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.

The Forgotten Queen by D.L Bogdan

Rating: 3. 5 out of 5
Title: The Forgotten Queen
Author: D.L Bogdan
Series: No
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Kensington Publishing (29 Jan 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758271387
ISBN-13: 978-0758271389

This is the story of Queen Margaret of the Scots, and the sister of King Henry VIII.

I really enjoyed the character Princess Margaret and her early life of childhood through to early adulthood. In fact I would say the first half of this book is the best reason to read it. I giggled when young Princess Margret was confessing her sins to the Cardinal. He asked her if there was anything else she wished to confess to which she replied "I'm sorry, Your Grace, it's just that I sin with such terrible frequency - I can't seem to keep track. I suppose I should make a list....""

As a Regent Queen and a mother to a future King she was really ill prepared. She had been raised to look pretty and pop out babies and that was it. I think she was a smart girl but she never seemed to think bigger picture or long term ramifications of her actions. For instance it was specifically spelled out that if she married again she would lose her regency and her soon could potentially lose the throne - so not even 6 months after the death of her husband she remarried, in secret, to a man and his family that is hated by nearly every clan in Scotland. From what I could tell she didn't even love him just wanted him to make her feel pretty.

But I really must say by the end of the book I was really very much over her and lost a lot of sympathy for her over her treatment of her closest friend and lady in waiting (or maid I am not sure now what she was but a lower station anyway) Ellen. But to be fair Margret was a pretty sad figure by then desperately clinging to the life she thought she was entitled to, with out realising she had it.

The book was quite good and seemed to follow the key points in Queen Margret's history closely. The author did a good job of bringing her to life and to be honest she had a bit of a sad and almost pathetic life.

When I first finished the book as you might have gathered I was not terribly impressed with her as a human being, but on reflection how else should she have acted? Her whole life had been tied into her position and her looks, she was used and abused by people she loved, and made some pretty bad decisions on her behalf. She didn't strike me as a strong willed person so I guess when her world gets taken away in the end (her son marries and there is a new Queen of Scotland) she would be resentful and bitter. Being a Princess is all nice and romantic in theory but their lives sucked being basically raised to be pawns in their countries (and fathers) ambitions and Alliances.

Plus it is all well and good to criticise her but by 35 she had been married, widowed, given birth to numerous children, ruled a country and fled a country. What I have done? well I started a book blog and I did create a whole new Records Keeping Policy for my work place. I think she kinda wins even if some of her decisions were pretty poor she probably had more impact on the history of her country then I ever will.

All in all it was an interesting read and for once a figure in history who isn't well known and hero or villain. She did the best with what she had, she wasn't much. It also gives another perspective to the Henry the VIII reign and the Tudor story.

The copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher and Netgalley. It did not influence my views or opinions of this book or give a favourable review.