Susanna Kearsley has done the dual-layered plot before--in fact, in the other recent book of hers I just read--but I have to say, of the three books of hers I've read that employ this as a plot device, The Winter Sea by far uses it most skillfully.
This time around our heroine is Carrie McClelland, a writer journeying to Scotland to trace her ancestral roots as fodder for her latest novel. Once she's there, she starts experiencing the most powerful inspiration for scenes she's ever had--and discovers only after she begins to write them that she's "remembering" events that happened to her ancestor, Sophia Paterson. Sophia witnessed, and in her own small way participated in, the intrigue surrounding the failed attempt to return King James to throne of Scotland in 1708; Carrie, in her ancestral recollections, is moved to use Sophia as the viewpoint character for the history she's writing.
Sophia's story is by far the meaty heart of this novel. Her participation in the political intrigue is small, to be sure, but she does her share of holding her own against spies for Queen Anne and those who would not scruple to collect the bounty on her beloved John Moray. By comparison, Carrie's side of the story is much smaller; although Carrie does have a pleasant romance with one of the two sons of her landlord, from whom she draws inspiration for John Moray, her real function in the plot is to channel Sophia's story and to be changed by it, both as a writer and as a person. This is not a bad thing. Carrie and the other characters are a likeable frame for Sophia's tale, and Sophia's tale is plenty enough fuel for the novel.
As with previous Kearsleys, The Winter Sea succeeds in emotional depth while avoiding excessive angst. Sophia and John suffer hardships in their story, but they're hardships that very much fit the time and the plot, and so are the characters' responses to them. The ending, too, is appropriate--not without sorrow, and yet, not an unhappy ending either. Kearsley's language here too is better honed than in her previous works, which went a long way for me in making a 528-page brick of a book move deftly. All in all, a highly satisfying read. Five stars.
This time around our heroine is Carrie McClelland, a writer journeying to Scotland to trace her ancestral roots as fodder for her latest novel. Once she's there, she starts experiencing the most powerful inspiration for scenes she's ever had--and discovers only after she begins to write them that she's "remembering" events that happened to her ancestor, Sophia Paterson. Sophia witnessed, and in her own small way participated in, the intrigue surrounding the failed attempt to return King James to throne of Scotland in 1708; Carrie, in her ancestral recollections, is moved to use Sophia as the viewpoint character for the history she's writing.
Sophia's story is by far the meaty heart of this novel. Her participation in the political intrigue is small, to be sure, but she does her share of holding her own against spies for Queen Anne and those who would not scruple to collect the bounty on her beloved John Moray. By comparison, Carrie's side of the story is much smaller; although Carrie does have a pleasant romance with one of the two sons of her landlord, from whom she draws inspiration for John Moray, her real function in the plot is to channel Sophia's story and to be changed by it, both as a writer and as a person. This is not a bad thing. Carrie and the other characters are a likeable frame for Sophia's tale, and Sophia's tale is plenty enough fuel for the novel.
As with previous Kearsleys, The Winter Sea succeeds in emotional depth while avoiding excessive angst. Sophia and John suffer hardships in their story, but they're hardships that very much fit the time and the plot, and so are the characters' responses to them. The ending, too, is appropriate--not without sorrow, and yet, not an unhappy ending either. Kearsley's language here too is better honed than in her previous works, which went a long way for me in making a 528-page brick of a book move deftly. All in all, a highly satisfying read. Five stars.
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