SYNOPSIS:
It's late summer, war is raging, and families are torn apart by divided loyalties and deadly secrets. In this complex and dangerous time, a young French Canadian lieutenant is captured and billeted with a Long Island family, an unwilling and unwelcome guest. As he begins to pitch in with the never-ending household tasks and farm chores, Jean-Philippe de Sabran finds himself drawn to the daughter of the house. Slowly, Lydia Wilde comes to lean on Jean-Philippe, true soldier and gentleman, until their lives become inextricably intertwined. Legend has it that the forbidden love between Jean-Philippe and Lydia ended tragically, but centuries later, the clues they left behind slowly unveil the true story.
Part history, part romance, and all kinds of magic, Susanna Kearsley's latest masterpiece will draw you in and never let you go, even long after you've closed the last page.
Purchase here:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LVn3N8
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Her books, published in translation in more than 20 countries, have won the Catherine Cookson Fiction Prize, RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards, a RITA Award, and National Readers’ Choice Awards, and have finaled for the UK’s Romantic Novel of the Year and the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel.
She lives near Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
REVIEW
Bellewether by Susanna KearsleyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The house, when I first saw it, seemed intent on guarding what it knew within its walls as long as it stayed standing; but we all learned, by the end of it, that secrets aren’t such easy things to keep.
Charlotte "Charlie" Van Hoek is the new curator at the Wilde family museum at Snug Cove, and stumbles upon a love story in the Wilde family that ends abruptly in tragedy. She's never been one to believe in ghosts, but rumor has it that one has been spotted wandering the property in despair. Gossip, or a heartbroken soul unable to be at peace after a tragic end?
Whatever the case may be, she thinks it could be a great story to research while she organizes the restoration of the Wildes' home. Along the way, she meets Sam, the contractor in charge with a soft heart and a sensitive soul. He's a quiet man, but strong and dependable. The kind of man that cares and looks out for you if you're in his small inner circle. Their friendship flourished gradually, and eventually bloomed into love. It was most definitely a slow burn, and very much in the background of the overall plot. The main focus was Charlie's investigation of the Wilde family, and her challenges with her own family.
Coming back to the town where her family originated from is painful for more reasons than one. The loss of her father and brother back to back, followed by assuming responsibility for her brother's daughter Rachel completely shook up her world. She's still trying to settle all the pieces back into some sort of order. Then there's the fact that the grandmother that she's never met lives in town. The grandmother who disowned her father after he became a Vietnam war draft dodger and split town.
There's a lot of buried bitterness and hurt, compounded by pieces of history that were hidden from her most of her life. Even if her grandmother were to reach out to her, would she even deserve her time after she turned her back on them and refused contact? Charlie deals with a lot of inner turmoil as she tries to be there for Rachel, prove herself at work, and make sense of her feelings for the man who is her rock through it all.
Bellewether is a ghost story at heart, but not quite in the way you anticipate when you pick it up. Throughout the entire book you're wondering if the ending you think you know will come to light, and hoping it isn't the more time you spend with Lydia and the rest of the Wildes. I loved that about it. The plot is chock full of pre-revolution history in finely researched detail, and wonderfully character driven. Admittedly, it took me a big chunk of the book until I was firmly sucked in and reading at a fast pace. Because of the depth of the family history that's being introduced, it takes a while to fully entrench yourself. But it's so worth it when you do, and I'm so happy that I pushed through the first half.
There are actually three alternating first person POVs, Jean-Phillipe and Lydia in the past, in addition to Charlie's in the present. One thing I really loved was the chapter transitions. As we moved from the past to the present, or vise versa, the two characters on different timelines would be experiencing or feeling similar things. Charlie would be at the cove enjoying the sun on her face and the breeze blowing through her hair. Contemplating a sailboat as it glided past her. Then we'd flip to Lydia who'd be watching the boats go by at sunrise worrying over her family. It kind of brought home the fact that even though we feel so separated from those who lived in other eras, we all share the same threads of humanity. Clothing, culture, and technology may change, but our internal struggle and basic human experiences are the common thread that continue to tie us together.
One really unique thing about the past storyline was the fact that Lydia and Jean-Pierre didn't speak the same language. At first it confused me because I wondered how in the world these two people who were on opposite sides of the war, with a language barrier between them on top of it would grow to care about each other. I admit, I was doubtful. But I ended up really loving that about these two, and I felt like it ended up being one of the most romantic and unique things about them.
Their feelings didn't grow purely out of each other's physical appearance. In fact, it took quite some time before Lydia could even see anything other than an Acadian French soldier who fought against her brother with their enemy. Getting inside both of their heads from the first person POV really helped us understand how they studied one another. How they discovered each other's quirks, strengths, weaknesses, and hearts through the long months of transition while he stayed in her home. Words aren't needed when actions can be quietly observed to reveal the true character of a person.
Wars lay easier upon the conscience, Lydia decided, when you could not see the faces of the people you were fighting. And it was vastly easier to hate a man when you’d not learned his Christian name, or pried into his private thoughts and learned that he was human.
The Wilde family was extremely well developed with a broad family tree that I would love to continue learning about. Lydia's brother Benjamin was a privateer and hero of the revolution, and we learned just enough of his life to leave me very curious and intrigued. I really hope there will be a full length story there for us in the future! The author's skill in drawing me into that time period with her vivid and lush writing compensated for the reading pace that lagged at times. And she more than made up for it in the chapters leading up to the resolution. I couldn't speed through them fast enough, as I was desperate to discover if there would be a HEA. I did feel as if the romance between Sam and Charley could have given me a little more to savor between them, but overall the originality and mystery of Bellewether won me over. This is only my second read by Susanna Kearsley, but it certainly won't be my last.
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