Review: The Vanished Days by Susanna Kearsley

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Published: October 5, 2021

Source: Paperback via Publisher

 

Summary:

In the autumn of 1707, old enemies from the Highlands to the Borders are finding common ground as they join to protest the new Union with England. At the same time, the French are preparing to launch an invasion to bring the young exiled Jacobite king back to Scotland to reclaim his throne, and in Edinburgh the streets are filled with discontent and danger.

Queen Anne’s commissioners, seeking to calm the situation, have begun paying out money sent up from London to settle the losses and wages owed to those Scots who took part in the disastrous Darien expedition eight years earlier–an ill-fated venture that left Scotland all but bankrupt.

When the young widow of a Darien sailor comes forward to collect her husband’s wages, her claim is challenged. One of the men assigned to investigate has only days to decide if she’s honest, or if his own feelings are blinding him to the truth.

The Vanished Days is a prequel and companion novel to The Winter Sea, with action that overlaps some of the action in that book. The Vanished Days goes back in time to the 1680s and introduces the reader to the Moray and Graeme families.

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 Times bestselling author of Outlander

From international bestselling author Susanna Kearsley comes a historical tale of intrigue and revolution in Scotland, where the exile of King James brought plots, machinations, suspicion and untold bravery to light. An investigation of a young widow’s secrets by a man who’s far from objective, leads to a multi-layered tale of adventure, endurance, romance…and the courage to hope.

 

My thoughts:

Susanna Kearsley is one of my favorite historical fiction authors and when I saw that she not only had a new book coming out but that it was a companion novel/prequel to The Winter Sea, I knew I had to read it. And I was so glad that my fellow co-hosts of the #mommaleighellensbookclub were equally excited about this book and decided to pick it for one of our October book club selections. This book definitely delivered in every way I expected it to and then some!

I will say you absolutely do not need to have read The Winter Sea to enjoy this one. If you did read that one, great, and if not, it just might encourage you to pick it up. She did write that one in 2008, so it’s been a while, and I read it in 2010 and even though it’s one of my favorite books, after reading this one, I’ve got such a longing to pick it up again! Don’t you love when that happens?

This newest book is masterfully plotted and as usual, I found myself completely immersed in all that is going on right from the beginning. While there is a dual narrative, what I found interesting is that both are in the past – one in 1707 and the other in the 1680s. It’s not really a time period I tend to read about, but there is just something so compelling about this author’s writing that pulls me in.

I loved how just as you were getting comfortable in one time time period, it would be time to jump either forward or back. But what usually precipitated the jump was some type of revelation in the later time period that would then be explained in the earlier one. It really kept you hooked and, if you are anything like me, trying to work out all the pieces in your head, to see how things fit together. Not only do we have the story of Lily trying to seek her deceased husband’s pension, but we also learn quite a bit about the Jacobite movement in Scotland – and this was something I had hoped to read more about after finishing up with The Winter Sea.

There is much to appeal to just about everyone in the book – Scottish history, some romance, intrigue and a twist of all twists that managed to take me by surprise! There are a slew of characters in this book, but I found that I really had no issues keeping them straight as everyone is so dynamic on the page and serves a purpose. And, due to her meticulous research, all but a select few are real people from history – a fact that just makes for such a richer reading experience and the reason why I always read the author’s note because you never know what you will learn about the book.

While this book appears to be a chunkster, it is one that I read in two days because I just could not put it down. Once I got into the rhythm of the story, I was completely absorbed in it and didn’t want to do anything but read and be part of this world that Susanna created. Now, I’m looking forward to chatting with Susanna about the book with our bookclub…I can’t wait to hear her discuss why she decided to write this and what is next for her. If you are a fan of historical fiction, definitely pick this one up!