Hello, beautiful people!
When I saw that I could request
Bellewether by Susanna
Kearsley on Netgalley, I didn't hesitate one second, as it was one of
my most anticipated releases of the year, considering how much I
adore her other works. Of course, I was over the moon to get
approved and to discover another era, another mystery and another
love story. Bellewether
was released this Tuesday, so today, I thought I would share my
review of it with you!
Published: August 7th 2018 by Sourcebooks Landmark
Genres: historical fiction, romance
Number of pages: 512
Summary: "The house, when I first saw it, seemed intent on guarding what it knew; but we all learned, by the end of it, that secrets aren't such easy things to keep."
It's late summer, war is raging, and families are torn apart by divided loyalties and deadly secrets. In this complex and dangerous time, a young French Canadian lieutenant is captured and billeted with a Long Island family, an unwilling and unwelcome guest. As he begins to pitch in with the never-ending household tasks and farm chores, Jean-Philippe de Sabran finds himself drawn to the daughter of the house. Slowly, Lydia Wilde comes to lean on Jean-Philippe, true soldier and gentleman, until their lives become inextricably intertwined. Legend has it that the forbidden love between Jean-Philippe and Lydia ended tragically, but centuries later, the clues they left behind slowly unveil the true story.
Part history, part romance, and all kinds of magic, Susanna Kearsley's latest masterpiece will draw you in and never let you go, even long after you've closed the last page.
MY THOUGHTS
Disclaimer : I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The quotes I used might have changed in the final copy.
"You'll find most people, when you get to know them, are not what you were afraid they'd be. They're only people."
Susanna
Kearsley's novels are in part known for their dual historical
perspectives: they usually follow a character in our own time,
trying to understand what happened to historical figures, with a
touch of supernatural. This time around, our protagonist was Charley,
who had just been appointed as a curator to the Wilde House Museum and
discovered the legend of Lydia and her French soldier, which made her curious to
understand what really happened, to potentially include it into the museography
of the museum.
I
truly enjoyed reading about Charley, especially because I knew how
accurately Kearsley described what it meant to be a curator, talked
about their daily duties and the opposition they could encounter by
an administration board or local historical societies. Susanna
Kearsley actually used to be a museum curator – so she's trained in
history and that's why she's amazing with historical details! – and I felt like it showed, so it made me really happy, considering all
the knowledge I have of that world. Charley's narrative also was quite interesting, because it was about reconnecting with your
family, as well as grief, which was splendidly done. Bellewether
also had references to some of
Kearsley's previous novels, I didn't catch those she mentioned in her
author's note, but she mentioned Sebastian from The
Firebird, I wasn't quite sure until I double checked, but it made me so proud to recognise that as a fan of her works!
Moreover,
while all of Kearsley's novels (that I have read, at least?) are set
in Europe, this one was set in America and I was so curious,
because I don't know that much about the Seven Years War from an American
perspective. Once again, Kearsley astonished me with the accuracy of
her research, how she wrote about some historical figures, how I
time-traveled and was walking alongside Lydia and Jean-Philippe. As I'm
French, I also was fascinated to learn about French people in America
at that time, whether it was the Acadians or the Canadians, for we
don't learn about them that much at school.
Bellewether also was,
in part, about slavery; the author wrote about people who owned slaves and people who were against it, about
running away and staying, about how we, in our modern societies,
could hide from that past.
"Lara told her, "That's true. You know, back when I went to school we never learned about us having slaves in the north. It was all just the Underground Railroad and Lincoln, and how we were good and the south was so bad, and then I read this article on slavery in Brroklyn and it said at one time New York had more slaves than any city except Charleston. And it blew my mind. I mean," she said, "it shouldn't have. I should have known of course we had slaves, too. The history was all right there, if I'd just looked for it." "You liked the 'nice' story better." Malaika was matter-of-fact. "Most folks do. It makes them feel good." (p. 125)
Bellewether confronted
racism several times, when it talked about slavery, of course, but
also about Native Americans. In the 18th
century narrative, it approached the topic with a dual perspective
from two soldiers, one talking about how they were 'savages' (that character was truly awfull), the
second one trying to show him how wrong he was and how those
societies that called themselves 'civilised' could be prejudiced and
in the wrong. It also approached that topic in the contemporary narrative,
as an important character was Native American. It also talked about
respectful terminology, I don't know how accurate it was and it felt
a bit forced at first, but then it got better.
The plot of this novel
was really enjoyable, even though I had to confess that I struggled a
bit to get into it and thought the second half was so much better
than the first one. The first half of the novel was about setting the
mystery and the characters, whereas the second half was about getting
all the answers and it became gripping. I adored the atmosphere
created around the Wilde House, with the supernatural element (a
ghost this time), it was almost a bit scary considering the
legend, which was so much fun in a way. I also have the feeling that the
ending was a little bit abrupt: I did have the closure I wanted, but
it all happened so fast, like the author realised that she had to
finish her book. I truly hope this was resolved in the final copy,
because it was a tad frustrating.
"She'd fought those feelings all the could, while standing in that doorway. She had told heself the trembling was from fear, and nothing else. But it had been an unconvincing explanation, and her heart had not believed it.Hearts were stubborn things, and often inconvenient." (p. 280)
Now, about the romance.
There is always a point in Susanna Kearsley's novels when the romance
takes a big step on the plot and unfortunately, they usually are my least
favourite part of the novel, because there are one in the contemporary era,
one in the historical one, it kind of feels too much. I quite liked the one involving Charley,
in the 21th century, even though a certain scene didn't
feel natural. However, I wasn't that convinced about Lydia and
Jean-Philippe. I agree that they liked each other, I do. I agree that
Kearsley can write romance scenes that make me smile, I do. But
how am I supposed to believe that two characters are in love and want
to spend the rest of their lives together
when they didn't really speak the same language and had known each
other only for a few months? I can understand attraction in this
situation, but I thought that the love bit was a little too much. I
know I'm not big on romance most of the time, but still.
Overall,
Bellewether was
a good historical novel, although it wasn't my favourite of
Kearsley's works. While I adored the mystery, the setting and
Charley's storyline, I had a suspension of disbelief problem with the
romance between Lydia and Jean-Philippe. Still, if you're interested
to read a historical novel set during the Seven Years War in America,
you should give it a go! Otherwise, you should still try some of
Susanna Kearsley's other works, such as The
Winter Sea
(my personal favourite), The
Shadowy Horses
or The Firebird
(also that's the chronological order if you want to get all the
references).
Thank you for reading,
Lots of love,
Lucie
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