Season of Storms

By Susanna Kearsley

In this intriguing novel filled with romance and mystery, a young actress travels to a lakeside villa in northern Italy for the role of a lifetime only to find herself haunted by the ghost of a missing woman—from the New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author Susanna Kearsley.

When promising young actress Celia “Sullivan” Sands receives a letter from Italy offering her the lead role in a play, she is baffled. The invitation from Alessandro D’Ascanio is curiously addressed to her under her real name, which she has long kept secret.

D’Ascanio is planning to stage the first performance of his grandfather Galeazzo D’Ascanio’s masterpiece at an isolated villa on Lake Garda. The stunning play—Galeazzo’s final work—was written in the early 1900s for his muse and mistress, his most enduring obsession: the original Celia Sands. But the night before she was to take the stage in the leading role, she vanished without a trace.

Now, decades later, her namesake accepts the part and travels to Italy. She is instantly drawn to the mysteries surrounding the play—and to her compelling, compassionate employer. But as she settles into the role, she begins to wonder if what happened to the first Celia will come back to haunt her....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Release date: Jun 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9781501184819

Susanna Kearsley

New York Times, USA TODAY, and Globe and Mail bestselling author Susanna Kearsley is a former museum curator who loves restoring the lost voices of real people to the page, often in twin-stranded stories that interweave present and past. Her award-winning novels are published in translation in more than twenty-five countries. She lives near Toronto. Visit her at SusannaKearsley.com or follow her on Twitter @SusannaKearsley.

Reviews for Season of Storms

[andrew1theqm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book, had a slow start for me. Whilst I didn't enjoy it as much as Mariana (one of my favourites) it was still a very good read and grew on me as I got further into the book. I look forward to reading more books by Susanna Kearsley.
I felt this book was similar in style to some of Kate Morton's books.

[doingdewey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book I've read by Susanna Kearsley and it was everything I had hoped for. The dual narrative was very enjoyable. Although the focus was clearly on the story set in the present, I enjoyed reading about past events that had happened at each location. They added context to the present-day mystery and presented a bit of a mystery of their own. The descriptions of the Italian setting were beautiful. The location is very atmospheric and the hints of the supernatural added some spice to the story. I particularly liked learning a bit of Italian history and a bit about the process of putting on a play. Fiction that exposes me to different locations and or professions is something I always appreciate.

The plot pacing was spot on. Something exciting was always happening, whether mystery or romance. I also loved the characters. They all were really brought to life, with their own unique personalities and interests, and I enjoyed their interactions. I was very happy to see characters resolve their misunderstandings by talking about them, instead of acting on assumptions in frustrating ways. Celia was a wonderful main character. She struck the perfect balance between confidence and insecurity, making her very relatable. Her game of assigning people roles in Shakespeare plays also endeared her to me and helped illustrate the type of people the other characters were. If this story jumps out at you as your kind of story, as it did for me, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I'd recommend it particularly to fans of Italian setting and stories with hints of the supernatural.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey.

[tina1969_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Early 1900, Celia Sands, mistress of Galeazzo D'Ascanio is due to star in his play. The night before however she disappears. Decades later her namesake, Celia Sands has been asked by the grandson Alessandro to has agreed to star in the play.I really enjoy books by Susanna Kearsley because for me they have a bit of everything. This book has a little mystery, a romance, and a touch of the supernatural. I did at times think this book was slightly like an Agatha Christie novel where there is a group of people bought together in an old house and I was waiting for them to be killed of one by one. This doesn't happen however.What I love about SK books is that they are so easy to read and the reader can quickly get drawn into the characters and will want to read to the end. This story for me was a lovely read, not dark and oppressive like some thrillers, and not over the top with the supernatural element. A llovely read and I would highly recommend this author.

[margaretpinardauthor · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I could definitely see that this was an earlier work of Kearsley's. I absolutely love her later work, Firebird. She has a way of talking about people's feelings about each other that rises above a misunderstanding and miscommunications, but gets at trust and love. Anyway, here there are slows and starts of pacing, repetition of the coziness of the rooms in the Italian villa, disconnection between the past storyline and the present, just many things that didn't feel fluid and effortless like her later writing. Still, it makes a good end, and was interesting enough for a short read.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A quick read that doesn't have much staying power. The book promised more of a gothic mystery than it delivered. The ends were all tied up a bit too nicely in the end.

[kasthu_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book while I had a bad cold and needed a good, comforting read to carry me over. Season of Storms was just the kind of book that got me through that. The historical element of this book is not as strong as in, say Mariana or Sophia’s Secret, and the “mystery” that takes place in the past is a little predictable, but the modern-day story more than made up for that. There’s a mystery and some ghosts in the modern-day story, and I really enjoyed the suspense and the hint of something supernatural that seems to haunt the second Celia. The characters of this book are also well-formed and fully realized, although the second Celia seemed a lot older than her twenty-two years sometimes.I was also fully able to appreciate the setting of this novel, too—I went to Italy in 2004, and one of the places I visited was Lake Garda and the town of Sirmione. Both are just as beautiful in real life as they’re described in this novel.

[joannalongbourne · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

great setting (Lake Garda in the Italian alps); nice gothic tone; interesting heroine

[fordbarbara · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Spooky, an unemployed actress goes to a large manor house and strange things happen

[kimmr_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This novel is the story of Celia Sands, a young actress given the lead role in a play written by Italian poet and playright Galeazzo D'Ascanio some seventy years previously. The play - Il Prezzo - was inspired by D'Ascanio's muse and lover, an English actress also named Celia Sands. (The actresses are not related). The first Celia disappeared on the night before the play was due to have its first performance and D'Ascanio's grandson has decided to recreate the play in the outdoor theatre built in the garden of his grandfather's estate on Lake Garda.

I really like some aspects of the novel. Kearsley writes clear, elegant prose. She's good at description and her dialogue reads well. There's a big tick for the scenes set in Venice, one of my favourite cities. There's an equally big tick for locating most of the action in a beautiful villa on Lake Garda. I've not been there, but this novel has placed going there on my to-do list. As a theatre lover, I liked the theatrical references: there's stuff about Shakespeare and about Sophocles, about stagecraft, about blocking and technical rehearsals. I also liked the division of the novel into Acts and scenes rather than chapters. It's a cute device in a novel in which theatre is central. There's also an appealing hero, a couple of very nice dogs and some attractive supporting characters.

However, there's quite a bit on the negative side. Overall, the characterisation is flat. The hero isn't fleshed out nearly enough, the heroine / narrator is a bit young and silly and the villains are in the style of bad melodrama. There are very slight supernatural and mystery elements, which don't really go anywhere. Indeed, the mystery - such as it is - is very pedestrian. In addition, it's one of those novels in which coincidence is piled upon coincidence - to the extent that Kearsley has one of the characters comment on the inherent unlikelihood of part of the narrative. There's also some heavy-handed telegraphing of a not terribly important plot point, which had me repeatedly rolling my eyes.

This is the third novel by Susanna Kearsley which I've read and while I like her work well enough, it seems unlikely that she'll ever blow me away. That said, if I were a novelist, I wouldn't mind being like Susanna Kearsley. She sets her books in beautiful locations and clearly spends time in those locations as part of her research. This presumably gives her a useful tax deduction, even if the novel isn't a bestseller. To me this seems like a very sound business plan for a novelist who likes to travel.

If I didn't love the theatre and Italy, I wouldn't have enjoyed this book all that much. However, the setting, the subject matter and the fact that it's an easy, pleasant read make it worth the three star rating.

[readinggeek451 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another old-fashioned romantic suspense novel from Kearsley, who does them so well. Unlike most of Kearsley's books, this one has little or no paranormal content.Struggling young actress Celia Sand is invited to perform the lead in a play written decades ago for her famous namesake, a play that has never been successfully performed. At first reluctant, she is persuaded to take the role by the prospect of working with her beloved godfather, Rupert, who will be directing. Once settled on the Italian estate now owned by the playwright's grandson, where the play will be performed, Celia at first feels out of her depth but soon finds her footing among the disparate personalities of the small company. Fighting an attraction to the grandson, who is involved with another--rather unpleasant--woman, she resolves to focus on the play.Not my favorite of Kearsley's works, but well worth reading.

[margaret.pinard · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I could definitely see that this was an earlier work of Kearsley's. I absolutely love her later work, Firebird. She has a way of talking about people's feelings about each other that rises above a misunderstanding and miscommunications, but gets at trust and love. Anyway, here there are slows and starts of pacing, repetition of the coziness of the rooms in the Italian villa, disconnection between the past storyline and the present, just many things that didn't feel fluid and effortless like her later writing. Still, it makes a good end, and was interesting enough for a short read.

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So, I'm really thinking I may just need to read all of Susanna Kearsley's books. I particularly enjoyed this one, with its Gothic atmosphere and the mystery which spans two time periods. Celia and Alex are wonderful main characters, with an excellent supporting cast of character surrounding them and the plot includes a few delightful twists. Fun and very enjoyable to read.

[julesgdside · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.