Emily Braden works for her cousin Harry's father in
England at the Braden Glass. Always close to Harry, they
have spent much time together going on trips. This time
Harry encourages Emily to go on a trip to Chinon, France
with him. This is precipitated by his last research as a
historian on lost love and looking for a fairy tale. A
legend of a woman held in a tower and later hiding riches
in the tower whets his appetite for curiosity and
adventure.
Arriving alone in Chinon with expectations of Harry
joining her, she checks in to the hotel and as usual, her
unpredictable cousin does not show up. Harry is
undoubtedly already chasing the legend of Isabelle, the
child bride of King John of the 13th century. As Emily
meets other guests at the hotel and surrounding Chinon
area, she shares her legend and quickly involves others as
she treks the steep cliffs and ancient castle. The further
she investigates, the more she fears something has happened
to her cousin. The help she receives trying to find Harry
soon forms a web of intrigue, suspense and murder. The
quaint and ancient town of Chinon quickly becomes a place
of underground tunnels, treacherous falls, bewitching
statues and a web of secrets, complicating her simple
holiday. Meeting Neil Grantham, a violinist also on
holiday, Emily is drawn into an uneasy feeling, wondering
if she can allow herself to become involved in romance.
The past dangers combine with the present to become a
secret that now has to be solved.
THE SPLENDOUR FALLSis the second novel I have read by
Susanna Kearsley and
I enjoyed it just as much as the first. This tale is
bewitching and carries with it a little of the
supernatural. I was intrigued with the tale and became
more and more engrossed as I read. Every page is filled
with suspense, mystery and history that you will long
remember. This author has done a wonderful job of giving
the reader a complete background of the ancient history
surrounding the subject of the story. Even this action
packed story has its romance!
An Ancient Castle, a Tragic Love, and a Web of
Secrets Begins to Unravel...
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 own of Chinon, 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, 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.
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