Susanna Kearsley

“My father always told me that the sea was in my blood” (2).

Emotionally draining at times (the longing and waiting of the characters), intellectually demanding at others (so many dates and events and historical figures to know and connect), but poetically stimulating throughout, even if much of the swirling, gray sea descriptions were a bit somber and melancholic. In the end of this maudlin Scottish seaside story, there is a beacon of light—the promise of the winter sea: the hope of what lies beneath.

While the atmospheric Slains Castle off the coast of Scotland sets the stage for this gothic story, it’s the characters and the rich historical plot—full of espionage and clandestine lovers and secret plotting—that kept me waiting and hoping and longing right along with the characters. I really loved these characters, especially Countess of Errol who seemed ahead of her time, not content to be a female bystander in this male-made war but leading like a General with intelligence and grace and shrewd confidence. I also loved professor Graham—his quiet confidence—and John Morray—his contrast of pirate persona and devoted lover—and Colonel Graeme—the perfect mix of a roguish yet reliable uncle.

Beyond the history and plot and characters and setting—all of which I loved—I also loved the bigger ideas in this book: genetic memory and blurred lines. Anything that explores the connection we have to our ancestors and the land of our roots is something that inspires me. The way Kearsley tells this dual-plotted story is original in blurring the lines between fact and fiction, imagination and memory—never knowing where one ends and the other begins. Intriguing, imaginative, and inspiring: a story that makes me want to know more about these determined Jacobites. For a reader who rarely reads series, I’m eager to explore the other Slains stories.
… (lisätietoja)

“There was something about this remote western corner of Britain that captured the soul and refused to let it go, something ancient and wild in the moors and black cliffs and the voice of the sea that spoke always of something unseen and enchanted” (68).

This is a story about connection to place and person. Eva Ward returns to Cornwall, to Trelowarth Manor, in order to scatter her sister’s ashes in hopes she’ll rest in the place of their happiest childhood memories. Meanwhile, Eva is also trying to find the place she belongs—the place she’ll be as happy as she was at Trelowarth—and what she discovers is that it’s not where she’ll be happiest but with whom she’ll be happiest.… (lisätietoja)