Review: The Vanished Days (Slains #3)

Title: The Vanished Days (Slains #3)

Author: Susanna Kearsley

Publisher: 5th October 2021 by SOURCEBOOKS Landmark

Pages: 464 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction, romance

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

In the autumn of 1707, old enemies from the Highlands to the Borders are finding common ground as they join to protest the new Union with England. At the same time, the French are preparing to launch an invasion to bring the young exiled Jacobite king back to Scotland to reclaim his throne, and in Edinburgh the streets are filled with discontent and danger.

Queen Anne's commissioners, seeking to calm the situation, have begun paying out money sent up from London to settle the losses and wages owed to those Scots who took part in the disastrous Darien expedition eight years earlier--an ill-fated venture that left Scotland all but bankrupt.

When the young widow of a Darien sailor comes forward to collect her husband's wages, her claim is challenged. One of the men assigned to investigate has only days to decide if she's honest, or if his own feelings are blinding him to the truth.

The Vanished Days is a prequel and companion novel to The Winter Sea, with action that overlaps some of the action in that book. The Vanished Days goes back in time to the 1680s and introduces the reader to the Moray and Graeme families.

My Thoughts

What is there not to love about a new Susanna Kearsley book! Her stories are always fabulously written, well researched and captivating. When you open the pages of one of Susanna’s books, you enter into a new world, one that guarantees rich historical detail combined with fabulous drama. Her fans are excited as The Vanished Days is the prequel/companion to The Winter Sea (a book I read many years ago but still a firm favourite of mine). Needless to say, I was quite excited to read Susanna’s latest!

‘There had been so many moments in my life when my survival had depended on my trusting to my instincts that I’d gained a great respect for them’

The Vanished Days is set in Scotland during the late 1600's-early 1700's. Kearsley includes a dual timeline plot, however, this time around it is much closer - only 10-25 years apart. Therefore, it appears more of a companion to Winter Sea as it has a shared character and a similar time period. This can definitely be read as a stand-alone, yet how wonderful would it have been to read all three in this series together (The Winter Sea and its sequel, The Firebird).

“In life, you understand, we always say things that we later would take back - a careless insult, or a sharp word thrown in anger. We are none of us immune.”

As always Susanna has done a fabulous amount of research, and that definitely shows through her in-depth and vivid descriptions that bring history to life in her stories. It is probably for this reason that the book does start off somewhat slow, but persevere, once you get past a certain point it will be a race to the end. Wow! What a twist.

“That comes from Plato. His Symposium, in which he claims that every person has one - that we all were made originally whole, then sliced in half like flatfish, so we now must search the world for the one person who completes us.”

Susanna Kearsley is one of my favorite authors and I will always read anything and everything she writes. If you’ve never read one of her books and you are a fan of historical fiction, you simply must do yourself a favour. I jealousy envy you reading this Slains series sequentially - stories beautifully researched and written with characters that will touch your heart and stay with you long after the last chapter ends. 

“You’re the first man I have loved,” she said, her voice not much above a whisper, and it was as though she knew I needed those words then. “The first man and the last man. You will always be enough for me.”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Deadly Hours

Title: The Deadly Hours

Author: Susanna Kearsley; C.S. Harris; Anna Lee Huber; Christine Trent

Publisher: 1st September 2020 by Poisoned Pen Press

Pages: 352 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction, mystery

My Rating: 3.5 cups

Synopsis:

A stellar line-up of historical mystery novelists weaves the tale of a priceless and cursed gold watch as it passes through time wreaking havoc from one owner to another. The characters are irrevocably linked by fate, each playing a key role in breaking the curse and destroying the watch once and for all.

 

From 1733 Italy to Edinburgh in 1831 to a series of chilling murders in 1870 London, and a lethal game of revenge decades later, the watch touches lives with misfortune, until it comes into the reach of one young woman who might be able to stop it for good.

My Thoughts

The Deadly Hours contains four novellas by well known historical authors with a story revolving around a cursed watch and its journey through history.  I am a big fan of Susanna Kearsley and was therefore eager to read her instalment. I had not read anything by the other authors so was happy to discover that all four of them nicely complimented each other as a whole. 

The history of how the watch came to be cursed is explained and what then ensues is its journey from the various owners over almost a two hundred year period. Each story relates the terrible impact of association with this watch and how it affects all who come into direct contact with it. From Italy in 1733 to England in 1944 the storylines are well presented with engaging characters and the flow between each was relatively smooth. I appreciated most the period appropriate plots yet found the first and last story to be the strongest.  It is difficult to review a collection of stories from different authors, but overall I found the whole concept intriguing. 

If you enjoy short stories but with the added benefit of a constant across them all, then I suggest you delve into the intrigue, mystery and danger that is, ‘The Deadly Hours’.

“He said that life will always be uncertain, and we cannot let the fear of what might happen stop us living as we choose.” She turned her face to his. “Is that not beautiful?”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: Bellewether

Title: Bellewether

Author: Susanna Kearsley

Publisher: 7 August 2018 by Sourcebooks Landmark

Pages: 448 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction, romance

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

"The house, when I first saw it, seemed intent on guarding what it knew; but we all learned, by the end of it, that secrets aren't such easy things to keep."

It's late summer, war is raging, and families are torn apart by divided loyalties and deadly secrets. In this complex and dangerous time, a young French Canadian lieutenant is captured and billeted with a Long Island family, an unwilling and unwelcome guest. As he begins to pitch in with the never-ending household tasks and farm chores, Jean-Philippe de Sabran finds himself drawn to the daughter of the house. Slowly, Lydia Wilde comes to lean on Jean-Philippe, true soldier and gentleman, until their lives become inextricably intertwined. Legend has it that the forbidden love between Jean-Philippe and Lydia ended tragically, but centuries later, the clues they left behind slowly unveil the true story.

Part history, part romance, and all kinds of magic, Susanna Kearsley's latest masterpiece will draw you in and never let you go, even long after you've closed the last page.

My Thoughts

What is there not to love about a new Susanna Kearsley book! Her stories are always fabulously written, well researched and completely captivating. To my mind she is the Queen of dual time storylines. When you open the pages of one of Susanna’s books, you enter into a new world, one that guarantees rich historical drama combined with present day ties.

‘I was motivated even more right now by seeing those two simple, soulless dates bookending what had been the life of a young woman; and by knowing that, through research, I could fill the space between those dates with something that approached that woman’s shape.’

So living up to the precedents set, Bellwether will present two women from two different times, yet seemingly tied together in some way. There will be plenty of historical detail, I knew so very little about the Seven Years War and there is much to learn about the British, French and slavery. There are many interesting characters here, from both timelines, but you are sure to develop a fondness for the Wilde family. In fact Susanna’s explanation at the end of the book will shed some interesting light on what inspired her, characters both real and in some cases based closely on prevalent figures of the day.  They were interesting and easy to connect with. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives and how Susanna cleverly mirrored past with present - particularly how she linked the end and beginning of many chapters even though the dates differed.

Now whilst I enjoyed the book, I will have to confess that I was somewhat disappointed. Her writing finesse is indisputable, however, it was just so slow, really in need of more drama and action scattered throughout. There were, at times, endless descriptions of banal things. Even the ending proved a little too neat and tidy for some characters,  yet others were left with unresolved issues. I’m still even a little confused over the significance of the title of the book.

So whilst I enjoyed the book, I did not love the book - rich in historical fiction and detail but just a little too slow in parts for me.

‘He was looking for the wound. He wouldn’t find one.  All her true wounds were so deep within her nobody would ever see them’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.