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)

Interesting plot

A little different from the previous Kearsley books I've listened to. This narrator sounded too old for Emily but it didn't ruin it for me

I enjoyed this audio book very much

If you could sum up The Splendour Falls in three words, what would they be?

Entertaining, Suspenseful, Feel Good

What did you like best about this story?

Barbara Rosenblat's performance!

Have you listened to any of Barbara Rosenblat’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to her other performances but I would like to now that I know her work.

If you could rename The Splendour Falls, what would you call it?

Isabella

Any additional comments?

At times this book gets lost in the details; very detailed explanations for everyday life but Barbara Rosenblat made the story come to life. She is so talented, each character had life, each one seemed real an not one emotion was missed I believe. I was so excited for my daily walk so I could listen to her narrate this book. One reader noted that her voice did not match up with the age of the main character but I'd disagree; her performance was so good that it didn't matter. I'm sad I finished this book.

Excellent

I loved this book and though the narrator did a wonderful job. Even though it is not written in the style of the authors other books it was an excellent novel with a Gothic feel.

Reminiscent of a good Agatha Christie story

Would you consider the audio edition of The Splendour Falls to be better than the print version?

N/A

What other book might you compare The Splendour Falls to and why?

Splendour Falls reminds me of any good Agatha Christie story, such as Murder on the Orient Express and Evil Under the Sun. I could not figure out this whodunnit and the way Kearsley wove it all together was very satisfying.

What about Barbara Rosenblat’s performance did you like?

At first, Barbara Rosenblat's performance confused me because she has a rather mature voice (in a good way). The character is supposed to be in her late 20s, I think, so the narrator's mature voice threw me off. However, and this is a big HOWEVER, I quickly got used to Barbara's voice and eventually loved the sultry maturity that it gave to the main character. Her voice also lender itself very well to playing male characters. Her French accent was perfect. Overall, I grew to love this narrator and hope to find more books she has read.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Murder Under the Sun. ;)

Any additional comments?

I have now listened to all of Susanna Kearsley's Audible books (the ones that are available here). Out of them, Splendour Falls was the most different from the others -- Winter's Sea, Rose Garden, Firebird. At first, I was a little disappointed that it didn't have time traveling-like features of the other books, but in the end I didn't care because I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery of this story and the narrator's performance.

Excellent Story!

Not sure why I waited so many years to listen to this one, it ended up being one of my favorites! What a story, full of well developed and complex characters. How cleverly Susana has woven this together.

Can’t get into this one

I am usually pretty easily drawn into Kearsley’s novels when I drive, or walk, or treadmill. However, 9 chapters in and I just can’t seem to become attached to the slow moving story or the characters. I’m thinking a large part of this is due to my inability to believe the narrator. While her reading is absolutely beautiful and her voice would be perfect for other things, she sounds more like a middle aged chain smoker than the 28-year-old girl supposedly narrating the story.

Intriguing

Enough twists and turns, characters to keep track of, but in the end, a good story.

Written in 1996

What did you like best about The Splendour Falls? What did you like least?

This one is not Ms Kearsley's best. The Winter Sea was my favorite, but I have enjoyed The Rose Garden and The Firebird as well. This book was originally published in 1996 which explains why I was so disappointed. I did not find out it's original publication date until after I finished the book. Good enough to finish.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Sue Monk Kidd's The Invention of Wings

What about Barbara Rosenblat’s performance did you like?

Very well done!!!

Could you see The Splendour Falls being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Nope

adventure, mystery an a touch of the supernatural

If you have picked up The Splendour Falls by Susanna Kearsley expecting it to be one of her charming time travel romances novels you are in for a surprise. The story revolves around 28 year old Emily Braden who is convinced by her errant cousin Harry to go on holiday to the French town of Chinon, France where a young and beautiful Queen Isabella once rumored to have hidden a great treasure. Ahh but there is another story of a lost treasure and another beautiful Isabella – hidden in a medieval chateau or in the maze of ancient tunnels underneath the streets of Chinon – and Harry has gone missing Emily begins to fear that Harry might be more than just delayed. As Emily tries to find her cousin, she becomes more aware of some strange tension, old hostilities, new friend and loves among her fellow guest.

I found it took a bit to get into the story but once the web of secrets started to disentangle I found the story compelling and unpredictable. The Splendour Falls I felt one of Ms. Kearsley’s best – The Winter Sea being my favorite.

This was an audio book that was narrated by Barbara Rosenblat. While I felt she did a decent job narrating the book I felt her voice was too old for the main character – it was too gruffy. She did more justice to male voices, with spot on French accents and word pronunciation.

A softer mystery

I struggled to wade through this book. I kept thinking that for hour upon hour... Nothing happened! But the story is very subtle really, and focuses almost exclusively on character development and relationships to tell the tale. For me, this was interminably boring. Thank heavens for the narrator! With an incredibly accurate emotive voice the subtleties of the story were brought to life. Barbara's elocution was worth the credit just to listen to, her smoky voice all that kept me going for this one. I listened to it only to hear her. Stellar performance.