Season of Storms

In 1921, renowned playwright and poet Galeazzo D’Ascanio met a young, beautiful actress named Celia Sands. Already married and past his prime, Galeazzo, nonetheless, made Celia his mistress, and built her a lavish palazzo on the shores of Lake Garda, overlooking the Dolomites Mountains. He had been a prolific writer in his younger years—a celebrated genius—but by the time he met Celia, he had been plagued with writer’s block for years. This new affair invigorated him so that he started working feverishly. He wrote a book of poetry with Celia as inspiration, and also penned a play, his last, to cast her in the leading role. Unfortunately, the play could never debut; Celia vanished without a trace the night before the opening. Some said she left Galeazzo for a younger man... But, did she?Seventy plus years later, Galeazzo D’Ascanio’s grandson, young Alessandro “Alex” D’Ascanio, wants to revive his family’s legacy. For that, he has entrusted the renovation of his grandfather’s Italian palazzo to a trust that will make the place available to the public. He also wants to revive Galeazzo’s last play—the one he wrote for Celia. During a stay in England, Alex contacts renowned theater director Rupert Neville to direct the play. As sometimes the right publicity is hard to come by, it comes to Alex’s attention that there is a young, British actress named Celia “Sullivan”, whose last name is actually Sands, in no manner related to Galeazzo’s Celia. The modern Celia Sands was born with the right genes—her mother being a famous, theater actress herself—but she is barely scraping by. Celia has talent, but a leading role has eluded her thus far... until now. Will the unstageable play see the light of day, or will history repeat itself?In a clever use of words, the title of this novel, Season of Storms, is also the title of the book of poetry Galeazzo D’Ascanio dedicated to his lover, Celia Sands. Galeazzo’s book was informally known in this novel as “the Celia poems”.The setting of the novel Season of Storms is a lavish if unsettling Italian palazzo, with floors that creak, a labyrinthine garden and, unsettled, early spring weather. Add to it, a seance that wakes up a ghost, and duplicity and misdirection at every turn. It’s a great recipe for a delightful romance with the right amount of ambiance and spookiness, perfect to read when the days turn darker and cooler.I liked most of the good characters in this novel. They had the right balance of flaws and vulnerabilities to seem authentic. It also helps that Kearsley used them for misdirection so they wouldn’t appear as goody-goodies as they might otherwise be. In contrast, the villains were more black-and-white; a little cartoonish, if you ask me.This is the 10th novel I read by Susanna Kearsley. She is one of my favorite authors. If well Season of Storms is not my favorite novel of hers—that place is shared by The Winter Sea and The Firebird—, this is one with more universal themes that may be destined to become a classic.

Kearsley's uncanny technique of molding coincidences of the past with happenstances of the present is explored again with great success in her latest offering "Season of Storms". Here fledgling actress, Celia Sands bears the same name as the infamous lover of famous Italian lake district playwright Galeazzo D'Ascanio of the early 1900s. . . and now seemingly serendipitiously she is chosen by the deliciously understated Alessandro D'Ascanio, grandson of the famous playwright, to actually perform the lead in a recently discovered but unknown and unperformed masterpiece written by his grandfather especially for that first Celia. Upon arriving at Il Piacere in Italy, our heroine is initially fraught with many emotions, many of which stem from her fear of failure in the distinguished company of other cast and crew members. She must cope with the bald fact that legendary actress Madeleine Hedrick is playing one of the other leads and that the selfish actions of her own actress mother caused Hedrick's marital breakup. With regret, she notices that Hedrick's newest relationship with a younger man, the third actor, eerily parallels the action of the play itself-- the older woman thrown aside for a younger lover. And this is not the only coincidence, for as the actors prepare for that first performance, other mysterious incidents surrounding the play come under the scrutiny of a light from the past which floods the future of the inhabitants of Il Piacere, placing them in the wake of imminent danger.Kearsley seems to have discovered that knack for combining a luscious setting, a questioning damsel in distress, and a contained mystery with a smorgasbord of tasty male morsels to create a tantalizing reading experience in the worthy tradition of Mary Stewart.

I started with Kearsley's  The Winter Sea  and now can't seem to stop. Only availability and used book prices are keeping me from sweeping up all things written by Susanna Kearsley/Emma Cole. If you were a big fan of Mary Stewart some years ago, as I was, Kearsley's books will appeal to you very much. Exotic settings, young/"youngish" heroines, mysteries with a hint of the paranormal, reincarnation and flashbacks to the past, slow-developing romances with a handsome male, it's all there in her books.In this one, modern-day aspiring London actress Celia Sands is recruited to act in a play in Italy, a play written in the early 1900s by playwright Galeazzo D'Ascanio for his much younger actress love and muse by the name of Celia Sands (no relation to our modern-day heroine). But just before the play was to open in 1921 or thereabouts, the first Celia mysteriously disappeared. Did she run away or was she murdered?Our modern-day Celia is asked by the playwright's grandson, Alessandro D'Ascanio, to play the leading role in the first-ever presentation of the play, to be put on at the theater on the grounds of the D'Ascanio estate of Il Piacere. Once Celia is in Italy, she has quite an adventure waiting for her, involving a huge cast of characters, both Italians, Brits and one American. There's skulduggery concerning priceless artefacts at the estate dating from ancient times, lots of romantic intrigue involving any number of characters, interesting tidbits about how one sets about putting on a play, possible ghosts and mysterious happenings, and it's just an all-around good read for fans of romantic suspense.

Ms Kearsley has a gift for creating characters that are likeable, even lovable. However, there was so much potential in this book that was never realised.For one thing, I hated that the main villains got away. For another, there was so much hinting around the missing/murdered Celia#1 - and then when we find out what happened to her and where she was buried, Celia#2 ends up in the crypt and there I am thinking - finally, at last she'll find the body and we'll have a kind of delayed justice. But oh no, she doesn't. There's just a lot of dull cloak and dagger stuff about stolen relics (boring) and poor Celia #1 gets forgotten. What a let down!Indeed, that was one of the book's major flaws - a continual build-up that promised great action, and then...nothing. It was very frustrating.The old lady (one of my favourite characters) infers she knows what happened, but because of protecting the family name, won't/doesn't pursue it. I thought - surely Alex would be more interested in seeing justice done, albeit delayed and knowing the truth, rather then perpetuating a great big cover up. He's quite the gentleman. And anyway, we all know scandal can be a greater crowd puller. That beautiful Italian property would have exerted a greater pull on the tourists with a scandalous back story like that. I really think our author missed a trick there. I felt the same way at the end of The Lovely Bones - body never found. No closure. I felt a similar sense of being let down and wasting time I can never get back.Talking of Alex, he didn't seem quite real. He had a mystique about him and was away so often that we heard more about his dogs than him! Descriptions of gardens and decor and landscapes were written in excrutiating detail. To be fair such a device does enhance that immersive sensation when reading a book, but it can be overdone, as it was here. Surely her editor could have done some judicious pruing. It would have been a better book for it.There is a nice reveal at the end, surprisingly moving actually, but it was too little too late for me.Ordinarily I'd give it two stars, but because she writes with such warmth and vividness, I'll give it three.Ultimately, our author does create characters you root for and care for and has a fab imagination, but I liked Rose Garden better. Will push on and try some of her others.

This is the last of Ms Kearsley's novels that I have recently read and though I enjoyed it, I found it very slow and the least enjoyable of her collection. If you are just starting her novels, then this would probably be the best one to begin with as her others are much more accomplished. It is a light read, very slow to get into and for me, the story didn't quite take off until the final few chapters. Saying that, her descriptive prose is superb and her storylines never fail to capture the readers interest but sadly, I was quite glad to reach the end and it is not one which I would read again. Please do not be put off by this! Her following books are a delight and many I would recommend, especially Marianna and The Winter Sea which were divine. She is a superb storyteller and I am looking forward to the release of her new novel next year.

I am now on my fourth Susanna Kearsley novel and am so impressed with her writing and the research that goes into her books. I am really really loving this 'The Season of Storms' as she paints such a wonderful picture of Venice.I can imagine I am sitting in St. Mark's Piazza outside Florian's with my Prosecco whilst the musical quartet is playing which she describes in such fascinating detail. Also her descriptions of Lake Garda (where I have also visited) are sumptuously written. I feel as if I am sitting in the villa's beautiful garden gazing down at the lake and the mountains surrounding it with the fragrant smell of the plants and flowers that she also describes so well. Obviously as well as the lovely descriptions of this fabulous area, her storyline is excellent. Loving it!Iris

Although I enjoyed this book, it didn't really leave any lasting effect on me. The writing is good and the story is interesting enough, I just felt as if the book as a whole was lacking something. The author almost, but not quite, introduces a supernatural element to the story, but because she doesn't fully commit it just feels a little underwhelming.However, the characters had depth and the plot was interesting enough that I wanted to see how everything turned out in the end.Worth a read, just not worth 5 stars.

I struggled to finish this book in the hope it would improve, but it did'nt! The plot was totally unbelievable and half the characters were surplus to requirements. The "leading lady" aged twenty two, behaved like a twelve year old wimpish, victorian miss, I think she clung to every standing male available. The endless descriptions were simply boring and I truly can't think of anyone I would recommend this book to.