Completist Author: Susanna Kearsley

The King’s Messenger

by Susanna Kearsley

Leigh says: This Kearsley 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.

The Winter Sea (Slains #1)

by Susanna Kearsley

Carrie McClelland is an author looking for her next story when she ventures to Scotland. She settles near the ruins of Slains Castle to write, drawing inspiration from her own family history and the events of the Jacobite uprising. With parallel storylines in the 1700’s and present day, a romantic subplot, and paranormal elements, it’s no surprise that readers recommend Kearsley as an author worth binge reading. If you love The Winter Sea and want more, pick up the sequel, The Firebird.

A Desperate Fortune

by Susanna Kearsley

Leigh says: 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.

Mariana

by Susanna Kearsley

Leigh says: 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.

The Splendour Falls

by Susanna Kearsley

Leigh says: 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.

Every Secret Thing

by Susanna Kearsley

Leigh says: 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.