Susanna Kearsley is drop-everything-to-read author for me, and THE VANISHED DAYS is no exception. Part of Kearsley’s Scottish series, this is described as a prequel to The Winter Sea, book 1. Readers can easily dive into the gorgeous THE VANISHED DAYS without issue, however. Kearsley typically writes time-slip novels. Here, there is no traditional time slip of historical and modern characters, but rather a dual timeline with a narrator telling portions of the story (sometimes in present tense and sometimes in past tense), and the second prime character of the narrative living the story in present tense in other chapters. For the portions where the narrator is remembering, it is clear he is older and his timeline is a little jumbled perhaps, so it makes it feel deliciously like a slightly unreliable narrator (a favorite plot device of mine!)
The setting is 1707 Scotland, and the French are preparing to launch an invasion to restore the young exiled King James back to the throne. Tensions are high, and the roiling political machinations are inescapable. Recovering at the Edinburgh dwelling of an old expedition friend, Sargeant Adam Williamson is requested to assist in an investigation for Lord Grange and the Earl of Mar. Expecting a brief and straightforward task, Williamson is pulled into a byzantine intrigue involving the investigation of a purported widow of a recent Scottish colonialization attempt.
This is a sweeping tale of romance, intrigue, and war. The Jacobite time period is rife with betrayals and with the hard consequences of personal integrity, and with uncertainty and upheaval. The growing relationship between Sargeant Williamson and Mrs. Lilias Aitcheson Graeme is complicated by the societal strife around them and the complex ties that bind Lilias in her dilemma. Kearsley’s writing is lyrical and compelling. The convoluted history of the Scottish rebellion is richly displayed in this evoking tale of honor, hope, and love in Kearsley’s THE VANISHED DAYS.
From international bestselling author Susanna Kearsley comes a historical tale of intrigue and revolution in Scotland, where the exile of King James brought plots, machinations, suspicion and untold bravery to light. An investigation of a young widow's secrets by a man who's far from objective, leads to a multi-layered tale of adventure, endurance, romance...and the courage to hope.
In the autumn of 1707, old enemies from the Highlands to the Borders are finding common ground as they join to protest the new Union with England. At the same time, the French are preparing to launch an invasion to bring the young exiled Jacobite king back to Scotland to reclaim his throne, and in Edinburgh the streets are filled with discontent and danger.
Queen Anne's commissioners, seeking to calm the situation, have begun paying out money sent up from London to settle the losses and wages owed to those Scots who took part in the disastrous Darien expedition eight years earlier—an ill-fated venture that left Scotland all but bankrupt.
When the young widow of a Darien sailor comes forward to collect her husband's wages, her claim is challenged. One of the men assigned to investigate has only days to decide if she's honest, or if his own feelings are blinding him to the truth.
The Vanished Days is a prequel and companion novel to The Winter Sea, with action that overlaps some of the action in that book. The Vanished Days goes back in time to the 1680s and introduces the reader to the Moray and Graeme families.
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