Susanna Kearsley

The Winter Sea

Synopsis

History has all but forgotten the spring of 1708, when an invasion 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 can know the truth of what did happen all those years ago – a tale of love and loyalty…and ultimate betrayal.

A deeply-engaging romance and a compelling historical novel…Susanna Kearsley has written a marvellous book.


— Bernard Cornwell

Did You Know…

This book was originally published in the UK in hardback as The Winter Sea, but for the paperback edition my then publishers changed the title to Sophia’s Secret.

Under that title, it was shortlisted for the 2009 Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

In September 2021, Simon & Schuster UK will release The Winter Sea in a new paperback edition, under its original title.

Gallery

My novels are set in real locations, and doing the on-site research is an essential part of my writing process. Here are some of my photos.

Virtual Tour

In case you’re not altogether sick of seeing my face and my book cover on the Internet yet, here are all the stops I made in December 2010 on my first “virtual tour”… Many thanks to all the bloggers who generously hosted me, and to Danielle Jackson at Sourcebooks for shepherding me safely through the schedule!

As if the virtual tour weren’t exposure enough, the bloggers at Historical Tapestry did me the huge honour of featuring me and my books for an entire week, from November 27 to December 3, with reviews, an amazing chat session about The Winter Sea, and an interview. They even let me write a guest post explaining why Rod Taylor’s to blame for my love of time slip stories! I really can’t thank them enough. Read the posts from their Susanna Kearsley Week.

December 6
Interview
Library of Clean Reads

December 7
Guest Blog: It takes a village – Doing on-site research for The Winter Sea
History Undressed

December 9
Author Spotlight
Romance Book Junkies

December 15
Interview
Book Girl of Mur-Y-Castell

December 20
Guest Blog: Filling the holes – The challenge of writing historical fiction
Fresh Fiction

December 21
Interview
Martha’s Bookshelf

December 27
Guest Blog: What’s next?
Celtic Lady’s Reviews

Check out my other books, including more behind-the-scenes info and images.