The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

[ellenjane]

I just finished this and really enjoyed it. The title kept popping up in recommendations and on here, so I finally bit the bullet and ordered it from Amazon Canada. Totally worth it, though! It's lighter than a lot of HF that I seem to read normally, but there's nothing wrong with that. The present-day and historical stories twined nicely together, and I liked the present-day hero an awful lot.

I also got Mariana in on interlibrary loan, and think I'll have to be scrounging around for the rest of Kearsley's titles. (I also liked Mariana, but not quite as much as The Winter Sea.)

[CindyInOz]

I ordered The Winter Sea after reading this thread and all the wonderful things that Diamondlil had to say about the story. I'm about half way through, and whilst I generally stay well-away from anything remotely 'romantic', I am loving this book.

I hate to think about how many other wonderful stories I would have missed out on reading if it weren't for the recomendations on this site

[Lady Macbeth]

I am in the midst of this novel and am loving it. It's vaguely nostalgic for me as I lived in the north of Scotland for 3 years during the 90's.

Have to say that I loathe and despise the UK publishers idea to change the name to 'Sophia's Secret' (such a dumb idea) so much that I had my library order in a hardback copy called The Winter Sea!

[Misfit]

Just finished. Loved it. FYI, Sourcebooks has this coming out in the US sometime in December so we all can get a shot at it.

[Madeleine]

[quote=""Lady Macbeth""]I am in the midst of this novel and am loving it. It's vaguely nostalgic for me as I lived in the north of Scotland for 3 years during the 90's.

Have to say that I loathe and despise the UK publishers idea to change the name to 'Sophia's Secret' (such a dumb idea) so much that I had my library order in a hardback copy called The Winter Sea! [/quote]

I agree Lady M, and the cover of TWS was so much nicer too. The new title makes it sound like a soppy romance, although I was familiar with the plot of TWS in hardback so bought the paperback anyway, otherwise I don't think I would have given it a second glance. They seem to be giving all her books this sort of cover now, as they're re-issued.

[Misfit]

Here's the new Sourcebooks cover.

[Madeleine]

Not bad, better than the one for the Uk edition of Sophia's Secret.

[Vanessa]

The Sourcebooks cover reminds me of The Ring ...... where the girl crawls out of the TV!! LOL.

Here's the UK one:

sophia'ssecret.jpg

[fljustice]

Let me say up front, this is one of those occasions of a mismatched reader, not that I felt this was a bad book. I had high hopes for The Winter Sea because so many folks, here and on GR, loved it. I should have read the reviews a little more closely. The research is excellent and the writing fluid, but I'm not much of a romance fan and I like a little action in my stories. This book was too slow and dreamy for me. Nothing much seemed to happen for pages and pages and pages. When there was some action, it was usually "off stage" and relayed through a third person's narrative. If action did happen to the protagonists, it rarely had the immediacy I expected. (I've personally lost control of a horse racing for a cliff in Scotland and, believe me, it's a lot more heart stopping than Kearsley described.)

The historical thread did have some small elements of tension, but I found the heroine mild; rarely taking action for her own or other's sake and, when she did, her decisions annoyed me. Everything came much too easily to the modern protagonist: romance, friendship, even writing (she only had to "remember" her ancestor's story and write it down!) All the "good" characters are so very, very good. No one had any faults. I found the secret romance (in both threads) to be a contrived plot devise that didn't serve the plot by providing enough tension to move it forward. I grew up with brothers brawling (literally) and my husband (in spite of an older brother) considers himself an only child. Where there's testosterone and a female there are sparks, physical and/or emotional. I'm not saying that brothers can't get along, that neighbors can't be nice, that writing can't be easy. I'm saying (for me) it makes for boring reading. I find conflict and tension are the heart of character development and plot. There just wasn't enough to make this a compelling story for me.

I almost stopped reading, but several people encouraged me to finish. I'm glad I did, because the ending to the historical plot almost redeemed the book...not quite because the modern thread still bored me...but enough that it wasn't a total loss. I didn't write this review to "trash" this book, but to provide a bit of perspective, so prospective readers who share my love of action won't be disappointed. Obviously, it appeals to a large segment of readers. I found the history fascinating and language lyrical. The plot and characters just didn't grab me.

[Madeleine]

this has now been re-issued in the UK with the original title, and a much nicer cover. I saw it in W H Smith the other day, and as I've always preferred the proper title, and better cover, I bought it!