The Vanished Days

I cannot find words enough to praise the amazing talent of Susannah kearsley. The depth of detail and the superb touch that draws you into the story and akes yourself like you are walking beside the characters is a talent unsurpassed by many other authors. I have loved this Jacobite series and many other of her novels and would encourage anyone to read them. You will not be disappointed. Thank you for many hours of happy reading

I want to start by saying I enjoyed the first two books of this series. They're well written, extremely well researched, and the characters were likeable. So when I purchased this book, I expected something good.I just didn't know *how* good it would be!The first reason this book gripped me was because of the heroine. Don't get me wrong; I liked Sophia and Anna in the first two books, very much, though I didn't connect as much with the modern-day feminine counterparts.Lily, however, won me from the start. I plain *liked* her, even as a child and I rooted for her throughout the story. I held my breath and kept reading *long* after I should have stopped (more than once, I might add) because I knew, just *knew*, that people in her life weren't going to treat her the way they should, but I so hoped that I'd be wrong, or that if I wasn't, that Lily would somehow find a way out.Lily doesn't have an easy life, but she's no victim. She's a survivor through and through, loyal to a fault, and clever as well, with unexpected talents. I have no higher recommendation than this: I just plain liked her, and she's the kind of character you'd like to have as a friend.The hero grew on me more slowly, but I ended by liking him nearly as much as Lily, though for very different reasons. I can't say much more without potentially ruining things, so I won't.Also, MAJOR kudos to Kearsley for utterly and totally fooling me with the twist at the end. I completely did not see that coming, and 99 times out of 100, I see twists coming a mile away. Ma'am, you hooked me, tricked me and gave me a completely unexpected but emotionally satisfying ending, and for that, I must say, thank you. I *know* I'm going to be re-reading it soon, it was that good.One note: I think one reason I connected so much more strongly with the characters this time wasn't just personality, but the fact that this is the only book of the series that doesn't do shifts between the modern day and the present. There are flashbacks, but you're following the same heroine and hero throughout.Unlike others, I didn't find the time shifts in the previous books hard to follow, but it did kind of leave me a little divided. That wasn't the case here, and I think it made for a considerably stronger association, though I did like the methods used for flashback in the other novels.Highly recommended!

Love her books and this one continued to please with a few unforeseen twists adding to the intrigue. The story of Lily, a young woman who grew up without parents in the late 1600s as she endeavors to legitimize a marriage between her and a childhood friend, who has left a small sum of money.Her claim is investigated and draws you into the story of Lily's life, as the investigation continues, narrated by the investigator.

I have loved every single Susanna Kearsley's books. And this one is as extraordinary as her other ones. It is interesting for its historical part and the intrigue keeps you in the dark until the very end. You have no idea how it will finish, I can assure you. And, when you do get to the end, you'll want to read it all over again to find the little details you've missed. Of course, there is always that link between characters from one book to the other and this goes for her latest book too. I can't wait for SK to write a new novel. She is certainly one of my favourite novelist. Bravo, oonce again and thank you.

I haven't read any of her books for a long time. This book was was a welcome surprise. It is historical fiction based on fact. Author did a lot of research. Some characters are in her previous books following a family line that may be the author's ancestors. Some modern twists thrown in . Highly recommended.