This story is told in two parts. Carrie, a young writer, writing a piece of historical fiction, finds that she knows historical details before she has researched the facts. She moves close to a castle where part of her story takes place because she feels the characters there. Carrie rents a cottage near the ruined castle and finds that she is attracted to the son of her landlord , Grahem, while the landlord's other son also takes a liking to her, also. Grahem is a history professor and so has interests in common with Carrie. He helps her with her research and they maintain a relationship. Carrie writes a story about a hidden love affair in which an orphaned girl named Sophia is taken in by a kind relative whose family is secretly trying to return King James to his throne. Sophia secretly marries a soldier who is a wanted man because of his political dealings. He goes off to war and Sophia has been told that her husband has been killed in war. She placed her young child in the care of a friend's sister and lives elsewhere in grief. However, he is only injured and takes on the identity of another so that he can live a life where he is not wanted. In the end, he is reunited with Sophia and they live happily ever after.
The Winter Sea was, absolutely, one of my very favorite books I've ever read! I took lots of time reading it, trying to understand the relationships & events of the English/Scot history from centuries ago. One can read the book without understanding all this history - just enjoying the love story. But I think spending the extra time made me enjoy 2 stories in one! I totally loved this book! I loved the way Sophia reached through the years to connect with Carrie - the author did it in a totally believable way! I'm a believer of genetic memory, I think. Or is genetic memory one of the ways God & his angels reach out to us? I'm going to miss Sophia and Carrie.
ReplyDelete