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The Winter Sea

By: Susanna Kearsley
Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
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Editorial reviews

When venturing into the historical fiction genre, I’m often drawn to specific, brief events that were either glossed over or left entirely out of the history books, as opposed to those that cover broad subjects that can be densely overwhelming. Given a subject like Henry XIII and his wives or Joan of Arc, both popular subjects of the genre, an author could easily lose an audience to an overwhelming amount of explanation and facts. Instead, Susanna Kearsley’s The Winter Sea offers a narrow, controlled exploration of a lesser known event, the 1708 Jacobite failed uprising by James Stewart against William of Orange and Mary Stewart to reclaim the throne. It is an enthralling story that makes the facts and descriptions of the people and places surrounding the uprising much more palatable and absorbing.

The Winter Sea also offers a unique narrative format. Main character and popular historical fiction novelist Carrie McClelland rents a cottage for the summer on the coast of Scotland, not far from Slain Castle (where she sets her story) and where the Jacobite uprising occurred centuries ago. Thus, The Winter Sea has two narratives: McClelland in present day Scotland, writing her novel; and McClelland’s novel, a work in progress detailing the Jacobite uprising in 1708 Scotland. Such a narrative format is fodder for narrator Rosalyn Landor, whose performance skillfully embodies the complex mind of a writer. Her voicing of Carrie is investigative, creative, imaginative, and discerning. Her deep, expressive tone allows her the versatility to voice the myriad supporting characters, both male and female, past and present. The dreamlike writing sequences of McClelland writing her novel really sing under Landor’s rendering. With Landor as a guide, it’s easy to lose yourself in The Winter Sea’s journey through Scotland and through history.

The Winter Sea confidently flourishes in the intrigue surrounding this political uprising, while also offering the accommodating narrative device of delivering the story through the mind of a writer. Kearsley and Landor together remind us that history does not have to get bogged down by the facts, but instead can be thrilling, suspenseful, and imaginative, especially when presented from a unique perspective. Suzanne Day

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)

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What listeners say about The Winter Sea

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully enticing

This story had me hooked from the very beginning! Such a wonderful story line that navigates it's way through the past and the present creating a fantastic listen!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Close...but not quite

I was not sure about this book, but I felt like I had to finish it. I liked the story line and the setting. But, I kept thinking something was missing. I finally realized towards the end that I really didn't know the characters. They were there, they conversed, things happened to them, but they had no depth. In addition, the modern day character seemed to be channeling her ancestor, but that was never really confirmed at the end.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautifully romantic!

Any additional comments?

This was such a beautiful and lovely story. Rosalyn Landor did a fantastic job with the narration! I got lost a few times in the story, heavy Scottish accents and endless new characters, but I am so glad I stuck through and finished. This story was like a big warm hug. It left me feeling wonderful and all fuzzy inside. Great book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good, but falls short of great

I'm okay with magical realism/suspension of disbelief, but the main character's constant dumbfounded responses got tiresome. The ending of the past story was very predictable, but pleasant, so I didn't wholly mind. The ending of the modern story... I won't spoil it. But if you are enjoying the book, don't read the last few paragraphs.
The narrator is quite talented with accents and voices (although she should work on her Scottish pronunciation of "Scone"!), but her voice is far older than the main character and it was a bit distracting.
Overall enjoyable, but frustratingly not great.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Two stories for the price of one

If you could sum up The Winter Sea in three words, what would they be?

Beautiful love story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Winter Sea?

The last 20 minutes....

What does Rosalyn Landor bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The excellent accents...she did them well.

If you could rename The Winter Sea, what would you call it?

I would not rename it.

Any additional comments?

Best story and narrator I have listened to date.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A solid and comforting story

This was a good story - and comforting in the sense that it didn't completely wow the reader - but still kept you interested enough in it to continue.
I didnt love the narrator though - very nice voice - but didn't seem to fit the character she was supposed to represent

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Difficult read

This was a very difficult book to continue reading. I really wanted to like it, as I loved her book "Marianna". But I just didn't like it at all actually.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful double tale

A well-written saga of two complicated family trees and how they might have coincidently cross.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Couldn't take it any more

Made it half way through this book, and just couldn't take the narrator any more. I was also bored. Not sure if that was the due to the current-day plot line (myriad of unimportant details) or the narrator. The historical plot line was pretty good, but in the end I didn't care about that either. The narrator's sing-song delivery drove me nuts. I know why they picked her though--her ability with Scottish accents.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Kinda boring but a good ending

It took me forever to finish this. It was so slow and boring. I liked the end. It was the only part I did like.

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