I no longer recall how I first came across The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley but I’ve never forgotten the way that book swept me away. It was a fully immersive reading experience, the kind where you look up once you’ve finished and know you’ve experienced something special.
I’ve gone on to read the rest of Kearsley’s catalogue, now totaling twelve books, but The Winter Sea will forever have a special place in my heart. One would think that I immediately went out and read the rest of her backlist but it’s rare for me to binge a whole series or catalogue. I generally prefer to space out my reads from an author and that was the case here.
In fact, a whole year passed before I picked up something else from her. I was doing some early Christmas shopping at Barnes and Noble in 2017. I may have been trying to find a book for my sister-in-law but obviously I browsed for myself as well. I noticed Kearsley’s name on a few book spines and was floored to realize The Firebird was a sequel to The Winter Sea. I immediately checked it out from the library and fell in love.
Over the course of the next few years, I made my way through Kearsley’s backlist. At the time, I knew of ten titles but it turned out her catalogue was a little more complicated. Her first two published titles, Undertow and The Gemini Game, are long out of print. They were Avalon Mystery category novels and had very small print runs for US libraries. I hope to come across a copy of each someday so I can be a true completist. However, Kearsley herself says, “while I’m fond of them as early works, they’re honestly not up to the standard of my later and longer novels.” So I will keep my expectations in check.
Then there’s Every Secret Thing, originally published under a pen name and missing from Kearsley’s website back when I first started my project. When it popped up on Libby a few years ago, I first wondered if there was an author with the same name or if it was one of those Amazon scams. But she really did write it and it’s now included on her website.
Kearsley’s novels tend to have two signatures: a dual timeline and an extrasensory or paranormal element, like time travel or psychometry. That doesn’t apply to her entire backlist but it is true of my favorites of her work. Her novels are well researched, making the historical settings come alive, and the mystery connecting the two timelines is always compelling to me, as are the characters. It’s rare that I prefer one timeline over another. I feel deeply invested in everyone’s plight, especially once the love story comes into play.
I still find her books to be unique. I’m constantly looking for authors who are readalikes with little success. The closest I’ve come to replicating my Kearsley reading experience is The Phantom Tree by Nicola Cornick and The Dream Keeper’s Daughter by Emily Colin. If you have readalike recommendations, I’m all ears.
Publication Order:
Undertow (1993) – out of print
The Gemini Game (1994) – out of print
Mariana (1994)
The Splendour Falls (1995)
The Shadowy Horses (1997)
Named of the Dragon (1998)
Season of Storms (2001)
Every Secret Thing (2006)
The Winter Sea (2008)
The Rose Garden (2011)
The Firebird (2013)
A Desperate Fortune (2015)
Bellewether (2018)
The Vanished Days (2021)
The King’s Messenger (2025)
Completist Author: Susanna Kearsley
Some links (including all Amazon links) are affiliate links. More details here.
This 2008 novel made me fall hard for Kearsley’s writing. Author Carrie arrives in Cruden Bay, Scotland, ready to work on her next novel about the failed French invasion of 1708 which attempted to reclaim the exiled King James Stuart’s crown. She feels strangely drawn to Slains Castle and decides to name her heroine Sophia, in honor of one of her ancestors. Carrie soon begins having intense dreams about Sophia, a man named John, and the quest to restore the Stuart dynasty. Dreams which she pours into her novel. Or are they memories? Kearsley plays with genetic memory in this fascinating precursor to the Jacobite Uprising. The past and present love stories yanked my heart all over the place but ultimately left me satisfied. (Content warnings apply.) More info →
There’s so much to love about this 2015 novel: old diaries, codebreaking, fairy tales, perilous journeys, Jacobites, a hot Frenchman, past and present storylines. Amateur codebreaker Sara is hired to decode a three hundred-year-old journal belonging to Jacobite exile Mary Dundas. There’s never a dull moment in Mary’s storyline, which provides perspective about the toll the Jacobite cause took on families. Both Sara in the present and Mary in the past have wonderful love stories. I particularly appreciated the way Luc accepted and cared for Sara, who is autistic. More info →
Published in 1994, Kearsley’s full-length debut explores the idea of past lives. On a whim, Julia buys a house she fell in love with as a child and hasn’t seen since until she drives by it by chance. The house feels familiar in ways beyond her understanding. Then she begins to travel back in time to seventeenth-century England where she becomes Mariana, who is a young woman with danger all around her. I loved watching Julia find a home, community, and love in a small British town and figuring out who the present day characters were in their past lives. More info →
Emily heads to Chinon, France after her cousin Harry persuades her to join him on a trip, only to find him missing upon her arrival. As she looks for him around town, she gets to know the townspeople and hotel guests, as well as Chinon’s secrets. There’s a subtle paranormal element and includes two brief past storylines, one set during the Plantagenet reign in the 12th century and the other during WWII during the German occupation of Chinon. Written in 1995, there are a few aspects that did not age well. The most troubling was the prejudice and stereotypes around the way Romani secondary characters were written. There’s a romance between a French resistance worker and a Nazi soldier, which perpetuates the myth of the “good” Nazi. Plus, it was difficult for me to buy the townspeople romanticizing the relationship when less than fifty years had passed since the war. That aside, I still lost myself in this world, even if it was a lesser Kearsley novel. More info →
I never expected to get a thriller from Kearsley. This was originally published in 2007 under the pen name Emma Cole and then rereleased in Kearsley’s name in 2010. Kate is a Canadian journalist over in London to cover a serial killer trial when she becomes embroiled in a cover-up dating back to WWII. Soon she's on the run for her life as she figures out what happened in Lisbon during the war. I enjoyed learning about the espionage service in Lisbon and found the way it tackled ageism to be refreshing and unexpected. This had a dual timeline like most of Kearsley's novels but the pacing was all over the place and the POV transitions were quite clunky and could be jarring. Admittedly, I'm very picky when it comes to thrillers so this was only fine for me. More info →
Kearsley’s most recent novel takes us to 1613 England and Scotland. Andrew and Phoebe have never gotten along, all due to a misunderstanding. But when Andrew is sent on a secret mission by the king and requires a scribe, Phoebe joins the trip in order to take care of her father while he works with Andrew. I could not get enough of the way Andrew watched out for Phoebe, even when she was determined to believe the worst about him. Andrew’s Second Sight and dyslexia added to the plot in compelling ways, as did the flashbacks to the King's Court through the eyes of Andrew’s prisoner. This is as much about loyalty as it is about the importance of looking beyond surface appearances, especially when matters of palace intrigue are involved. More info →
Do you have a favorite Susanna Kearsley novel or do you have any readalike recommendations? Please share in the comments.
Leigh Kramer is the Editor, Event Project Manager, and Social Media Manager here at MMD. Her go-to genres are romance and fantasy. You can follow Leigh on Goodreads.
Like you I started with Winter Sea, hands down her best. Unfortunately when you start with the best, it only goes downhill from there. I can’t remember which one I read next. It was horrible but I was definitely disappointed. Since then I’ve found several more that I’ve really enjoyed including Slains #2 and #3. Bellewether was another favorite and The King’s Messenger. Ive now read most of her back catalog but there’s a few more on the list.
Like you, I discovered Susanna Kearsley with The Winter Sea and was hooked. I’ve read about 3/4’s of her books—I have a few more that I’m saving for when I can immerse myself in them. Her earlier books remind me of Mary Stewart. If you haven’t read them, I recommend them. In fact, when I met Susanna several years ago, we discussed Stewart’s influence on her books.
Many, many years ago, I read Green Darkness by Anya Seton, which has time travel, dual timelines to some extent. Also, I seem to remember Barbara Michaels also had a few books with that feel. I’ve heard about Barbara Erskine also having a similar vibe but haven’t read any of hers yet.
I have a week off coming up so maybe I’ll read another of Susanna’s books as a vacation treat.
I’m jealous you got to meet her! I was supposed to go to a signing for The King’s Messenger but had to bow out due to medical stuff. In any case, this is a good reminder for me to try more by Mary Stewart. I read one a couple of years ago for the romance history project I’ve been doing with friends. I’ll also look into the other authors you mentioned!
1994! Mariana! If I recall correctly, it had one an award – Google tells me it was the 1993 Catherine Cookson Prize for fiction- which is how I first stumbled across it and then have continued reading Kearsley for the last 30 years. What a gift from a wonderful author and your post brought back many happy memories of finding Mariana and loving it.
The first one I read was also The Winter Sea, which is so outstanding. I love the whole Slains set, but I’ll add that you also should read The Shadowy Horses before you read The Firebird even though The Shadowy Horses is not technically part of the same series, because a major character carries over.
I love when characters from her other books pop in to say hello! Like seeing old friends unexpectedly at a party. I was delighted the first time it happened.
Yes!! I’m grateful when her Author’s Note calls out the connections because I sometimes miss them if it’s been too long since I read whatever book they were originally in.
Leigh, I’ve never met another Susanna Kearsley completist! She just ticks all my boxes as the Brits would say – great plots, complex characters, lots of history, dual timelines, and just that touch of magic/time travel and just enough romance to make you smile. My favorites are Mariana and of course, the Winter Sea, which was my first also, and it’s lightly connected sequel, the Firebird. I’m putting off reading the King’s Messenger, her latest, as long as possible because I know once I do, I’ll have to wait for the next new one! I also love Nicola Cornick – that’s so weird! And many of hers have a very similar vibe. My favorite of all of hers is the Last Daughter of York, which I had to read late into the night because I could not put it down when I was close to the end. She also does a whole different line like Harlequin romance-types that I’ve not read, but her historicals are excellent and a very good read alike. I also appreciate that they both don’t feel the need to put in open door sexual scenes. The romance is there, but not the graphic descriptions. I highly recommend both these authors if you love this genre! 👍
I hope you love The King’s Messenger whenever you decide to read it! I keep hoping she’ll announce her next book soon. I’ve been meaning to try more by Nicola Cornick and even checked The Last Daughter of York out from the library a few years ago but it was due before I had time to read it. This is good incentive to try again!
I just read The Winter Sea this past January. I really enjoyed it. I am lookong forward to reading more from Kearsley, however I do like to space out books by the same author. I feel they start to all feel the same after reading too many in succession.
Wow! In process of posting but page jumped with an ad and I think I lost it. Was just saying that Kearsley was recommended to me as a fan of Diana Gabaldon and her Outlander series. I cannot recall which book I picked up years ago, but love this post and will certainly give her another try. Thank you!
Kearsley and Gabaldon often do book events together! I watched a virtual event several years ago, which was fun. Kearsley does a lot with the Jacobites pre-Outlander so you’ll get a lot out of those connections.
LOVE Susanna Kearsley. Rose Garden is high on the list up with Winter Sea and Firebird. I love the magic of her just finding herself in a different time and that he’s a pirate.. it’s delightful. I agree her others aren’t quite as amazing, though Bellewether I remember liking a lot. Now I want to go back and read them all again!
I started with The Shadowy Horses and as a Latin minor in College loved the Roman legion tie in and then read all her books at the time. Struggling to find read a-likes so excited to try the ones suggested in the comments. I love her books so much I’ve been asking for my own copy of them as Christmas presents. I hardly re read books so my personal library is small and she is only the 3rd author who’s books I buy to keep instead of getting from the library. The other authors I wouldn’t call read alikes.
I also enjoy the cameos of characters from her other books and it makes me smile so big when I come across one! Would love to meet her someday and get a signed book. Feel like it’s hard to find books that have dual pov/time travel with the main character going back or only having quick dual POV. I don’t like books with entire chapter split timelines- I just skim the past timeline and read the “current” timeline chapters.
I hope we both find good readalikes in these comments! I’m not much of a re-reader either but I’ve been revisiting her books the past year or two and they all hold up.
I haven’t read any of Kearsley’s books, but it sounds like I need to check them out! They sound a lot like Gabrielle Meyers’ books in her Timeless series–dual timeline, real historical events tied into the fictional plots, romance. I’ve read all Meyer’s Timeless series and am starting another of her series, Ladies of the Wilderness, which isn’t dual timeline, but equally good. I recommend the audio versions!
I loved The Rose Garden (the only Kearsley I’ve read). A similar series is the Found Things series starting with The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston.
I love Susanna Kearsley! I’m almost a completist for her books, and I started with Mariana and then I was hooked and plowed right through her catalog. Except for the two that are out of print, I’ve read all except one of her novels, and I’ve been saving that one for when I really need a Susanna Kearsley fix. I love the way she uses the dual time lines, and her love stories. I think Winter Sea is my favorite, and appropriate since my ancestors on my father’s side were Jacobites.
I’ve never read any Susanna Kearsley’s books, thanks for the introduction. Your timeline description made me think of The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain. It’s not my usual genre but I read it for a book club and really enjoyed it.
I picked up Susanna Kearsley novels at book sales, I think 3 of them, including The Winter Sea, Bellewether, and one other, I can’t remember and I’ve since donated it. I grabbed them because of a mention here on this site! I finally just randomly selected one to try, and it was The Winter Sea! I thought it was good, I kept turning the pages, but generally it is not my favorite genre. I kept Bellewether, in case I had need of this type of escape, but I’m sorry to see it’s not one of the ones you reviewed! Readers seem to like it?
And yes, The Winter Sea reminded me mostly of Outlander, and Mary Stewart and Green Darkness by Seton. PS, I LOVE the name Susanna Kearsley.
Bellewether is the only of her books I’ve read so far, found in a search for historical fiction about the French and Indian War (of which there is little!). I really enjoyed it and would definitely read more of her books.
I, too, am a completist for Kearsley (with the exception of the out-of-print) and didn’t realize it until I read this today. I just kept reading them over the years because I liked them. I suppose that’s the very best way. The Diana Gabaldon books I tried but found them disturbingly violent. Now I’m wondering what other authors I have “accidentally” completed.
I think this post just pushed me to finally get around to reading Bellewether next month. This was a personal recommendation for me by my library but I have not gotten around to reading it. Dual timelines and the paranormal (or time travel) are elements I love in a book.
Susanna Kearsley is my favourite author. My favourite of her books is “The Rose Garden” I have reread it several times. I met her last year when she visited our community to give a talk on her new book “The King’s Messenger. Makes it more special that she is Canadian and lives in my province. I have read most of her books and all are wonderful reads.
We appreciate a good conversation in the comments section. Whether we’re talking about books or life, differing opinions can enrich a discussion when they’re offered for the purpose of greater connection and deeper understanding, which we whole-heartedly support. We have begun holding all comments for moderation and manually approving them (learn more). My team and I will not approve comments that are hurtful or intended to shame members of this community, particularly if they are left by first-time commenters. We have zero tolerance for hate speech or bigotry of any kind. Remember that there are real people on the other side of the screen. We’re grateful our community of readers is characterized by kindness, curiosity, and thoughtfulness. Thank you for helping us keep it that way.
Buckle Up!
It’s almost time for the Summer Reading Guide. Order now and plan to join us on May 15th for Unboxing—the best book party of the year!
45 comments
Like you I started with Winter Sea, hands down her best. Unfortunately when you start with the best, it only goes downhill from there. I can’t remember which one I read next. It was horrible but I was definitely disappointed. Since then I’ve found several more that I’ve really enjoyed including Slains #2 and #3. Bellewether was another favorite and The King’s Messenger. Ive now read most of her back catalog but there’s a few more on the list.
Hmmm I wonder if it was Season of Storms? I found that one to be an outlier in her otherwise remarkable catalogue.
Like you, I discovered Susanna Kearsley with The Winter Sea and was hooked. I’ve read about 3/4’s of her books—I have a few more that I’m saving for when I can immerse myself in them. Her earlier books remind me of Mary Stewart. If you haven’t read them, I recommend them. In fact, when I met Susanna several years ago, we discussed Stewart’s influence on her books.
Many, many years ago, I read Green Darkness by Anya Seton, which has time travel, dual timelines to some extent. Also, I seem to remember Barbara Michaels also had a few books with that feel. I’ve heard about Barbara Erskine also having a similar vibe but haven’t read any of hers yet.
I have a week off coming up so maybe I’ll read another of Susanna’s books as a vacation treat.
I’m jealous you got to meet her! I was supposed to go to a signing for The King’s Messenger but had to bow out due to medical stuff. In any case, this is a good reminder for me to try more by Mary Stewart. I read one a couple of years ago for the romance history project I’ve been doing with friends. I’ll also look into the other authors you mentioned!
1994! Mariana! If I recall correctly, it had one an award – Google tells me it was the 1993 Catherine Cookson Prize for fiction- which is how I first stumbled across it and then have continued reading Kearsley for the last 30 years. What a gift from a wonderful author and your post brought back many happy memories of finding Mariana and loving it.
Wow! I love that you’ve been reading her from the start.
The first one I read was also The Winter Sea, which is so outstanding. I love the whole Slains set, but I’ll add that you also should read The Shadowy Horses before you read The Firebird even though The Shadowy Horses is not technically part of the same series, because a major character carries over.
I read The Firebird before I knew about the Shadowy Horses connection and it was so fun to encounter wee Robbie.
I love when characters from her other books pop in to say hello! Like seeing old friends unexpectedly at a party. I was delighted the first time it happened.
Yes!! I’m grateful when her Author’s Note calls out the connections because I sometimes miss them if it’s been too long since I read whatever book they were originally in.
Leigh, I’ve never met another Susanna Kearsley completist! She just ticks all my boxes as the Brits would say – great plots, complex characters, lots of history, dual timelines, and just that touch of magic/time travel and just enough romance to make you smile. My favorites are Mariana and of course, the Winter Sea, which was my first also, and it’s lightly connected sequel, the Firebird. I’m putting off reading the King’s Messenger, her latest, as long as possible because I know once I do, I’ll have to wait for the next new one! I also love Nicola Cornick – that’s so weird! And many of hers have a very similar vibe. My favorite of all of hers is the Last Daughter of York, which I had to read late into the night because I could not put it down when I was close to the end. She also does a whole different line like Harlequin romance-types that I’ve not read, but her historicals are excellent and a very good read alike. I also appreciate that they both don’t feel the need to put in open door sexual scenes. The romance is there, but not the graphic descriptions. I highly recommend both these authors if you love this genre! 👍
I hope you love The King’s Messenger whenever you decide to read it! I keep hoping she’ll announce her next book soon. I’ve been meaning to try more by Nicola Cornick and even checked The Last Daughter of York out from the library a few years ago but it was due before I had time to read it. This is good incentive to try again!
I just read The Winter Sea this past January. I really enjoyed it. I am lookong forward to reading more from Kearsley, however I do like to space out books by the same author. I feel they start to all feel the same after reading too many in succession.
I hope you’ll enjoy your further foray into her books!
Wow! In process of posting but page jumped with an ad and I think I lost it. Was just saying that Kearsley was recommended to me as a fan of Diana Gabaldon and her Outlander series. I cannot recall which book I picked up years ago, but love this post and will certainly give her another try. Thank you!
Kearsley and Gabaldon often do book events together! I watched a virtual event several years ago, which was fun. Kearsley does a lot with the Jacobites pre-Outlander so you’ll get a lot out of those connections.
LOVE Susanna Kearsley. Rose Garden is high on the list up with Winter Sea and Firebird. I love the magic of her just finding herself in a different time and that he’s a pirate.. it’s delightful. I agree her others aren’t quite as amazing, though Bellewether I remember liking a lot. Now I want to go back and read them all again!
I recently re-read The Rose Garden and fell hard for it all over again!
I started with The Shadowy Horses and as a Latin minor in College loved the Roman legion tie in and then read all her books at the time. Struggling to find read a-likes so excited to try the ones suggested in the comments. I love her books so much I’ve been asking for my own copy of them as Christmas presents. I hardly re read books so my personal library is small and she is only the 3rd author who’s books I buy to keep instead of getting from the library. The other authors I wouldn’t call read alikes.
I also enjoy the cameos of characters from her other books and it makes me smile so big when I come across one! Would love to meet her someday and get a signed book. Feel like it’s hard to find books that have dual pov/time travel with the main character going back or only having quick dual POV. I don’t like books with entire chapter split timelines- I just skim the past timeline and read the “current” timeline chapters.
I hope we both find good readalikes in these comments! I’m not much of a re-reader either but I’ve been revisiting her books the past year or two and they all hold up.
oh and I just remembered a book I read that reminded me of the Kearsley books.. What the Wind Knows.. by Amy Harmon. Set in Ireland.. so good.
I’ve read most of her books! The time travel elements call to mind Diana Gabaldon for me.
I loved The Winter Sea and also enjoyed The Rose Garden. Your post reminded me that I definitely need to read by Susanna Kearsley.
Happy reading!
I haven’t read any of Kearsley’s books, but it sounds like I need to check them out! They sound a lot like Gabrielle Meyers’ books in her Timeless series–dual timeline, real historical events tied into the fictional plots, romance. I’ve read all Meyer’s Timeless series and am starting another of her series, Ladies of the Wilderness, which isn’t dual timeline, but equally good. I recommend the audio versions!
I don’t think I’ve heard of Gabrielle Meyer before! I’ll have to check her out.
I loved The Rose Garden (the only Kearsley I’ve read). A similar series is the Found Things series starting with The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston.
Thanks for the recommendation!
I love Susanna Kearsley! I’m almost a completist for her books, and I started with Mariana and then I was hooked and plowed right through her catalog. Except for the two that are out of print, I’ve read all except one of her novels, and I’ve been saving that one for when I really need a Susanna Kearsley fix. I love the way she uses the dual time lines, and her love stories. I think Winter Sea is my favorite, and appropriate since my ancestors on my father’s side were Jacobites.
Whoa! That’s cool to know about your ancestors.
I’ve never read any Susanna Kearsley’s books, thanks for the introduction. Your timeline description made me think of The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain. It’s not my usual genre but I read it for a book club and really enjoyed it.
Thanks for the recommendation! I hope you’ll enjoy Kearsley.
I picked up Susanna Kearsley novels at book sales, I think 3 of them, including The Winter Sea, Bellewether, and one other, I can’t remember and I’ve since donated it. I grabbed them because of a mention here on this site! I finally just randomly selected one to try, and it was The Winter Sea! I thought it was good, I kept turning the pages, but generally it is not my favorite genre. I kept Bellewether, in case I had need of this type of escape, but I’m sorry to see it’s not one of the ones you reviewed! Readers seem to like it?
And yes, The Winter Sea reminded me mostly of Outlander, and Mary Stewart and Green Darkness by Seton. PS, I LOVE the name Susanna Kearsley.
I loved Bellewether! For our Completist Author series, we’re only featuring five or six books from an author’s catalogue so that’s why it’s not here.
Bellewether is the only of her books I’ve read so far, found in a search for historical fiction about the French and Indian War (of which there is little!). I really enjoyed it and would definitely read more of her books.
I am also a completist! My favorites were The Winter Sea and The Shadowy Horses.
A few years ago my sister-in-law and I ranked her books and both of those were at the top for us!
I, too, am a completist for Kearsley (with the exception of the out-of-print) and didn’t realize it until I read this today. I just kept reading them over the years because I liked them. I suppose that’s the very best way. The Diana Gabaldon books I tried but found them disturbingly violent. Now I’m wondering what other authors I have “accidentally” completed.
Ah, that’s fun! I bet you’ve accidentally completed a bunch of authors and probably same with me.
I think this post just pushed me to finally get around to reading Bellewether next month. This was a personal recommendation for me by my library but I have not gotten around to reading it. Dual timelines and the paranormal (or time travel) are elements I love in a book.
I hope it works well for you!
Susanna Kearsley is my favourite author. My favourite of her books is “The Rose Garden” I have reread it several times. I met her last year when she visited our community to give a talk on her new book “The King’s Messenger. Makes it more special that she is Canadian and lives in my province. I have read most of her books and all are wonderful reads.
That’s so cool that she lives in your province and that you got to meet her!
I love Kearsley and also started with The Winter Sea. You can find Undertow and The Gemini Game on archive.org.
I would recommend “House on the Strand” by Daphne DuMaurier. An oldie but so good.