Book Review: Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

Gentle Reader,

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A friend highly recommended The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley to me. This book blends modern day gothic with historical fiction. The main character, Carrie, is a contemporary woman who makes her living as a writer of historical fiction. She moves into a small cottage in Scotland in order to research her book. Kearsley deftly blends Carrie's personal story with the historical novel she is writing, so in effect, you get two stories in one. One is set in contemporary times, and the other is set in historical times. Although, I enjoyed Carrie's story, I was compelled by Sophia's story. Sophia is Carrie's main character in the historical fiction novel she is writing. The time period is 300 years ago during Queen Anne's reign, and the Jacobite uprisings. It is all fascinating history. 
This story unfolds slowly, but comes to a point in which you cannot put it down. You must find out what happens to Sophia. I will warn you about one thing: Susanna tends to info dump the history at times. If you are not a history buff, you might find these sections a tad boring, but I promise you it will pay off. I also found myself thrown out of the story a couple of times when she blended dialogue of two characters into one paragraph. It was a bit confusing, but nevertheless, the story is worth these odd moments. In all, I would give this book four out of five stars. It is a worthy read, and I have already purchased The Rose Garden, another book set in the same time period. I look forward to reading it.


Yours Truly,
Duchess of Dreams