Susanna Kearsley

From the bestselling author of A Desperate Fortune and The Firebird, comes an entrancing new novel of love, war, and historical intrigue. Some houses seem to want to hold their secrets. It’s 1759 and the world is at war, pulling the North American colonies of Britain and France into the conflict. The times are complicated, as are the loyalties of many New York merchants who have secretly been trading with the French for years, defying Britain’s colonial laws in a game growing ever more treacherous. When captured French officers are brought to Long Island to be billeted in private homes on their parole of honour, it upends the lives of the Wilde family—deeply involved in the treasonous trade and already divided by war. Lydia Wilde, struggling to keep the peace in her fracturing family following her mother’s death, has little time or kindness to spare for her unwanted guests. And Canadian lieutenant Jean-Philippe de Sabran has little desire to be there. But by the war’s end they’ll both learn love, honour, and duty can form tangled bonds that are not broken easily. Their doomed romance becomes a local legend, told and re-told through the years until the present day, when conflict of a different kind brings Charley Van Hoek to Long Island to be the new curator of the Wilde House Museum. Charley doesn’t believe in ghosts. But as she starts to delve into the history of Lydia and her French officer, it becomes clear that the Wilde House holds more than just secrets, and Charley discovers the legend might not have been telling the whole story...or the whole truth.

Bellewether

"I've loved every one of Susanna's books! She has bedrock research and a butterfly's delicate touch with characters--sure recipe for historical fiction that sucks you in and won't let go!"-- DIANA GABALDON, #1 New York Timesbestselling author of Outlander "The house, when I first saw it, seemed intent on guarding what it knew; but we all learned, by the end of it, that secrets aren't such easy things to keep." It's late summer, war is raging, and families are torn apart by divided loyalties and deadly secrets. In this complex and dangerous time, a young French Canadian lieutenant is captured and billeted with a Long Island family, an unwilling and unwelcome guest. As he begins to pitch in with the never-ending household tasks and farm chores, Jean-Philippe de Sabran finds himself drawn to the daughter of the house. Slowly, Lydia Wilde comes to lean on Jean-Philippe, true soldier and gentleman, until their lives become inextricably intertwined. Legend has it that the forbidden love between Jean-Philippe and Lydia ended tragically, but centuries later, the clues they left behind slowly unveil the true story. Part history, part romance, and all kinds of magic, Susanna Kearsley's latest masterpiece will draw you in and never let you go, even long after you've closed the last page. Praise for A Desperate Fortune: "Susanna Kearsley just keeps getting better and better!" --Lauren Willig, New York Timesbestselling author "Susanna Kearsley deftly conjures both historical intrigue and a contemporary heroine as unique as she is memorable." --Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author "Enchanting! Beguiling! Gorgeously romantic! A truly brilliant book." --Kate Forsyth, award-winning author Praise for The Firebird: "A lovely and memorable novel." --Booklist, STARRED Review "A glittering, bewitching tale." --Kirkus "The present and past come together as Kearsley masterfully merges paranormal elements with a wonderful dual story and a fascinating historical setting."--RT Book Reviews, TOP PICK 41⁄2 Stars

Sarah Sammis

I rather liked the modern day ghost story / genealogical mystery. The extra two points of view for the historical romance are filler.

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Kelsey

I absolutely adored this book. It’s a great example of the investigative work that historians put into telling our ancestors’ stories.

"It's late summer in 1759, war is raging, and families are torn apart by divided loyalties and deadly secrets. In this complex and dangerous time, a young French Canadian lieutenant is captured and billeted with a Long Island family, an unwilling and unwelcome guest. As he begins to pitch in with the never-ending household tasks and farm chores, Jean-Philippe de Sabran finds himself drawn to the daughter of the house ... Legend has it that the forbidden love between Jean-Philippe and Lydia ended tragically, but centuries later, the clues they left behind slowly unveil the true story"--Amazon.com.

Southern Today Gone Tomorrow

Written by Susanna Kearsley, Bellewether follows Charley, a woman who's brother recently passed and has moved in with her niece, as she begins working with a general contractor Sam to restore a pre-Revolution war of a fictional war hero. This novel also follows Lydia Wilde, the sister of the war hero, and Jean-Philippe de Sabran, a French marine who, along with a second Frenchman, has been placed into her home as a prisoner of war and an officer during the Seven Years War.

This novel shows us a section of American history, okay, a few, that we don't like to talk about, but that effected many things. Kearsley does a superb job with all of her novels in researching facts to weave into the tale. Prisoners of war, in the 1700s, were treated very differently then they were now. The officers were often treated with honor, or tried to, but she also shows us that not everyone kept to their statements. French soldiers were taken, and some were beaten despite the agreement that was made. 

This novel also deals with slavery, in a way that really sheds light on a variety of views that were held at the time. 

Both romances were slow, as most of Kearsley's are, but they were sweet and terribly easy to spot from the beginning.

However, despite how much I loved this book, the beginning was slow. It was hard to get into. After about an hour or so of reading I finally had real interest in reading it (besides the fact that the due date to get it back to the library was coming up). The most compelling characters were the historical. The modern day set up had Rachel, the niece, but we really didn't get to know her much at all. The only characters in the modern world I found myself caring about were Sam, the contractor, and the mysterious happenings in the Wilde house.

Overall this was still a wonderful book and I would highly recommend it to anyone with the temper of: it is a slow book. There isn't a lot of action and fast movement. Which does rather match how real life often flows. It is but a few moments that really push everything forward.