This is not Susanna Kearsley’s best work, but it is a refuge, a break and a bit of fun. Set in Italy, with lucious and detailed descriptions, a bit of a mystery, and a very subtle romance, it made me think of Mary Stewart without feeling like an imitation, or even derivative for that matter.



This beautiful villa was owned by a poet on Lake Garda in Italy and serves as the inspiration for the setting for this novel. Kearsley describes it so well that you feel that you are walking its corridors and watching play rehearsals in its theater. Her characters are well-defined and I suspect she has been behind the scenes at a play production from the realistic way in which that is presented.

I am a fan of Kearsley’s writing. I like that I know what to expect from her and am never disappointed. While I have liked some of her later work better (this is an early novel, re-released), this was still an immensely enjoyable experience for me and the perfect book to have on hand for a day when I spent most of my time sitting and waiting.
( )

Celia gets her first leading role in a play to be rehearsed and performed at the late-playwright’s Italian estate.

I liked the vivid sense of place, and the unexpectedly positive relationships which develop between some of the characters, and the Gothic edge of tension running through everything -- although I was a bit uneasy, wondering if, this time, Kearsley would take the supernatural element in a direction I didn’t like (She didn’t, but I kept wondering).

I also loved the slowly growing connection and attraction between Celia and [spoilers]. I would have been perfectly satisfied if the story had continued in that vein and left one convinced that these two people were going to get together soon. Instead, their relationship felt rushed or like there was an important scene missing. Combined with a very unnecessary death, my earlier enjoyment was muted. A bit disappointing, but I don’t regret having read it. ( )

I don't have anything clever to say. I honestly thought this was an okay book to pass the time with. I wasn't feeling well and didn't have a lot of mental energy to get myself worked up over reading something and this book fit the bill nicely. Was it exciting? Not really. Can I recall everyone's names? Nope. Did everything make sense? No, no it didn't. But I still enjoyed it because it was like being rocked to sleep in a hammock.

I read Kearsley years ago and fell in love with the time travel aspect of that book. This book has ghosts, kind of sort of, and flashbacks that didn't really add one thing to the book.

Celia Sands goes to Italy to star in a play that another woman with her same name was to star in, in the 1920s. Unfortunately, that Celia Sands disappeared, never to be seen again, and the play was haunted for years with unfortunate circumstances.

Image result for the scottish play macbeth gif

No, not that play.

Ceila goes to Venice, Italy with her godfather(?) who is going to be directing. I don't know. I am still puzzled by that relationship. Celia gets to Venice and after a few rough minutes of not liking the city, instantly falls in love with it. She and her godfather also meet another person who will be involved with the play and then all of them eventually make their way to a villa where the initial playwright lived and wrote his play for the first Celia.

The synopsis drew me in at first. But honestly the book just goes from scene to scene with no sense of urgency at all. Celia is pulled between two men. She tries to deny her interest in one of them. She grows closer to an older actress that is also going to be in the play, etc.

The character of Celia (present day) doesn't draw you in at all and neither does the Celia we get in flashback form via another character. I wish that Kearsley had given that Celia her own POV since that would have maybe worked a bit better. I was wondering who this woman was that she gave up everything to be with a malcontent older man who was not free to be with her. When we finally find out what happened to past Celia I seriously went, well of course.

I can't really speak about the other characters since I found them all to be pleasant, but boring. There is no real intrigue though Kearsley throws in a random murder. You can tell the good guys from the bad guys pretty easily. I think she thought she could throw readers a bit, but this is not my first romance.

Besides the first part of the book with Celia in Venice, nothing else felt very Italian. In fact, a few times I found myself wondering if was reading one of my art histories books. The text really didn't match what I think Kearsley was going for at all.

I found myself pretty much yawning when we get to the end that didn't really explain a lot of things. I really wish that Kearsley had upped the supernatural elements or nixed them entirely. I didn't know what this book wanted to be. ( )

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley was originally published in 2001. I am delighted they decided to re-publish it because it is a timeless story and I enjoyed it very much. The intertwining stories take place in the past and the present and both revolve around an actress named Celia Sands although they are not related. Alessandro D’Ascanio is the grandson of a famous poet who’s love affair with the first Celia Sands created legends that are surrounded in mystery. When he decides to renovate his grandfathers estate and theatre it seems fitting to cast Celia Sands a young London actress in the role that was written for her namesake. Mystery, murder and intrigue seem to haunt the isolated villa in Italy where the play will be performed. The book is over 400 pages and I devoured it in less than 24 hours because I did not want to put it down. Mild steam. Publishing Date June 25, 2019 #NetGalley #SeasonofStorms #SusannaKearsley #SimonandSchusterCanada ( )

quite interesting mystery novel. I liked the author's style very much, it was more her writing than the actual mystery (or its solution) that kept me turning the pages. ( )