The Winter Sea Audiobook

By: Susanna Kearsley

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

In 2008 Carrie McClelland can’t hit the right note for her next novel but an unplanned detour, and a stop at the castle that inspired Count Dracula, sets her on a different path; a path that took her back in back exactly 300 years, to that same castle, and to a rebellion doomed to failure. Alternating between the contemporary setting and the past, The Winter Sea takes us at every turn into little known worlds; historical footnotes writ large, a history of Scotland and the Jacobite rebellion of 1708 and the possibility of genetic memory. Historical fiction at it’s bestand Susanna Kearsley at hers, The Winter Sea evokes the writing of Thomas Raddall, Daphne Du Maurier, and Mary Stewart.

Sample

Reviewed by Lisa Kay

I love to listen to the talented Rosalyn Landor read a book. Her elegant narration is perfect for this lyrical, atmospheric book.

Ms. Landor does the accents nicely, especially the Scottish. She does a great job of the male and female voices in this sweeping, emotional novel, switching between the sexes seamlessly. Ms. Landor can be anyone, from an innocent young woman who feels like a fish-out-of-water, to a worldlier writer piecing together a historical account of memories of the Scottish Slains Castle and its inhabitants that haunt her. So, it was easy for one of my GoodReads groups to talk me into doing a “buddy read” of this one.

This author can write! No doubt about it, it is superb, along with being well researched on the Jacobite uprising of 1708. However, I was expecting a romantic book, and I quickly realized this was deeper and darker than I was in the mood for, at the time; therefore, I set it aside for a while. Consider that when looking at my rating. Some of you are definitely going to give this book a five star rating.

This is a “parallel” manuscript, telling two stories 300 years apart, alternating between a contemporary setting and the past. It wasn’t a lot of fun holding my breath, wondering which one was going to end badly (though I quickly figured it out). Then I held it again, wondering how bad it was going to be. Nevertheless, some of you will love the angst of that. Personally, I felt myself distancing myself from the heroine, as I didn’t want to get too attached. Still, I ended up crying.

Wonderful book! So worth the listen.

4.07 · rating details ·  7,860 ratings  ·  1,590 reviews on Goodreads

The Author

Susanna Kearsley

Voices behind the books

Rosalyn Landor