REVIEW: The Winter Sea (Slains Book 1) by Susanna Kearsley
1707. The walls of Slains castle shelter Jacobite rebels, who are conspiring to sail the young, exiled James Stewart from France into Scotland to reclaim his crown—and a young woman caught up in their plot.
Present day. Writer Carrie McClelland is enchanted by an impromptu trip to Cruden Bay, Scotland, and decides to settle in the tiny village, hoping to find inspiration for her novel about the Jacobite uprising in the area’s evocative past—and in the haunting ruins of the castle.
She creates a heroine named after one of her own ancestors, Sophia Paterson, and quickly finds the words flowing, almost faster than she can write them down. But, discovering that her novel inexplicably contains more fact than she can remember researching, Carrie wonders if she could possibly be dealing with ancestral memory—in effect “recalling” what her ancestor lived.
The only way to discover the truth is to continue writing and to bring to light the whole of Sophia’s story. With each new chapter, Carrie uncovers the tale of an innocent entangled in a dangerous enterprise, the secret of forbidden love, and the final betrayal that cost James his throne—and may cost Sophia her heart.
Dear Ms. Kearsley,
When Kaetrin and I were emailing about your upcoming book, I asked her about the notation “Slains 3”. What were “Slains 1 & 2” and did I need to read them first? Turns out I’d already read the second one, “The Firebird” but this book was one that I’d put aside for the interim when I was waiting for another one of your new books. Well, this was the perfect time to finally pull it out.
I had read Sunita’s review of it ages ago but a quick reread dusted off the plot for me. Given her grade, I happily settled into another dual timeline: Jacobite themed historical along with a contemporary setting. Initially I was caught up in the story of modern writer Carrie who has traveled to Scotland thinking this will help her with the latest book she’s writing. After finding out about Colonel Hooke who helped King James VIII of Scotland try to regain his throne in 1708, all her attempts to turn Hooke into the main protagonist have stalled. Taking the advice of her agent, Carrie has started over with who she thinks is a made up character who will act as the linchpin of the tale.
“Sophia Paterson” is named after an ancestor of Carrie’s who lived in the actual time frame of the story. After serendipitously (she thinks) arriving in a small village at the foot of a ruined castle that figured in the failed uprising, suddenly the story is flowing and Carrie can barely get it down fast enough. But along with 1000s of words a day comes another realization for Carrie – in her dreams she seems to be “hearing” these characters as would her heroine “Sophia.”
That can’t be right. Can it? Surely Carrie must have at some time, in her extensive research, read these names that she gives the other characters and learned about the events of the plot. Or her own father’s interest in genealogy has to be where she’s gained this knowledge. Right? Only as she continues to write, with the help of locals who know a lot about Scottish history in general and the history of the 1708 attempted uprising in particular, Carrie realizes that the facts are confirmed, time and again, to be correct. And yet she can find no record in her research data that she’s ever known them. Is Carrie just really good at making up things for her book, or is she somehow channeling past memories of an ancestress who just might have actually lived this story?
Yeah so after a fast start to this book, Carrie settles into writing her book as well as getting to know her landlord and his two sons. Luckily for her, they’ve lived in the area most of their lives and are able to supply her with facts. But wait – there are some other characters who are (how about that!) wild about Scottish history, too, and able to pluck books about the early 18th Scottish Navy off their bookshelves just when Carrie needs to know something! A besotted fan of Carrie’s books gathers up period letters for her from a library in Edinburgh that shine light on other details Carrie thought she’d invented but which turn out to be true. After a while, I began to see this as a historical author’s wish fulfillment. There’s also way too much about characters who refuse to allow their author to write anything but what they want to say and do.
Carrie and the landlord’s son she’s interested in jump through hoops to keep their growing relationship from the son’s other brother and their father, her landlord who (let me just throw this in) thank God is one of the only ones in the book to speak in dialect. Initially there is a reason Carrie wants to hide the fact that she and Graham are getting it on but it soon pales and it becomes sillier and sillier for Carrie and Graham to continue hiding the fact that they’re seeing each other and falling in love. It’s a slow enough burn romance and I wanted it out in the open. I guess this was to somehow mirror what Sophia goes through but after a while it was more annoying than anything else.
In both the historical sections as well as the contemporary ones, there is a ton of repetition. Carrie spends hours deep into the night pounding away at her computer keyboard only to finish a section and not realize what time of the day or night it is. Carrie spends hours deep into the night pounding away at her computer keyboard only to finish a section and not realize what time of the day or night it is. Carrie spends hours deep into the night pounding away at her computer keyboard … oh, right I already said that. And read that. Meanwhile Sophia walks the shore, and walks the shore, and watches Jacobite conspirators meet while everyone waits for the day when the king over the sea will finally show up. Rinse, repeat.
It was by sheer force of will that I kept going until – amazingly – the action finally got started and the damn uprising occurred. At this point, I didn’t care that due to plot reasons, Sophia was not in the thick of any action or seeing things firsthand. Something was happening! But how would Sophia deal with what happened? Sunita’s review had indicated that there would be a HEA so I sat patiently and waited for this. It is believable and makes sense even if it has a touch of deus ex machina to it.
The writing here is, as usual, lovely even if there are scads and scads of telling and not showing. The research has obviously been done to a “T” with the historical details being seamlessly woven into the narrative. There was perhaps a tad too much description of places that went far beyond what was needed in setting the scenery. The romances – both of them – are sweet and gentle with courtly heroes who immediately know that the heroines are The Ones for them and “their women” which, now that I write that, makes it sound a bit icky. And I see where the heroine of the next book in the series comes from although …
Spoiler: Show
~Jayne
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I would swear I read this, but have no memory of it at all, maybe because Kearsley’s books tend towards a similar dream-like fantasy landscape (not a complaint). I remember a Roman soldier in one book, right? Enya singing in the background or in my head (obviously in my head). A haunted house in another book? It’s like all the ice cream flavors melted and swirled into one: completely delicious, just … unidentifiable.
@Darlynne: The Roman soldier was in “Shadowy Horses” and mentioned very briefly in “The Firebird.” I’m not sure about the other two but then there are two older books I haven’t read yet. Yeah, they do tend to swirl around together after a while.
I have this in the TBR pile. I bought it years ago after Sunita’s review. :-(
For Kearsley fans and the intrigued, the ebook is currently on sale for $2.99.
@Janine: Have you ever read any of Kearsley’s other books?
@Darlynne: Yeah, as Jayne said, that one’s The Shadowy Horses. The (now-grown) child Robbie from that book is the male romantic lead in the contemporary timeline in The Firebird.
@Jayne I’m crushed. CRUSHED!! (LOL) that you didn’t love this book as much as I did/do. I’ve read/re-read it and listened/re-listened to it 5 or 6 times now and each time it sends me down a Kearsley rabbit hole I can barely get out of. I only re-read this book about two months ago and I re-listened to it late last year. I’m a Kearsley tragic I’m afraid! (sorry/not sorry)
I had basically the opposite view of you to just about everything! I was so caught up in both timelines and each time I read or listen to it again I get something new out of the story.
As to the spoiler – I was sad about that too (more so the first time I read it) but I came to understand it the more it sat with me. The proposition I guess is that it would have been selfish of her to [redacted]. If so, I’m very selfish because I can’t see how I wouldn’t have.
On the other hand, it does set up something pretty fantastic in The Firebird.
Every time I read The Winter Sea I always have to go to The Firebird and read at least those parts because it breaks and reforms my heart. Every time.
LOL – I’m laughing at myself because I am such a Kearsley fangirl.
@Janine: This is a book I hand sell to anyone who will listen to me! It’s my absolute favourite of all of her books.
@Kaetrin: When I looked at our KearsIey reviews, I was surprised that you hadn’t done one for it. Maybe you should counter my heretical review and start with something like “Jayne, you ignorant slut …” (a la Chevy Chase in SNL) ☺
@Kaetrin: Honestly I was crushed, too. I had this book, “Mariana” and “The Rose Garden” set aside as books I just knew I’d love and I’d be able to pull them out for a satisfying read whenever I needed one. Maybe that happy anticipation was part of why I was so let down in a similar way to Janine’s reading experience of “Witness for the Dead.”
As to the spoiler – it still irritates me but in a way, I could understand it a little. That is until I skimmed “The Firebird” and reread the first section when
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Anna discovers the truth and then gets removed from this family. Yes for her own safety but then a later revelation (which I guess if readers had read this book first before that one they’d already know – I now realize) shows that Anna could have been reunited with her real family years before she was. I got pissed all over again.
Ah well fingers crossed that I like this next one.
@Jayne: I tried one once but I can’t remember which one. IA only read the first few pages—something about the voice or style of language didn’t grab me
i had a similar (but worse) experience with a couple of Laura Florand’s books and I can’t account for it. There’s nothing offensive or egregious about either—no grammatical or copy errors either—but it’s like there’s a wall between me and the text. I wonder if anyone else has experienced anything like that.
But I’m not unwilling to give Kearsley another go. When she was on Twitter she was a class act.
@Janine Ballard: She’s always seemed to be a class act to me, too. And I think we all have author(s) with whom we just don’t connect. I can think of a few off hand that, as you say, there’s nothing wrong with the way they write or what they write about but for some reason, I can’t finish their books.
@Jayne: Yes, but with both these authors I was between one and three pages in. That early a non-start has happened to me with other authors too but usually I can identify what it is about the language and / or voice that’s not working for me. Here I couldn’t come up with a reason.
@Janine Ballard: She’s still on Twitter.
@Jayne: Did you read the section when “Captain Jamieson” and Colonel Graeme journey with Anna to Belgium? That’s the bit (and a later – much later (spoiler alert) – reunion) I always re-read.
I understood why she was removed from the family though. They’d all been offered to go to Flanders but they refused and Colonel Graeme says, well, I can’t tell you what to do but I will protect my family and it’s too dangerous for her to stay here.
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The intention then was for her to be restored to her family within a short time but then things happen which make it not work out that way. I always always wanted Anna and John Moray and Sophia to be restored to one another and (spoiler alert) The Firebird does that.
@Jayne I really loved the new one which is out in the US in October – The Vanished Days – too – I hope that one works for you better. We get a young Colonel (then Captain) Graeme in that book and there’s a young girl who reminded me a little of The Firebird’s Anna in it. It’s largely a very separate story however to The Winter Sea/The Firebird. The main POV character is a male which is a bit different and there’s no supernatural element to the novel.
I have a review of The Winter Sea (although I listened to the UK version which was called Sophia’s Secret) at my own blog but it’s really old – 2013 or thereabouts I think.