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Showing posts with label Susanna Kearsley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Susanna Kearsley. Show all posts

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Book Review and ARC Giveaway: The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

This author has beautiful phrasing and great warmth in her stories.
 
The Rose Garden 
by Susanna Kearsley
  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (October 1, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1402258585
  • ISBN-13: 978-1402258589
Genre:  Fantasy, Time Travel
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0
Product Description
Eva Ward is a modern woman thrown back three centuries to 1715 only to find that might be exactly where she belongs. There she finds true love with Daniel Butler, but the discord surrounding Hanoverian King George plunges the lovers into a world of intrigue, treason, and love.
Review:
Eva’s older sister, a famous actress, has died and Eva takes her ashes “home.” Home is an estate in Cornwall where they spent many happy childhood summers. Eva receives a warm welcome from the locals. Mark, an old beau of her sister’s on whom Eva had a girlhood crush, operates the Trelowarth Rose gardens on the estate.  Susan, Mark’s sister, wants to open a tea shop at the garden. Their stepmother, Claire, hovers about taking care of them all when she isn’t off wandering or painting.  In town there is Eva's old nemesis, Oliver, who is interested in pursuing a closer friendship and helps her research the past when she starts inquiring.

In spite of these friends, Eva still doesn’t feel quite at ‘home’ until she starts slipping back in time to find herself 300 years in the past. There Eva stumbles upon Daniel who is taken aback when she appears in his chamber.  She thinks he is the intruder until she realizes she is out of place and it is a bit of time before Eva learns that she looks startling like Daniel’s deceased wife.  Daniel’s stalwart friend, Fergal becomes Eva’s “big” brother teaching her how to manage in her ‘new’ surroundings. He seeks to protect Daniel and Eva from the growing attraction between them. More importantly they are concerned because the household is being watched by the unpleasant local constable who would love to catch them in illegal smuggling activity.  Even more dangerous are the whispered rumors of treason.

Eva can’t control her passages through time but that doesn’t stop her and Daniel from falling in love. I liked Daniel’s and Fergal’s warm and courageous attitude about the time travel situation. They are both very likeable characters.

The historical aspects are interesting but the primary mystery and tension comes from the time travel dilemma that moves Eva in an out of time -- at good and bad moments.  I was a little puzzled by the revelations that come out about the time traveling near the end of the story. There is a twisted relationship where you have to place the people of the present, past and future. I also would have liked an Epilogue to tie up the ending more clearly. I think the connections were there but I may have missed it even though I went back twice.  Still, I really enjoyed the gentle warmth of the romance and the suspense of the story.

I particularly like Ms. Kearsley’s beautiful descriptions and phrasing.  Here is a passage when Eva struggles to learn from Daniel how to light a spark for the fire. The phrase, of course, has a double meaning:
A simple thing, he’d said, and so it was. A random meeting and a touch–-that’s all it took to make a spark that could, with care and time, become a flame.
Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing this book to read and review.
TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the ARC copy:

1. Visit the author's website and tell me something of interest you found there. This is required for entry.

2.  For another entry tell me which cover you like better and why - the published cover above or the ARC cover to the right. I liked the ARC cover although the colors in the final cover are lovely.

3.  For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

4.  For two entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Five total entries possible.)

* Open to the US & Canada only.
* No PO boxes, please.
* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on November 11, 2011.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
The WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED on November 12. 
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Q&A INTERVIEW with Susanna Kearsley, Author of The Winter Sea

Please help me welcome
Susanna Kearsley, Author of The Winter Sea

Welcome Susanna and Thank you for visiting at my blog today. 

Q1. I'm always interested to discover the story behind the story. Where did the inspiration for The Winter Sea come from?
SK: Thanks so much for inviting me here, Martha. My inspiration to write The Winter Sea came from the happy juxtaposition of my finding John S. Gibson’s history book, Playing the Scottish Card, a fascinating account of the failed Franco-Jacobite invasion attempt of 1708, and my father’s asking me to please write him another book like his previous favorite of mine, Mariana, which tells a story in two times.

I liked this technique and will have to look at Mariana
Q2. What genre do you place this book in and was there any special research that went into creating this novel?
SK: I’ve never fit neatly into any one genre, which I’m sure creates plenty of headaches for both the publishers trying to market my books and the booksellers trying to shelve them. My books have elements of history, adventure, romance, suspense, and usually a hint of paranormal goings-on. My husband says they’re like old Hitchcock movies, but the label I would use is “modern gothic”.

As for the research I needed to do, I began by learning all I could about the 1708 invasion attempt, reading not only the history books but the actual letters and memoirs of the people involved, and then following that with a trip to the area to do my on-the-ground research.

That's it - "Gothic" is the feel I got. Thanks for reminding me as I couldn't think of the genre fit.
Q3. Is there a particular scene you like the most in The Winter Sea?
SK: I have a few favorite scenes, actually. One is a battlefield scene, towards the end, because it’s my first ever battle scene, but I also really like a very simple, very brief scene in the present day where my two main characters are standing at a bus stop in the snow, in Aberdeen. It’s just one of those ordinary moments that still manages to have a certain tenderness.

There were several tender moments I really liked. 
Q4. Is there an ancillary character in any of your books that you had the most fun with?
SK: Adrian, the ex-boyfriend of my heroine in The Shadowy Horses, was a very fun character to write, because I never really had a clue what he was going to come out with next, and he had a wonderfully sarcastic sense of humor that I absolutely loved when writing his dialogue.

It is fun when you don't quite know what the character will do next. :)
Q5. Do you put a little of yourself into your characters or do you create them completely different from you?
SK: I think all my heroines have a substantial part of me in them, when they start out. They have my moral code, my general way of looking at the world, my sense of humor, and a few of my own habits, but they evolve fairly quickly once they get on the page and start moving around, and become individuals. My mother once made the comment that, although my heroines are all different women, if I put all of them – and myself – in a room together, we’d all get along with each other, and have things in common.

Carrie's intensity staying up all night to write made me wonder if you did that too.
Q6. Do you have any rituals that help you get in the mood to sit down and write?
SK: After I take the kids to school, I come home and put the kettle on to make coffee, and while it’s boiling I phone my mom and talk about the book – what scene I’m working on, and where I’d like to go with it. By the time I’ve made my coffee, I feel focused enough to sit straight down and write.

How nice to have your mom help and support your writing.
Q7. What do you do for recreation when you are not writing?
SK: Well, between the kids and my writing, I don’t have a lot of time left for recreation, actually, but I do like to try to go to the movies one night a week. It’s a great stress-reliever.

Ah yes -it is hard to get "free time". 
Q8. Do you have any particular genre or author you like to read?
SK: I read across all the genres, but when I crave a comfort read I always reach for Mary Stewart’s romantic suspense novels. They’ve always been my favorites.

Mary Stewart books were the first romances I feel in love with when I was about 15. Your writing does remind me of her "gothic" feel.
Q9. What is something unique about you that you would share with your readers?
SK: I’m not sure it’s unique, but I have a very visual memory. I don’t know that you could call it photographic, exactly, but when I’m trying to recall a fact for research I can close my eyes and “see” the page it’s printed on, and simply read the words again – a trick that always came in very useful at exam time when I was at school!  

Very handy!
Q10.  If you could have readers finish a sentence what would it be?
SK: If I could travel anywhere in the world, I would go to…?

My answer: I would go to Ireland and Scotland!
Q11. Just for fun: Are you ready for the Holidays and is there anything special you have planned that you can share with your readers?
SK: I haven’t got all my decorating done yet, as usual, but the kids are home from school now so they’ll be helping me with all of that this week. And on Christmas Eve we’ll make our annual trek into the city of Toronto to see Ross Petty’s Christmas pantomime at the Elgin Theatre (it’s “Beauty and the Beast” this year) and then enjoy the spectacle of all the store windows done up for the holidays as the lights start to come on in the evening – a tradition for me since my own childhood, and one that still makes me feel very Christmassy!
Oh that sounds like a great tradition.
SK:I hope you and everyone else who is reading this, whether they celebrate Christmas or not, has a wonderful holiday brimful with happiness, good health and love.

Thanks again for inviting me here, it’s been fun.

THANK YOU, Susannah, for sharing your book and a bit of your life with your readers!

THE WINTER SEA BY SUSANNA KEARSLEY – IN STORES DECEMBER 2010
History has all but forgotten…

In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.

The Winter SeaNow, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write.

But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth—the ultimate betrayal—that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After studying politics and international development at University, Susanna Kearsley worked as a museum curator before turning her hand to writing. Winner of the UK’s Catherine Cookson Fiction prize, Susanna’s Kearsley’s writing has been compared to Mary Stewart, Daphne DuMaurier, and Diana Gabaldon. Her books have been translated into several languages, selected for the Mystery Guild, condensed for Reader's Digest, and optioned for film. The Winter Sea was a finalist for both a RITA award and the UK's Romantic Novel of the Year Award. She lives in Canada, near the shores of Lake Ontario. For more information, please visit http://www.susannakearsley.com/

Book Review and ARC Giveaway: The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

Here is another book that historical romance readers can love.
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
  • Paperback: 544 pages
  • Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc. (December 1, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1402241372
  • ISBN-13: 978-1402241376    
      Price:  Print $11.55; Kindle $9.99
     Genre:  Historical Fiction with Memory Time Travel
     My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Back Cover Description (I thought this was most accurate of the descriptions I found):
History has all but forgotten...
In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.
Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write.
But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth of what really happened all those years ago -- a tale of love and loyalty... and ultimate betrayal.
Review:  This engaging story has the added twist of covering two romances: one set in 1708 Scotland and the other in the present.

Author, Carrie McClelland, decides to view first hand some of the sites that are to be included in her next historical novel.  She intends to write about the 1708 failed attempt to return King James to the throne of England. The central character was to be Nathaniel Hooke but Carrie’s agent suggests that she use someone else to present the story; perhaps a woman.  Carrie begins to think about a good Scottish name for her female character and the next thing she knows the character, Sophia, is writing her own story.

Carrie moves into a quaint cottage where she can see the sea and visit the nearby castle of Slains where Nathaniel would have visited.  Bit by bit she begins to find everything seems familiar. There are details that she just shouldn’t or couldn’t know - the layout of the castle, now in ruins, or the names of the ships and visitors.  Once they appear in her drafts she discovers  research that reveals that the “fiction” she is writing is supported by the “facts” of historical records.

Sophia tells her own story as she joins a household that is involved in the political aspects of the Jacobite rebellion.  They have to hide their support and efforts because there are spies all around.  Sophia draws the attention of the mature Captain Gordon but it is the quiet and intense John Moray who catches her attention. Moray is traveling with Hooke but he needs to "lay low" as he is considered an outlaw.

Just as Sophia becomes entangled with two men in the past, Carrie is presented with the dilemma of being attracted to the two sons of her landlord.  The younger son, Stuart, is the handsome, active businessman who is pleased to take Carrie out to lunch and show her about the community.  Then she meets the older brother, Graham, who is the quiet but intense history professor and who looks an awful lot like Sophia’s Mr. Moray.

I enjoyed how the author presented the 1708 story through Carrie’s “genetic memories” of Sophia’s life.  I was glad of the surprise ending that I didn’t expect.

The book has a somber, haunting, tone to it and I was trying to peg the feeling it invoked.  I think the author described this well in our interview when she said that the label she would use is “modern gothic”.  That does fit well as the story has the eerie mystery aspect of a good gothic romance.
I recommend this fine read to historical fiction and gothic fans!
xxx
Thank you to Sourcebooks for the book to read and review.

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR THE ARC COPY:

1.Visit the author's website and tell me something of interest you find there.
Please leave your e-mail!

2. For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

3. For two extra entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

4.  For two extra entries, comment on the author interview.

(Six total entries possible.)
It is not necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.

* This contest is open to US and Canada only.
* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.
* This contest will close 10:00 PM (Central) on January 4, 2010. The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.

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