The Winter Sea, by Susanna Kearsley

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Historical fiction and romance, not normally what I read, but a refreshing change of pace for me. This is a book within a book as the main character is a romance author writing a book, so it took some effort for me to just go with it as the woman just sits and writes another of her bestsellers without plotting beforehand or even editing afterwards. I think I just have a personal issue with that, specifically: jealousy. It was a bit of a struggle for me to keep on as the book stuck to the romance plotlines and skimmed over some of the history and adventure. I.e. there's a point when a character has a long and treacherous journey to make in Scotland, in the winter, and that is ellipsed out. One scene she's setting off, the next it's a year later and there's no account of that journey. But all in all, this gave me a history lesson on the Jacobite rebellions, a illuminating and at points painful picture of a woman's role in this society, and a beautiful sketch of the setting, a castle on the coast of Scotland. I'd definitely recommend this book.

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