The Firebird

I am reading the Firebird by Susanna Kearsley via audible in my car.  As I have said before, Romance is not my favorite genre.  However, the Jacobite uprising ARE one of my favorite subjects.  And I like having history poured into my head with sugar coating.....that is understanding what was going on by looking at someone's life in the time period.  Susanna Kearsley does that very well.  I would never have known that the Scots were in so many places  in the time period just after 1712.  I would never have known the facts that I now know about the building of St Petersburg in Russia.  So I will repeat, while I do not love the Romance genre, I am enjoying this book!


*Starred Review* Authentic historic detail, a touch of the paranormal, and romance come together with a synergistic effect in versatile Kearsley’s (The Rose Garden, 2011) lovely and memorable novel. Nicola Marter works for a London gallery. She not only holds master’s degrees in Russian studies and art history; she also has the secret ability to hold an object and see past events. When a woman comes in with a small carved bird, Nicola has a vision of the Empress Catherine giving it to a young woman named Anna. With no documented provenance, the carving is worthless to collectors, and Nicola feels impelled to authenticate it. Impulsively, she heads to Scotland and enlists the assistance of Rob McMorran, to whom she was attracted when she met him in a psychic study. Even though Nicola can practice psychometry, she knows that Rob’s much stronger psychic powers will be invaluable. Together they embark on a journey that takes them to Ypres and Saint Petersburg and opens a window onto the early eighteenth century and the plight of Jacobites as they unravel Anna’s story. --Diana Tixier Herald