THE WINTER
SEA (Sophie’s Secret) By:
Susanna Kearsley 4 Stars
The Winter Sea or Sophie’s Secret in some locations, is a romance based in two
different worlds. The first is that of author Carrie who settled in Scotland
for a short time to write her historical fiction based on the real events of a
Jacobite rising based in 1708. The other world is based on Sophia who lived
during the said Jacobite rising and is Carrie’s ancestor.
As most
stories with a contemporary and historical story, the older story always
intrigues me more. The author does make it easy to determine the difference
between both eras with chapters using roman numerals for the 1708 story line.
If you were like me, I didn’t notice this until half way through the book, but
each character switch is quick to point out the main character for the reader.
As Carrie
tries to write the story of Sophia she learns she has a genetic memory (which
apparently is also used in the video game Assassins Creed). This allows Carrie
to live Sophia’s life through writing. She later finds out that the details of
Sophia’s life happen just as they did in the story.
Both
storylines have romantic interests and details that seem to mirror each other. They
both have their own version of a love triangle (annoying, why isn’t one love
interest enough anymore?), but the losing male seems to be used purely for
drama within the book over an actual possibility for a love interest.
One of the
most amazing things about this book was the fact that you know the ending early
on, yet you still continue reading to discover the details that lead to the
ending. You learn that the Jacobite rising fails and that Sophia marries
another 3 years after her handfasting with Moray. The mere fact that Susanna
can keep us intrigued enough to want to learn more is a feat in and of itself.
Even knowing
the ultimate ending you will still find surprises along the way and have your
emotions range from sorrow to happiness. I devoured this book and can’t wait to
read the next in the series, The Firebird,
which I understand follows two different characters found within The Winter Sea and The Shadowy Horses.
Susanna has
a website that shows pictures of Slains, the castle upon where the story is
based. You may view those pictures at http://www.susannakearsley.com/winterseaphotos.html. My personal favorites are the view
of the sea from Slains as well as the Bullers o’ Buchan. Enjoy!
THE WINTER
WITCH By: Paula Brackston 3 Stars
Morgana
(what else could she be named?) is a witch who denies her powers her whole
life. She received her magic blood from her father, who basically disappeared
when she was a young girl. When he left Morgana found she could no longer talk.
Brackston’s book is more unique in the fact that she has to write a book from
someone who never utters a word. The book is in firsts person to portray
Morgana’s “voice”, but we also find the book switching back and forth with a 3rd
person narrative.
I wasn’t a
big fan of the 1st person/3rd person switch. Let me explain
the book plot a little further to make my point. Morgana is basically forced
into an arranged marriage to Cai Jenkins in the early-nineteenth-century Wales.
Morgana’s mom has poor health and marries off Morgana to hopefully give her a
good life after she is gone. Cai is a young widow of 3 years. His previous wife
died in childbirth where the child did not survive either. Since Morgana
doesn’t talk the point of view switch is necessary to let us know exactly what Cai
is feeling toward Morgana while we also deal with his uncertainty in
communicating with her.
Even though
Morgana has not talked in years, she never learns her own form of sign
language. She merely expects others to pick up on her moods through her eyes
and facial expressions. I found that unrealistic. It seems that even in games
of charades when you are not allowed to talk you use some sort of hand signals
instead of just expecting the other players to guess what you mean by staring
at your dramatic eyes.
Since
Morgana chooses to only show her personality in such small ways it is difficult
for Cai to ever know what she is really going on with her. For that reason the
narrative switch is necessary. The book is partially a love story, so imagine
how the readers would feel if we really never knew both sides of the story. It
is frustrating enough when you read books where they just choose not to verbally
communicate, but in a book where the character both chooses not to communicate
as well as physically can’t speak, the reader’s would never finish past the
first few pages.
While we
have established that the point of view change was necessary, we haven’t
figured out why it is a 1st person/3rd person switch. It
would seem like the book would flow better to at least keep the narrative
points of view in the same format. As I looked at other reviewers notes in
Goodreads I noticed that many other readers felt the same frustration with that
switch.
In addition
to the communication issues and the narrative, the ending of the book was
slightly abrupt with at least one portion of the storyline just completely
falling through the cracks. It just ended. There was a buildup in two different
ways and one just was dropped. I would have liked to have a little more
information on what happened after the story ended as well. Since Morgana is a
witch and the townspeople seem to know it, we never really find out how things
are handled after that, or even how Cai and Morgana are supposed to be happy
without the influence that brought them together in the first place.
The story
did fall a little flat, but it wasn’t a complete bust. I was intrigued enough
to read it in a short period of time as I wanted to find out what would happen
and if Cai and Morgana would ever actually be able to communicate. Like all
love stories of course they finally figure a few things out. When you add in
the best character, the housekeeper Mrs. Jones, you at least get a story that
created enough intrigue to allow me to finish the book. It can be a fun quick
read as long as you don’t mind a few of the downfalls I mentioned.
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