I received a free copy of The Firebird from Sourcebooks for my honest review.
About the Book:
One Mysterious Relic.
Separated By Centuries.
About the Author:
Hailed as “the Daphne du Maurier of her generation”, Susanna Kearsley is the author of several novels of suspense, including the internationally bestselling MARIANA, winner of Britain’s Catherine Cookson Fiction Prize. A former museum curator, she brings her own passion for research and travel to bear in her books, weaving history with modern-day intrigue in a way that, in the words of one reviewer, “tells the story of the past and illuminates the present.”
My Opinion:
There are certain authors I will jump through hoops to read their books; Susanna Kearsley is in that company. I have read two of her books and was not disappointed with this third. She is expert at weaving the present into the past and then back again to the here and now. And you don’t feel a fool for believing what you are reading even though you know it would never truly happen.
In this book, characters from two of her previous novels make appearances – The Winter Sea (which I did not read) and The Shadowy Horses (which I did.) I felt a touch at a loss with not having read The Winter Sea but not enough to ruin my thorough enjoyment of the novel. I am going to have to acquire that book now to bring it all full circle. I sincerely doubt that will be any great hardship.
Nicola is an expert in Russian artifacts and a woman brings in a small wooden carving that has been in her family for generations. Family lore is that the Empress Catherine gave it to one of her ancestors but there is no proof so Nicola’s company cannot accept it for sale. But what Nicola can’t tell her or her boss is that she can “read” objects so she knows that the story is, in fact, true. She also knows from handling the woman’s scarf that she is dying and wants the money from the sale of this object, the Firebird, to go on a trip. Nicola wants to help her and so will use her gift/curse to try and prove provenance of the carving. She cannot do it alone, though and enlists the aid of the one person she has met who is just like her – a person she was never going to interact with again.
What follows is a thrilling tale of Nicola and Robbie (of The Shadowy Horses fame) tracking the Firebird through time as they discover the history of the mysterious Anna to whom the piece was given. Ms. Kearsley knows how to bring history alive and most assuredly how to weave history and current times into a compelling and suspenseful tale. I was turning pages as fast as I could – most of the time. There were a couple of slow patches but not many. I was again totally engaged with the world created as the truth of the Firebird came to be told.
Rating:
4.5
You can read an excerpt of The Firebird
You can purchase The Firebird on Amazon.com
You can purchase The Firebird on Sourcebooks
You can read my review of The Shadowy Horses
You can purchase The Shadowy Horses on Amazon.com
You can purchase The Shadowy Horses on Sourcebooks
You can purchase The Winter Sea on Amazon.com
You can purchase The Winter Sea on Sourcebooks
Disclosure: I received a free copy of The Firebird from Sourcebooks for my honest review. I received no compensation for this post.
