Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Sophia's Secret by Susanna Kearsley

Rating 4 out of 5
Format: Kindle Edition
Series: Slains Book 1
File Size: 731 KB
Print Length: 520 pages
Publisher: Allison & Busby (15 April 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Australia Services, Inc.
Language: English
ISBN: 1402241372
ASIN: B006WB7IW4
Formerly known as : The Winter Sea

Summary:
When bestselling author Carrie McClelland visits the windswept ruins of Slains Castle, she is enchanted by the stark and beautiful Scottish landscape. The area is strangely familiar to her but she puts aside her faint sense of unease to begin her new novel, using the castle as her setting, and one of her own ancestors, Sophia, as her heroine. Then Carrie realises her writing is taking on a life of its own and the lines between fact and fiction become increasingly blurred. As Sophia's memories draw Carrie more deeply into the intrigue of 1708, she discovers a captivating love story lost in time. After three hundred years, Sophia's Secret must be told.

I am rapidly becoming a big fan of Kearsley's. Her writing is so beautiful and magical, it just sucks me in. This book was no exception.

This is a complex book to review without giving much away. We follow Cassie and Sophia who are two women linked through time. Cassie lives in modern times and is writing a book on the aborted Jacobite aborted and Sophia lives during the 1700s, in particular the time of the almost revolution. 

Different points of view can really make or break a book for me especially when done badly. Fortunately for me this was done very well. The change was almost seamless so you hardly noticed the change at all. The characters were given very distinct voices which I enjoyed.

Kearsley books are a blend of historical fiction, romance and supernatural. She has a knack for picking subjects that are set in little known areas of history. While I knew that Scotland had tried to place King James back on the throne I didn't know much about it.

I found the ending to be very sad so have tissues handy! While my logical mind could understand their thinking for the decision they made, I don't know if I could have made that decision. To be honest I did struggle with their decision as it didn't make a lot of sense, especially after a few other events would have made their argument null and void. 

But overall this book was a fantastic read that sucked me in and I could not put down.

If you haven't tried a Kearsley book yet I strongly suggest you do.

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