The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
- Method of Obtaining: I received my copy via my local library.
- Published by: Allison & Busby
- Release Date: 9/22/2008
It is 2008 and Carrie McClelland can’t hit the right note for her next novel, but an unplanned detour in Scotland, and a stop at the castle that inspired Count Dracula, sets her on a different path; a path that took her back in time exactly 300 years, to that same castle, and to a rebellion doomed to failure. Alternating between the contemporary setting and the past, The Winter Sea takes us at every turn into little known worlds; historical footnotes writ large, a history of Scotland and the Jacobite rebellion of 1708 and the possibility of genetic memory.
- I have heard a lot of praise about this book.
I recommend:
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn
I began The Winter Sea with expectations – which is not really that fair of me, I know… but I’d heard really great things about this book and was anxious to get into a historical story that contained magic, hunky men, and a historical story with depth. The last time I’d encountered this was while reading Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander’s series.
I also wanted to give my mother a book she’d enjoy – since she has been lamenting the lack of new Gabaldon books lately.
So my senses started tingling when I began Kearsley’s story. It had all the right ingredients: mysterious men, the coast of Scotland, a researching writer, fantastic dialects … what could go wrong?
Folks – the very historical story that was so important held absolutely no pull for me. I’m almost crying thinking about it because I wanted it to be so good. I wanted to look forward to those sections of the book that had me hurtling back through time but it just did not work for me. At all. Instead, I found myself good and stuck in the present and, to my horror, starting to dread the forays back in time.
So now that some time has passed, I am trying to figure out where it went wrong for me – and I think that the answer is, sadly, one of the main bits of glue that holds the whole thing together. Rather than a character traveling back in time, as featured in some of my favorite stories, the main character here merely experiences that time through the means of written word.
So The Winter Sea did not work for me. I was hugely entertained by the modern setting and disappointed in the historical. It may work for you, but for me… I was hoping for something more.
Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!
I just picked this one up. I’ve heard good things about Kearsley. Thanks for your honest review. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a negative thing about her books. I’ll keep your thoughts in mind.