The Winter Sea

By: Susanna Kearsley

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

Length: 15 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

History has all but forgotten...

In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.

Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write.

But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth-the ultimate betrayal-that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her...

Please note: This novel has also been published under a different title: Sophia's Secret.

Please note, this title is the original recording, which is now known as Sophia's Secret

©2010 Susanna Kearsley (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Winner, Romance, 2012

"Rosalyn Landor provides delightful Scottish accents for many of the characters Carrie meets inside and outside her novel....Landor adds a poetic edge to her storytelling while at the same time giving a dreamy aura to the historical side of the story." ( Audiofile)

Totally lost in time

I rarely 5 star, but this one kept me captivated. I loved the dual timeline and the story was great.

Drawn out…

Perhaps the content and context is just not my thing but after 8 chapters my boredom was notable. I guess if like listening to someone talk about being a historical fiction writer then you may like it but it was boring to me.

The Winter Sea

I got this on impulse when the promo suggested it was like Gabaldon. I was seeking something simple, easy and light that would be pleasant to listen to and require little concentration. This fit the bill perfectly. The Scottish settings, accents and characters, the mysterious and tantalizing knowledge of the author's ancestor's life, and the story-line about the Jacobites was very nice, indeed. There was no time-travel, and no iconic male like Jamie, but it was a nice enough listen. I didn't care for the tones of voice the narrator selected for the characters but the overall effect wasn't bad enough to be distracting.

Fantastic!

I absolutely loved this book and have listened to it at least 4 times. I love both the story and the narrator. The combination of history and sweet romance make it a winner with me.
Avid Reader in Iowa

5 STARS

The history fiction mix is absolutely wonderful!! I never wanted to put it down!
The narrator was extremely talented and had a very pleasant voice!!
5 STARS for sure!!!

Interest approach to a book but a great listen

The story centers around a historical author Carrie McClelland writing a book in Scotland during the Jacobite rebellion of 1708. As Carrie writes this books she discovers what she write is not fiction for the main character Sophia tell her her story. The book alternating between the contemporary setting and the past.

It starts out a tad slow but as both stories progress it becomes more and more interetsing. Rosalyn Landor did an excellent job as narrator.

An Incredible Two-fer

This audio book is absolutely amazing. It is a book about writing a book...so you get two stories for the price of one as the story's main character, a novelist, also tells the story she is writing. What is so incredible is the intertwining of two very different writing styles. There is the style of the author, but within that, the character author has a different style. Ms. Kearsley is quite talented to be able to pull this off. Additionally, the narrator, Ms. Landor, does an fantastic job with the multitude of voices in both story lines. She even uses a different "voice" to read the character's novel. It's difficult to explain, but profoundly well-done. This is definitely one that I think starts with an excellent plot and benefits all the more with an excellent narrator. A must-read.

A bit predictable but liked the setting

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, Iliked the setting of the story on the edge of Scottish Sea with castles and the weather for mood.

Would you recommend The Winter Sea to your friends? Why or why not?

Nice characters. Felt like you could see them and know them.

What three words best describe Rosalyn Landor’s performance?

Good. Did she do the male parts too? And the Scottish accents?

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

Felt like it was a movie. I could see landscape and the characters clearly.

Any additional comments?

Sometimes there was too much rehashing of things we already knew in the story.

The Winter Sea - great read/listen!

I chose The Winter Sea as my companion book to listen to as I drove north from Florida to spend two weeks in Delaware. It was a wonderful choice - a very different and intriguing story. For those who like history and romance, this is a terrific choice! I will definitely look for others by this author.

Nice Mix of Modern Story & Historical Fiction

Audio production: This was narrated by, Rosalyn Landor who is always a good narrator, for this one she had a lot to live up to since this was recommended to me because I love Outlander so she had Davina Porter to live up to and I must say she did a very good job!


This was a nice mix of historical fiction and a modern day story set in Scotland, this was recommended to me because I love the Outlander Series. First off this doesn’t have time travel as I’ve seen some people say it has genetic memories which was a new device for me, but it worked well. It was interesting how modern day author Carrie is writing her novel and the characters in her head tell her how the story should go then she checks the historical records and they match perfect so there is this little bit of genetic memory, possible ghost story. I have heard from authors when they talk about their writing process that the characters decide where the story goes and not the writer and how they feel like their characters come to life, so this was kind of a take on this concept.

Both the present day and historical stories are blended well with the historical story set during the Jacobite rebellion of 1708 which was very well done and researched. There is romance in both stories that kind of mirror each other but both are kind of chaste and bittersweet neither is a big passionate affair just a nice addition to the story.

I enjoyed this story very much and would recommend it to fans of historical fiction. I will be reading more by this author!

4 1/2 Stars