Aloha to Susanna Kearsley and SEASON OF STORMS - Book Review

A mystery trapped in time

In 1921, infamous Italian poet Galeazzo D'Ascanio wrote his last and greatest play, inspired by his muse and mistress, actress Celia Sands. On the eve of opening night, Celia vanished, and the play was never performed.

Now, two generations later, Alessandro D'Ascanio plans to stage his grandfather's masterpiece and has offered the lead to a promising young English actress, also named Celia Sands - at the whim of her actress mother, or so she has always thought. When Celia arrives at D'Ascanio's magnificent, isolated Italian villa, she is drawn to the mystery of her namesake's disappearance- and to the compelling, enigmatic Alessandro.

But the closer Celia gets to learning the first Celia's fate, the more she is drawn into a web of murder, passion, and the obsession of genius. Though she knows she should let go of the past, in the dark, in her dreams, it comes back...

A storm brewing in Lanakai, Hawaii

Storms make trees take deeper roots. - Dolly Parton

SEASON OF STORMS was first published in 2001.   Sourcebooks rereleased this title with the following note from Susanna:

This book was first published when emails were rare and nobody I knew owned a cell phone.  to update the story's technology would have unraveled the story itself, so I've left the things the way I first wrote them, and hope you'll indulge me.

I won this book last summer during a Sourcebooks promotion. Although I enjoyed other books from Susanna, the book's thickness - 504 pages - intimidated me.  Last week, I cracked open the book and I could not put it down.  Told from the heroine's perspective, Celia Sands (known as Celia Sullivan in the theater world) is a struggling actress with a dwindling bank account and a roommate moving out.   Her roommate gives Celia one last reading from the tarot cards, predicting an adventure  wrapped in a mystery.  The adventure comes as the leading role in Il Prezzo - The Price.  Written by eccentric poet Galeazzo D'Ascanio, the play will be staged on the same theater he built for the play's muse, English actress Celia Sands.  

Alessandro D'Ascanio, the poet's grandson, hires Celia on the condition she uses her given name.  The fact that the two actresses share the same name will a marketing ploy to spotlight D'Ascanio's restored estate on Lake Garda, Il Piacere del Vecchio, The Pleasures of an Old Man.  Celia enjoys a love/hate relationship with the infamous actress.  Her feckless mother gave her the actress' name on a whim.  As such, modern Celia refers to her namesake as Celia the First. 

Modern Celia arrives in Venice with acclaimed director and surrogate father Rupert.  They soak up the local sights which influenced D'Ascanio during the Great War.  Venice is also where D'Ascanio met Celia the First.  As Celia considers how their romance blossomed along the canals, Kearsley plants the seeds of the coming mystery. 

The story moves to Lake Garda, where cast and crew meet their host, Alessandro.  Half Italian, half English, he asks them to call him Alex but remains distant from his guests.  The cast begin rehearsals in the estate's ballroom while Alex overseas the theater's renovations.  As storms roll in, Gothic elements seep into the story with missing servants, ghost sightings, and clandestine meetings. The mysterious events only intrigue the merry band of actors.  Like true thespians, they immerse themselves in the poet's life by admiring his objects de art, including a chalice stolen by the Fourth Crusade's sacking of Constantinople.  They discover secrets about the celebrated poet, his muse,  and even themselves.

The absence of today's technology enabled the characters to engage in the lost art of innocent pleasures, such as an afternoon drink on the terrace, lively debate at the dinner table, and reading classics found in the poet's library. Kearsley weaves the stories of Sophocles, the Fourth Crusade, and the Great War into the plot as conversations topics, inspiring the actors to reflect on their own lives. 

Recommended read for fans of historical fiction, modern Gothic romance, and Italian culture. 

Conquest Of Constantinople By The Crusaders In 1204
Public Domain (link) 

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  What do you know about Venice, Lake Garda, and/or Italia?  

As I learned from SEASON OF STORMS, the Fourth Crusade to Jerusalem stopped in Venice for provisions.  After a series of political manipulation, the Crusaders joined the Venetians in sacking Constantinople, creating the Great Schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Eight hundred years later, Pope John Paul II apologized, 

"It is tragic that the assailants, who set out to secure free access for Christians to the Holy Land, turned against their brothers in the faith. The fact that they were Latin Christians fills Catholics with deep regret."  

Yes, I love history!

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, July 18, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, July 19.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Check out my review of Susanna's other modern Gothic novels, THE SPLENDOR FALLS (link) and THE SHADOWY HORSES (link).