different, except that immense feeling of déjà vu. In her search into her fictional characters, which are becoming more and more real, Carrie is joined by Professor Graham Keith, son of her landlord, and soon—through research—she discovers her characters are actual people.
The Winter Sea does a marvelous and flawless job at telling two stories (Carrie in present day and Sophia, an inhabitant of Slains Castle in 1708 who is a dependent of the countess) at once, both with fantastic prose, vivid imagery and a compelling plot. I definitely won’t hesitate in reading more of Kearsley as she definitely did her homework, creating a magical work of narrative bound to please all fans of historical fiction. 4/5.
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