The Splendour Falls
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3.9 • 51 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
"I've loved every one of Susanna's books! She has bedrock research and a butterfly's delicate touch with characters—sure recipe for historical fiction that sucks you in and won't let go!"—DIANA GABALDON, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Outlander
In an intricate balance of past and present, Susanna Kearsley offers a story of French historical fiction full of breathless suspense, Gothic romance, and priceless treasure.
Emily Braden has stopped believing in fairy tales and happy endings. When her fascinating but unreliable cousin Harry invites her on a holiday to explore the legendary town of Chinon, France and promptly disappears—well, that's Harry for you.
As Emily makes the acquaintance of Chinon and its people, she begins to uncover dark secrets beneath the charm. Legend has it that during a thirteenth-century siege of the castle that looms over the city, Queen Isabelle, child bride of King John, hid a "treasure of great price." And in the last days of the German occupation during World War II, there was another Isabelle living in Chinon, a girl whose love for an enemy soldier went tragically awry.
As the dangers of the past become disastrously real, Emily is drawn ever more deeply into a labyrinth of mystery as twisted as the streets and tunnels of the ancient town itself.
A tale that deftly examines the ripples of the past through the present, The Splendour Falls brings the romance of French history to life for fans of Diana Gabaldon, Kate Morton, and Kate Mosse.
Also by Susanna Kearsley:
The Winter Sea
The Firebird
A Desperate Fortune
The Rose Garden
The Shadowy Horses
Named of the Dragon
Season of Storms
Mariana
Bellewether
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this latest from New York Times best-selling author Kearsley (The Firebird), Emily Braden, a young Englishwoman, travels to the historic French town of Chinon to meet her cousin Harry, a scholar on a research trip. When Harry never turns up and one of the locals is found dead, Emily learns Chinon is a town where things often go missing. During the 13th century, Queen Isabelle is said to have hidden a great treasure in the town's castle. Years later during WWII, a woman, also named Isabelle, disappeared from Chinon with a satchel of Nazi diamonds given to her by her German lover. With an intrepidness that would make Nancy Drew proud, Emily pursues these mysteries, dodging murder and finding love with Neil Grantham, an English musician along the way. Kearsley writes gorgeously about the delights of being in a beautiful town, and the joy of the first moments of love. The march through the story's clues plays like a cinematic thriller. And though the narrative is interrupted by two distracting, experimental scenes set during each of the Isabelles' lives, and Emily is at times overly revelatory, the main plot will keep readers turning pages.
Customer Reviews
Read Susanna’s other books instead.
I love her novels! ....usually... This is an early novel and it isn’t my favorite. It reads a bit like a teenage romance set in a Scooby Doo story. Her other works are well written, historically intriguing, and engaging.
Lovely story
One of my favorites