It was by accident that I stumbled upon the novel, The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley. I remember I had read a few pages of this novel a year back. At that time, I was just not interested.
Two weeks back, I was browsing through the novel list at an online site and came across this one. I told myself what could go wrong with reading this one. The novel is set in the Cornwall county in England. It starts with a detailed description of the place which I now understand is Susanna's style of writing.
It takes some time to like this novel. One has to have a little patience to wait for the story to unfold. It was a very sweet romance story that includes time travel. Although it was slow paced, I liked the story and the ending. When I was done with it, I wanted to check out if she had written more that one novel. I read reviews of a few of her novels and then went around searching for her other novels at the same site.
I was not disappointed and found a few more at the same online site. They are all feel-good novels and have a happy ending. She has done a lot of research on the historical events and the places around Europe.
Here is my own personal review of a few that I had read -
a) The Rose Garden - a romance novel set in the Cornwall county. I loved the time travel part of this novel. The time travel blends in with the story. At no point of time was I confused if the heroine was in the present or in the past. The decision that the heroine takes felt right to me. There were a few surprises in the story towards the end and I had to read those sentences a second time to understand. I liked this novel and wouldn't mind reading it the second time. This was my first introduction to the group of people called Jacobites.
b) The Firebird - The hero and heroine are born with a gift - they can visualize who owned an object merely by touching it. In fact, the hero can actually go back to the events that happened in the past when he touches an object. They follow the journey of a girl who had lived in the past and that takes them to the different places she had lived including many parts of Europe and Russia. I was excited when I read the scenes that take place in Russia. As usual, the author does a good job in writing detailed descriptions of the places.
c) The Shadowy Horses - this is a novel that is set in Scotland. There is a friendly Roman soldier who is a ghost and a boy who has psychic powers. When I realized that there was a ghost, I assumed it would be a typical ghost story. I was surprised when the sentry is just one of the characters in the novel. I really didn't know much about what happens at archaeological digs until I read this novel. When I first read this, I was wondering why the boy and his mother sounded familiar and then I realized the connection between this book and the Firebird. This has to be read prior to reading the Firebird. I made a mistake of reading the Firebird first and then had to go back and forth between the two novels to understand the connection.
d) The Splendour Falls - after reading three of Susanna's novels, I was hoping for some kind of time travel or magic in this one. I was rather disappointed when it was just a sweet romantic novel with a sprinkle of mystery. However, as usual her detailed description of the surroundings was what made it a nice read. The novel is set in Chinon, France and as you follow the heroine's journey, it takes you through the nooks and corners of Chinon. When I finished this book, I wanted to immediately travel to Chinon and visit all the places described in this book.
e) Mariana - finally, I got another time travel romance story to read!!! While in the Rose Garden, it was just time travel, in this novel, it includes reincarnation. The heroine actually is the same person who had lived in the 17th century in the same house that she lives in the present. I just loved this novel. It was a bittersweet romance and the twist at the end was completely unexpected. Was I a little disappointed?? Maybe, maybe not!!! It is set in a lovely village in England and I could picture myself in all those places she had described in the novel.
I think I have become a fan of Susanna and her novels. Just when I thought that this was the last novel I would be reading online and I had to go out and buy other novels, I found another of her novel - The Desperate Fortune yesterday at the same site.
Well, I have started reading it although Iam very sure that this is just a normal novel.
I hope it is a good one!!!
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