The Splendour Falls

By: Susanna Kearsley

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

An ancient castle, a tragic love, and a web of secrets begins to unravel....

Emily Braden has stopped believing in fairy tales and happy endings. When her fascinating but unreliable cousin Harry invites her on a holiday to explore the legendary town of Chinon, and promptly disappears - well, that's Harry for you.

As Emily makes the acquaintance of Chinon and its people, she begins to uncover dark secrets beneath the charm. Legend has it that during a 13th-century siege of the castle that looms over the city, Queen Isabelle, child bride of King John, hid a "treasure of great price". And in the last days of the German occupation during World War II, there was another Isabelle living in Chinon, a girl whose love for an enemy soldier went tragically awry.

As the dangers of the past become disastrously real, Emily is drawn ever more deeply into a labyrinth of mystery as twisted as the streets and tunnels of the ancient town itself.

©1995, 2013 Susanna Kearsley (P)2013 Audible Inc.

Critic reviews

"Award-winning narrator Barbara Rosenblat handles the great variety of accents with aplomb - from Emily's British accent to the locals' French accents and the intonations of global tourists. While Rosenblat sounds too old and a bit stiff for the 28-year-old Emily, among her strengths are rock-solid characterizations and believable male voices, both of which will keep listeners invested in this romantic mystery. ( AudioFile)

Wonderful

This book is narrated beautifully, is artfully written, has wonderful characters and was engaging to listen too! After getting past the historical character information at the beginning, I couldn't put it down!

Enjoyable

The story was an enjoyable, light read. Great for driving to work. It grabs the imagination and does not leave the reader zoning out on other things.

Terrible.

The narrator ruined this book. She was slow and melancholy. She made me think the heroine was about 60 yrs old . she was so draggy I fell asleep about 4 times and finally gave up on the book. I just couldn't get into it. I think a narrator like Davina Porter would have made the book better, but even then the story lacked something.

Unexpectedly disappointed

Not what I expected from one of my favorite authors. Her usual flow and character distinction seemed to be lacking, which made this one a little hard to follow. While it isn't a bad story, there is mystery, history, and intrigue. I just like a little more romance in my romance novel, you have to wait till the very end for what little there is. I don't usually discredit the narrator, but I feel that this one didn't match the character and left me with an odd perception which I couldn't let go of. While it wasn't a complete wast of a credit, I just won't listen to it again, as I have done with Ms. Kearsley's other books.

Story picks up half way through....

I was disappointed- there wasn’t a little more on the original Isabella (and king John)- I expected a little story switching ... after getting 2 delightful tidbits of that early on- but then that was it. the reader truly gives an excellent performance — I just had a hard time associating her voice with the characters. (It’s more deep and “mature” sounding-

But otherwise performed well!
And fun to listen to....

Really great!

The narrator became the voice of all the characters, but especially the main character adding wonderful depth to an already great story. One of the best books I've experienced in ages!

Reader doesn't fit

A 28 year old character shouldn't have a reader nearly twice her age, with a smokers voice. It was so distracting! Story was okay. Not Kearsleys best work.

Need to know

Love Susanna’s books. Suspenseful historical fiction with a twist - perfect read. Unfortunately the narrator had a voice that sounded about 60 yrs or older and the main character was 28. Hard to visualize the main character and actually bothersome. Also the voices for two Canadian brothers, Simon & Paul, were hard to listen to. Sounded like someone modifying their voice which is fine for minor characters but not so for Paul as he had a lot of dialogue. I never write reviews but I felt compelled to say something. Other books I’ve listened to by Susanna were much better produced.

Not up to Susana's usual flair/awful narrator

Would you try another book from Susanna Kearsley and/or Barbara Rosenblat?

Yes from Susana and no from Rosenblat, did not like her voice at all for this story. It was very hard to keep these characters in their age groups, She sounds like a women in her 60's. And most of the men sounded old also. will not listen to another book narrated by her.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Just not up to par. I have read 5 of Kearsley's other books and was dissapointed in this one, The Winter Sea was amazing.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Not my favorite Kearsley

I think the narrator's voice didn't meet my expectations for the protagonist, and things just went downhill from there. It's an okay book. I expect more than okay from Kearsley.