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Quick Review: "The Splendour Falls" by Susanna Kearsley

  

From Goodreads:  1205 - the town of Chinon is beseiged by enemies of King John, and his young Queen calls upon a trusted servant to conceal her treasured jewels.

Emily Braden is intrigued by the medieval story of Queen Isabelle, and cannot resist when her cousin Harry, a historian, suggests a trip to the white-walled town of Chinon, nestling in France's Loire Valley. But when Harry vanishes and Emily begins to search for him, she stumbles across another intriguing mystery -- a second Isabelle, a chambermaid during the Second World War, who had her own tragedy, and her own treasure to hide.

As Emily explores the ancient town of labyrinthine tunnels, old enmities, and new loves, she finds herself drawn ever closer to the mysterious Isabelles and their long-kept secrets.

 My Thoughts: I am quickly becoming a Susanna Kearsley fan.  This book sucked me in and would not let go until I finished. The story jumped between the 13th century, World War II and the present.  The different historical perspectives added so much to the story; it's not often that I read something with three different points of views in three different eras but Kearsley pulled it off and created a great story. 

There are quite a few characters in this story and they all seem to be interconnected and very unique. Each of them has their own interesting story and their own special role in the overarching story.  I'm not usually a fan of there being a ton of different 'main' characters but it really worked in this case.

The setting of this book is amazing.  I had never heard of Chinon, France but from the way Kearsley describes it, I want to go there!  After reading this book, I had to go look up pictures of Chinon to see what it looked like because I was so awed by the way it was portrayed in the book.  Her descriptions create this beautiful, peaceful place and it really added so much to the story. 

This was just another wonderful book by Susanna Kearsley and I seriously recommend it enough.  4 1/2 stars.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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