fiction, historical fiction, mystery, romance
In typical Susanna Kearsley style, this novel tells two parallel stories--one set in present-day and one set in historical times. The current story revolves around Celia Sands, a young British actress who was just offered a dream role that holds some risks. The historical story revolves around the life of a different Celia Sands, an actress living in Italy in the early 1900s and the mystery surrounding her disappearance.
Season of Storms is my least favorite of all the Susanna Kearsley books I've read. (This is number 7.) It annoyed me in several spots. Yes, most of the typical formula she uses was there and, yes, I did enjoy the characters and the settings, as usual. But, the "bad guys" were ridiculously evil bullies. And, then there were the scenes which SK skimmed over instead of writing in the sometimes-too-detailed manner in which she wrote the bulk of the story, e.g., the scene when Celia encounters a dead body and the lunch scene on the island with Alex (and what was all that crazy character movement, indecision, and spastic lack of progress during that lunch scene anyway?) It made me feel that I'd missed something during those scenes. Plus, the awkward interactions between Celia and Alex through most of the novel were so uncomfortable that it was distracting. We never got to know Alex at all--he was too quiet and to himself.
So, no, it definitely wasn't my favorite. This was one of her earlier novels so I will let it pass. :) I did enjoy Rupert and Bryan immensely. I liked the interplay between the actors and their families. And, I generally wanted to keep reading. I liked the infrequent references to the past in italics...it was a successful device for bringing in the parallel storyline without overwhelming the current story.
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