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Season of Storms
by
Susanna Kearsley (Goodreads Author)
In the early 1900s, in the elegant, isolated villa Il Piacere, the playwright Galeazzo D'Ascanio lived for Celia Sands. She was his muse and his mistress, his most enduring obsession. And she was the inspiration for his most stunning and original play. But the night before she was to take the stage in the leading role, Celia disappeared. Now, decades later, in a theatre on...more
Paperback, 496 pages
Published
February 8th 2010
by Allison & Busby
(first published August 1st 2001)
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Jan 09, 2012
Rio (Lynne)
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
library-book,
chick-lit
In the 1920's an actress, Celia Sands became the lover and muse of the playwright Galeazza D'Ascanio. He built the beautiful Il Piacere for her and wrote a play for her to star in . The night before she was supposed to take stage she disappeared. This book is different than the last two Kearsley books I read. This one isn't about time travel or connections with people of the past (well, not sort of.) In this one D'Ascanio's grandson Alex resurrects the play his Grandfather wrote and Celia Sands...more
Season of Storms - G
Kearsley, Susanna
The author weaves two stories in one. One is about a turn of the century actress, Celia Sands, who mysteriously disappeared, during a torrid affair with her wealthy, married Italian lover, who wrote a play for her. She never had an opportunity to perform the leading role in her lover's masterpiece, however, due to her untimely disappearance. The main story line is about a present day actress of the same name, though no relation, who is called upon to play the...more
Kearsley, Susanna
The author weaves two stories in one. One is about a turn of the century actress, Celia Sands, who mysteriously disappeared, during a torrid affair with her wealthy, married Italian lover, who wrote a play for her. She never had an opportunity to perform the leading role in her lover's masterpiece, however, due to her untimely disappearance. The main story line is about a present day actress of the same name, though no relation, who is called upon to play the...more
This is tough. Not the typical Susanna Kearsley work by any stretch of the imagination. I thought it was perhaps her first novel, but that was Marianna, which was, in spite of my lack of enthusiasm for it in comparison to The Winter Sea and the exquisite The Rose Garden, vastly superior to this.
I think the device of trying to fit the story into the structure of the 5 acts of the play caused the real problem. The entire first act trip through Venice was dull. What little foreshadow there was didn...more
I think the device of trying to fit the story into the structure of the 5 acts of the play caused the real problem. The entire first act trip through Venice was dull. What little foreshadow there was didn...more
This is my 4th Susanna Kearsley book and my least favorite so far. It was still an entertaining quick read with beautiful descriptions of Italy (a favorite country of mine)an old villa (I LOVE old villas!) and some lovely characters. However, I did find it predictable and anti-climatic which is a huge problem for me. The characters were pretty one dimensional, and I kept waiting for something that blew me away. But no. Even the emotions of the characters ran a bit cold for me. I wasn't feeling m...more
Apr 14, 2011
Samantha
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites,
genre-gothic-mystery
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Not as interesting as some of her other books. Too much description of locals and both the characters and the story seemed muted and trumped up. It's about a young actress who is named by her mother for an Italian actress who disappeared years before while living with her wealthy lover in a castle in the Alps. Celia Sands has used a different stage name, but is asked to star in a play written for her namesake by her lover - his grandson commissioning the play to be performed at the castle. One o...more
While I did enjoy Season of Storms this was probably thus far my least favorite of Susanna Kearsley books that I've read. I'm rather suprised because I loved Shadowy Horses, Mariana and Splendour Falls and Season of Storms was written after those books. It starts off rather dry and like a Shakespeare play it takes a while for the plot to really unfold. There are a few twists and turns that I didn't see coming but once told it was obvious which is sad because you can never get that first read fee...more
Season of Storms is my third Susanna Kearsley novel, and it was another good one.
During early 1900s Italy, playwright Galeazzo D'Ascanio, living at his villa Il Piascere writes a play for his love, actress Celia Sands. Only to have her disappear the night before the play's premiere.
In the modern day, another actress named Celia Sands (no relation to the first) is offered the part in the play written for Celia the first, a play that has yet to see the light of day. The play will be staged by D'As...more
During early 1900s Italy, playwright Galeazzo D'Ascanio, living at his villa Il Piascere writes a play for his love, actress Celia Sands. Only to have her disappear the night before the play's premiere.
In the modern day, another actress named Celia Sands (no relation to the first) is offered the part in the play written for Celia the first, a play that has yet to see the light of day. The play will be staged by D'As...more
I liked this book but it didn't have as much of the paranormal or time travel type aspects she usually has in her books. I wish she'd have explained how Bryan and Rupert became her surrogate fathers, it doesn't explain the relationship between her mother and them. Anyhow, I also thought that this reminded me a little (tiny bit) of Brenda Joyce's novel "Casa de Suenos" but I liked that book better, more drama and action, where I thought this one was a bit slow on both of those fronts. Not my fav...more
Guys, I love Susanna Kearsley. I do. Love. It's like her books have this pull over me and I have to read them all and I get sucked along this whirlwind ride. That's why I picked up Season of Storms when I saw it at my library despite having a pile of books I need to get through. Unfortunately, this particular novel didn't grab me the way Kearsley's books normally do.
Season of Storms follows burgeoning actress Celia Sands as she takes on her first major role. In the early twentieth century, playw...more
Season of Storms follows burgeoning actress Celia Sands as she takes on her first major role. In the early twentieth century, playw...more
This novel is the story of Celia Sands, a young actress given the lead role in a play written by Italian poet and playright Galeazzo D'Ascanio some seventy years previously. The play - Il Prezzo - was inspired by D'Ascanio's muse and lover, an English actress also named Celia Sands. (The actresses are not related). The first Celia disappeared on the night before the play was due to have its first performance and D'Ascanio's grandson has decided to recreate the play in the outdoor theatre built i...more
"In the early 1900s, in an elegant, isolated villa called Il Piacere, the playwright Galeazza D'Ascanio lived for Celia Sands. She was his muse and his mistress, his most enduring obsession. She was the inspiration for his most stunning, original play. But the night before she was to take the stage in the leading role, she disappeared.
Now, in a theatre on the grounds of Il Piacere, Alessandro D'Ascanio is preparing to stage the first performance of his grandfather's masterpiece. A promising youn...more
Now, in a theatre on the grounds of Il Piacere, Alessandro D'Ascanio is preparing to stage the first performance of his grandfather's masterpiece. A promising youn...more
I didn't think I'd ever meet a Kearsley book that I didn't much like, but sadly, "Season of Storms" was it. Don't get me wrong, it was well written like all Kearsley books, and highly evocative of Mary Stewart with lovely place descriptions. The characters were ok, and the ending had a twist that I wasn't expecting, which was nice.
But I wasn't very interested in the plot involving a young stage actress reprising the main lead in a play written for another young stage actress (with the exact same...more
But I wasn't very interested in the plot involving a young stage actress reprising the main lead in a play written for another young stage actress (with the exact same...more
Once again this author has delivered a suspenseful, riveting read, filled with interesting, well-developed characters and relationships that matter to the reader. A good bit of history and a whole lot of gorgeous Italian countryside add to the richness of the reading experience. I have not yet been disappointed by this author -- her style combines lovely writing with credible dialogue, suspense with romance, history with modern plot designs, and, as always, a very slight, subtle supernatural ele...more
The book was well written. It's a soft mystery that doesn't really keep you on the edge of your seat, but you do keep wondering... It's more mysterious than mystery. It gives insight into the production of a stage play from beginning until opening night and the various phases of rehearsals along the way, something I was totally unaware of. It's an easy enjoyable read and does hold one's interest. The characters are quite interesting and the character development is good.
A good read but not one that knocked me out or kept me up all night. Well written though the plot was not all that enticing to me. The young actress shares the name but not the blood of a famous actress and receives the leading role of a difficult to produce play principally due to her name. Romance, murder and mystery follow and some appearances that are either nightmares or ghostly apparitions.
Nov 27, 2010
Stephanie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction-for-adults
Lovely novel in the tradition of Mary Stewart and Barbara Michaels (full of references to history, plenty of suspense, lush romance, and ghosts!). And it was totally compulsive reading - if I'd been single and childless, I definitely would have stayed up all night to finish it. :) Plus, the descriptions of Italy were so yummy and so vivid, I got lots of vicarious enjoyment out of the setting.
Susanna Kearsley is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. I love her writing style. She makes her characters so real I can imagine knowing them. They don't make all the stupid mistakes that many characters make that drive me insane as a reader, but they are human and tangible. I love her stories based on real places and sometimes real people, but the story is unique and original.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere in this book. Lake Garda in Italy is the setting for the action which centres around the production of a play written in the 1930s for the actress Celia Sands. Seventy years later, another Celia Sands (not related) is to take on the role that the original never got to play, having disappeared the night before it opened. But what really happened to the first Celia, will this version of the play be dogged by difficulties as others have been?
I thought this one of Kea...more
I thought this one of Kea...more
At first as I was finishing this book I was about to rate it a 2 or a 3. The beginning and middle is slow and I got bored of it easily. The writing and everything was extremely good it just didn't live up to my expectations from reading the back cover. Then when I got to the end it got so much more exciting and I knew I had to rate it a 4 because of how well the author planned out everything, how exciting and eventful the end was and because of her beautiful writing. I would recommend this book...more
Two story strands are woven together in this novel. The first involves a young actress, Celia Sands, the mistress of a wealthy Italian playwright who is inspired to write a play for her. However she mysteriously disappears before it can be performed. The second, set decades later, involves another young actress also called Celia Sands who is chosen to play the first Celia's role as the play is brought to the stage for the first time. It's a light and entertaining read combining elements of roman...more
Feb 27, 2011
laninaki
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2011,
general-fiction
This is only the second of Kearsley's books that I've read and while I can see why she's been compared to Mary Stewart and Elizabeth Peters (really, though, it should be Barbara Michaels and not Elizabeth Peters b/c Kearsely's works don't read like Peters, even though Peters and Michaels are the same author), I have some reservations. For one thing, I just read over 400 pages and really think that the interesting bits only took up about 50 of those. In spite of that, I enjoyed the read. I just d...more
A little bit of history, a little bit of romance, a little bit of mystery, and a very little bit of the paranormal. It didn't seem to follow the base template of Kearsley's other novels, which made for a refreshing change. It wasn't quite as gripping as her other stories, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Aug 08, 2011
Teea
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
paranormal,
mystery-adventure
I've read quite a few of Kearsley's novels lately. I've got to say that they are rather unremarkable. I do like her heroines, but the stories move so slowly and the mysteries, laced with a little paranormal, are predictable. I enjoyed them enough to finish them, but not really enough to promote them.
Celia Sands is an actress who is invited to take part in a production of a play that's been labeled cursed; written by Galeazzo D'Ascanio in the early 1900s for his mistress, also named Celia Sands, the play has never been successfully produced since the earlier Celia's mysterious disappearance just before its premiere. Now, D'Ascanio's grandson wants to put on the play at Galeazzo's villa in northern Italy, but when Celia arrives there, strange things begin to happen. Though I liked the charact...more
I just love Susanna Kearsley’s novels. They are beautifully written mystery novels. That said, this one may have been a bit heavy on the description of the setting. Even though she spent way too much time describing the setting, She still had a compelling plot that kept me turing the page.
I really liked the other books I've read by this author, but this one was a disappointment. The history was very interesting, but the plot was slow and confusing at times, it was hard to get into. There was no chemisty between the main characters, who were supposed to be falling in love.
I love Susanna Kearsley's books and writing style, so no surprise I greatly enjoyed this book as well. It showed the importance of people who love us, regardless of blood relation - loyalty and having trust and confidenc in yourself. There were a few ghosts and a mystery as well, all set in Englad and Italy - with a great desciption of the weather and place - drawing me fully into the story. A fun read!
I love her other books, but this one I stopped reading. It was just very obvious, too much time spent on detail to surroundings like other reviews remarked...and I didn't really care one way or the other about the character. Was this one of her first? If so, it's apparent.
This was much more traditional gothic novel than Susanna Kearsley's other novels, which I liked! Not everything worked out perfectly in the end (like life) and there was good mixed in with the bad, both other worldly and real worldly.
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Aka Emma Cole.
Susanna Kearsley studied politics and international development at university, and has worked as a museum curator.
Her first novel Mariana won the prestigious Catherine Cookson Literary Prize and launched her writing career. Susanna continued her mix of the historical and paranormal in novels The Splendour Falls, Named of the Dragon, Shadowy Horses and Season of Storms.
Susanna Kearsle...more
More about Susanna Kearsley...
Susanna Kearsley studied politics and international development at university, and has worked as a museum curator.
Her first novel Mariana won the prestigious Catherine Cookson Literary Prize and launched her writing career. Susanna continued her mix of the historical and paranormal in novels The Splendour Falls, Named of the Dragon, Shadowy Horses and Season of Storms.
Susanna Kearsle...more
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Jan 01, 2012 12:35pm
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