Loved this wonderful historical fiction - with a touch of mystery! Having spent some time in Edinburgh earlier in my life - I enjoyed remembering the wonders of one of the most beautiful towns in the world. It was hard at first keeping up with the time hopping - but became easier as the story progressed.

I have long been a fan of Susanna Kearsley and have enjoyed many of her books. I was happy to see her returning to Scotland and some of her earlier characters. It had been awhile since I read "The Winter Sea" and "The Firebird" so much of that was lost on me. However, I greatly enjoyed the story of Lily and Adam and the intrigue surrounding the union of Scotland and England. The addition of the Darrien colony reminded me that Scotland had attempted its own colonial agenda but that it failed due to politics. The story is well written, well researched and it read well. I read it quickly and found myself promising myself one more page...and now it is finished! I high recommend it!

For my money, Susanna Kearsley is one of the most gifted authors writing historical fiction today. With impeccable research, vivid descriptions, and complex, fully developed characters, she fully immerses me into whatever place and era she writes.

In The Vanished Days, that place is Edinburgh, Scotland and the time is 1707. The narrator of the story is Sergeant Adam Williamson, an American soldier of Scottish birth who is tasked with investigating the claim of the young widow, Lily. The story is told through flashbacks, from both his perspective as well as Lily's. It's intriguing, poignant, suspenseful, and powerful. Once I began reading, I could not put the book down, eagerly flipping pages right up until the stunning conclusion. It's a fictional tale of friendship, betrayal, intrigue, pride, mystery, revenge, and enduring love, seamlessly playing out across the historical landscape of actual events with real people interwoven throughout the fictional. I could probably fill three or four pages with everything I loved about this book but readers should have the personal experience of discovering all the facets of these characters as well as the twists and turns of the journey on their own.

While The Vanished Days is the third book of a series, it is actually a prequel to the first two books. Though it does weave in and out of the timeline of book one, The Winter Sea, it stands well on its own and readers shouldn't miss out on anything by reading The Vanished Days first. I do, however, highly recommend both The Winter Sea and book two, The Firebird. In fact, I recommend everything Susanna Kearsley has written. If you enjoy rich historical detail paired with spellbinding storytelling, she is an author you will not want to miss.

*ARC received for fair and unbiased review

I had a hard time getting into this new book by Susanna Kearsley. I love her previous novels a lot but this one was a lot harder for me to finish reading.

Kearsley writes with the detail I love. This sets the scene for books to come and is a must read if you love her other titles. Just as beautiful and magical as the others!

The Vanished Days is a historical novel following the life of a young Scots woman from 1683 to 1707. A deeply turbulent era politically, this time period saw the ordinary lives of everyday citizens upended as everyone was affected by the machinations of the great men who were desperately vying for power.

Queen Anne’s commissioners have been paying the back wages of those who participated in Scotland’s disastrous Darien expedition eight years earlier. A scheme to set up a colony in what is now Panama and establish an overland route to connect the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean trades, the endeavor failed due to stratagems and hostility from the English and Spanish which all but bankrupted Scotland. The belated payments to the families are a panacea which the Crown hopes will encourage peace among the restless and dissatisfied Scottish citizenry.

However, some have seen the commission’s payments as an opportunity, and submitted fraudulent petitions. Lily Graeme née Aitcheson might just be one such person. She has proffered a marriage certificate showing she’d wed Jamie Graeme just before he took part in and died as a result of the expedition, but the marriage was irregular. It did not take place in a church. There were no guests. Both witnesses are dead. Sergeant Adam Williamson is assigned to discover whether the marriage was legitimate or whether Mrs. Graeme is attempting to deceive the commissioners.

When Adam asks Lily to tell him the story of her courtship with Jamie, she goes back to the very start when they were just children, playing in the woods surrounding Inchbrakie, the great estate of the Graeme family. Over the next few weeks, as Adam meets the people who have known Lily through the years, and pieces together her life during the past quarter century, uncovering her trials and triumphs, her friends and enemies – he realizes there are puppetmasters behind the scenes, directing his steps. But why, exactly, would Lily, the poor widow of a simple sailor, be of interest to anyone? That question haunts Adam, who is growing increasingly attached to the beautiful young woman, and he determines to see her come safely out of whatever mess she has inadvertently landed in.

But is it inadvertent? Or has Lily played him false?

Ms. Kearsley’s writing is – as always – beautiful, evocative, and lyrical. Her prose calls forth a perfect sense of a chilling, atmospheric world in which we are never sure of our footing and lends the perfect air of menace to the mystery of this tale. Fans of her novels often rave about the meticulously detailed and immersive history and that, too, is in full evidence here.

However, some things are different this go-round. Ms. Kearsley typically writes dual timeline/time-slip novels which contain a modern era hero/heroine and a historical couple embroiled in some kind of clandestine behavior. That is not the case here. As mentioned earlier, the book is about Lily’s life, and we travel in time only through the thirty years or so of her days on earth. I missed the modern perspective for a couple of reasons. One is that Ms. Kearsley’s contemporary romances tend to follow the traditional tropes of a love story far more than her historical ones do. Her meticulous dedication to historical accuracy means that her historical couples have the more muted, less passionate style of courtship of the eras in which their stories take place. The second reason I felt this story suffered due to not having a present-day storyline is that Ms. Kearsley’s often uses that timeline to inform us about – and explain the significance of – the history via conversations between her contemporary characters. I strongly prefer that to what happened in this tale, where we are immersed in the characters’ impressions of what, for them, are contemporary events. Lily and Adam themselves are not engaged in the silent civil war taking place but they are pawns for those who are, which has them carefully maneuvering through the minefield of Scottish statecraft. A great deal is implied and inferred as a result, rather than spelled out as it is in the author’s other novels. While it was interesting to see the very real effects playing politics had on ordinary folk, I’ll admit I found it quite tedious to wade through a lot of what felt like irrelevant history. Because the story takes place in an age and among a people not my own, I found it far too easy to lose track of the incidental-to-our-tale-but-important- to-the-times players and how and why they affected the story. Additionally, the politics detract from what is most interesting about Lily’s narrative – the vulnerable, often difficult existence of young women of her generation.

And Lily is a character whose life is well worth reading about. She goes through so much in her youth and shines in each new spot in which fate lands her. I especially loved her in her early years – she’s a vibrant, astute child who sees so much so clearly. I adored how clever and hardworking and resilient she is. She grows up to be rather reserved and surprisingly, less wise as an adult – as though all the hard times life put her through made her less rather than more. Part of the reason I felt that way might be due to whom she falls in love with.

Our first hero, Jamie, is easily the most interesting and lovable of Lily’s romantic partners. It’s clear Ms. Kearsley has a strong affection for the Graeme family and Jamie is written with the same warmth, charisma, bravado and chivalry as the other men of that clan. But Lily attracts the attention of others as well – during the middle of the tale there is a foster brother named Matthew who also vies for Lily’s affection, and I liked him far less. He’s restless, combative and insecure due to how he’s grown up and while I found him sympathetic, I never cared for him as a love interest. Finally, there is Sgt. Williamson, a man who proves to be intelligent, honorable, prudent and kind. Their pairing is, of course, in peril because we are unsure whether Lily is telling him the truth and if not, why she would be lying.

The Vanished Days has loose ties to The Winter Sea, but you don’t need to have read that book to enjoy this one. Fans of Ms. Kearsley’s work and those who enjoy long, heroine- centric historical novels will find plenty to love here and I can recommend it to that audience.

I didn't know this is the 3rd in the series when I requested it. I got excited when I saw that Susanna Kearsley had a new one coming out so I requested before I double checked everything. I will come back & put up my review after I finish the previous two so I'm better informed when reading this one

I love reading stories set in Scotland and this one was rich in history and intrigue. This is quite a long tale, so readers should be prepared to settle in and be immersed in the history of Scottish politics, social mores and a complicated mystery.

The story centers around a young widow who makes a claim on her deceased husband’s wages, only to have it contested. Adam Williamson and a man named Gilroy are sent to investigate her claim in order to see if she is the true heir and if the marriage was valid.

Adam narrates the story, but can readers be sure he is objective? Gilroy accuses him of being attracted to the widow in question and Adam has a difficult time denying that attraction.

In the end, there was a big twist that I certainly did not anticipate, which makes me want to read this book all over again. Susanna Kearsley did a wonderful job with this book. I have The Winter Sea on my shelves, so now I can’t wait to read it and revisit some of these characters.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebook Landmark for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to give my honest review.

Unfortunately this book was a miss for me. It started very slow and I was not engaged in the story line. The format and moving back and forth between speakers and timeline was confusing for me and I could not get into the story.

Set in 1700s Scotland , The Vanished Days captures the turmoil of the Jacobite revolution. A young widow needs to prove that she was married to collect her husband's pension and a soldier is recruited to find the truth. After I finished this carefully crafted mystery, I wanted it to start reading it again from the beginning to see what I missed.

A stunning historical fiction with elements of mystery, romance, and magical realism. Atmospheric and beautifully written, it was engrossing and difficult to put down. This novel will appeal to a broad audience. Overall a solid read

I love Susanna Kearsley's books and this one is no exception. I was a little disappinted though as I expected there to be a magical time-meld component is there is in many of her other books. Putting that aside, this book was another clever weaving of personal stories into a mystery that slowly unravels and reveals hidden secrets in Queen Anne's Scotland. Throughly engrossing and recommended to her fans of her other book and of Outlander!

The Vanished Days
By Susanna Kearsley

I am a huge historical fiction reader and love nothing more than reading varied time frames in this particular genre. So when I read the synopsis that this was set in the 18th century and the setting of the Scottish highlands, and prequel to her much loved novel, The Winter Sea I knew I wanted to read this.

The beginning of the novel explores detailed and well researched information about Scottish history and introduction of characters set in two timelines. This engaging story that had a bit of mystery, romance and even some magical realism made this story every bit as riveting and deeply compelling. I enjoyed every bit of it.

This is perfect for fans of the Outlander series and The Crown.

This story has me obsessed with Scottish historical fiction! I need more now! This was a beautifully written book with characters that were complex and interesting and a plot that was filled with secrets and mysteries!

The main character, Lily, is struggling to prove that her marriage is real after trying to collect her husband’s wages and being challenged about the validity of the marriage. This was a story that truly swept me away. I didn’t want to put it down. I did find that this is actually a prequel to The Winter Sea which I haven’t read, so now I’m excited to pick that one up!

I would highly recommend this to readers that enjoy historical fiction with romance and mystery!

Five stars for this impecabbly researched sweeping saga historical romance.

The story, set in Scotland, takes place in 1700 when Scotland, and England have just been unified under a Protestant King and Queen. It's a time of intrigue and danger for the Scots, known as the Jacobites, who are trying to restore to the throne the Catholic Stewarts who have been living exiled in France.

The main character, Lilly, is the daughter of a poor widower. She grows up in the Scottish countryside under the care of her grandmother alongside the aristocratic Jacobite Graemes, including her best friend Jamie. After her father remarries, Lilly moves to the city where she suffers one loss after another, each of which she barely manages to survive.

As the story opens, Lilly, as his widow, is seeking the wages of Jaimie Graeme who died at sea, claiming she married him in secret. Sergeant Williamson is investigating Lilly's claims; he is also the book's narrator. It's through his eyes, as he seeks to determine the validity of Lilly's claims by meeting with all the people who came in contact with her, that the story unfolds.

The book is well-written book and impecabbly researched. The historical details add a depth and authenticity to the story. Lilly, as well as many of the secondary characters, are well-rounded and interesting. I loved the ending; the unexpected plot twist finally gives Lilly her well-deserved HEA.

The Vanished Days is a historical novel following the life of a young Scots woman from 1683 to 1707. A deeply turbulent era politically, this time period saw the ordinary lives of everyday citizens upended as everyone was affected by the machinations of the great men who were desperately vying for power.

Queen Anne's commissioners have been paying the back wages of those who participated in Scotland’s disastrous Darien expedition eight years earlier. A scheme to set up a colony in what is now Panama and establish an overland route to connect the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean trades, the endeavor failed due to stratagems and hostility from the English and Spanish which all but bankrupted Scotland. The belated payments to the families are a panacea which the Crown hopes will encourage peace among the restless and dissatisfied Scottish citizenry.

However, some have seen the commission’s payments as an opportunity, and submitted fraudulent petitions. Lily Graeme née Aitcheson might just be one such person. She has proffered a marriage certificate showing she’d wed Jamie Graeme just before he took part in and died as a result of the expedition, but the marriage was irregular. It did not take place in a church. There were no guests. Both witnesses are dead. Sergeant Adam Williamson is assigned to discover whether the marriage was legitimate or whether Mrs. Graeme is attempting to deceive the commissioners.

When Adam asks Lily to tell him the story of her courtship with Jamie, she goes back to the very start when they were just children, playing in the woods surrounding Inchbrakie, the great estate of the Graeme family. Over the next few weeks, as Adam meets the people who have known Lily through the years, and pieces together her life during the past quarter century, uncovering her trials and triumphs, her friends and enemies – he realizes there are puppetmasters behind the scenes, directing his steps. But why, exactly, would Lily, the poor widow of a simple sailor, be of interest to anyone? That question haunts Adam, who is growing increasingly attached to the beautiful young woman, and he determines to see her come safely out of whatever mess she has inadvertently landed in.

But is it inadvertent? Or has Lily played him false?

Ms. Kearsley’s writing is - as always - beautiful, evocative, and lyrical. Her prose calls forth a perfect sense of a chilling, atmospheric world in which we are never sure of our footing and lends the perfect air of menace to the mystery of this tale. Fans of her novels often rave about the meticulously detailed and immersive history and that, too, is in full evidence here.

However, some things are different this go-round. Ms. Kearsley typically writes dual timeline/time-slip novels which contain a modern era hero/heroine and a historical couple embroiled in some kind of clandestine behavior. That is not the case here. As mentioned earlier, the book is about Lily’s life, and we travel in time only through the thirty years or so of her days on earth. I missed the modern perspective for a couple of reasons. One is that Ms. Kearsley’s contemporary romances tend to follow the traditional tropes of a love story far more than her historical ones do. Her meticulous dedication to historical accuracy means that her historical couples have the more muted, less passionate style of courtship of the eras in which their stories take place.   The second reason I felt this story suffered due to not having a present-day storyline is that Ms. Kearsley’s often uses that timeline to inform us about – and explain the significance of – the history via conversations between her contemporary characters. I strongly prefer that to what happened in this tale, where we are immersed in the characters’  impressions of what, for them, are contemporary events. Lily and Adam themselves are not engaged in the silent civil war taking place but they are pawns for those who are, which has them carefully maneuvering through the minefield of Scottish statecraft.  A great deal is implied and inferred as a result, rather than spelled out as it is in the author’s other novels. While it was interesting to see the very real effects playing politics had on ordinary folk, I’ll admit I found it quite tedious to wade through a lot of what felt like irrelevant history. Because the story takes place in an age and among a people not my own, I found it far too easy to lose track of the incidental-to-our-tale-but-important- to-the-times players and how and why they affected the story. Additionally, the politics detract from what is most interesting about Lily’s narrative – the vulnerable, often difficult existence of young women of her generation.

And Lily is a character whose life is well worth reading about. She goes through so much in her youth and shines in each new spot in which fate lands her. I especially loved her in her early years – she’s a vibrant, astute child who sees so much so clearly. I adored how clever and hardworking and resilient she is. She grows up to be rather reserved and surprisingly, less wise as an adult - as though all the hard times life put her through made her less rather than more. Part of the reason I felt that way might be due to whom she falls in love with.

Our first hero, Jamie, is easily the most interesting and lovable of Lily’s romantic partners. It’s clear Ms. Kearsley has a strong affection for the Graeme family and Jamie is written with the same warmth, charisma, bravado and chivalry as the other men of that clan. But Lily attracts the attention of others as well – during the middle of the tale there is a foster brother named Matthew who also vies for Lily’s affection, and I liked him far less. He’s restless, combative and insecure due to how he’s grown up and while I found him sympathetic, I never cared for him as a love interest. Finally, there is Sgt. Williamson, a man who proves to be intelligent, honorable, prudent and kind. Their pairing is, of course, in peril because we are unsure whether Lily is telling him the truth and if not, why she would be lying.

The Vanished Days has loose ties to The Winter Sea, but you don’t need to have read that book to enjoy this one. Fans of Ms. Kearsley’s work and those who enjoy long, heroin- centric historical novels will find plenty to love here and I can recommend it to that audience.

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I've only read one title by Susanna Kearsley, The Deadly Hours, and I absolutely loved it! I started collecting her other books to read when I get the time. (I REALLY wish I could retire and read all the time!) I jumped at the chance to read The Vanished Days, which is a prequel and companion to her book The Winter Sea. Does this one stand alone? I'm going to say yes, as I haven't read The Winter Sea and wasn't lost. I think I've found a new author to add to my favorites list.

In 1707 in Scotland, enemy factions are joining together to protest the new Union with England. The French are plotting an invasion to bring back the young exiled Jacobite king to Scotland to reclaim the throne. To try to calm the situation, Queen Anne's commissioners are paying out funds to Scots who are due wages and losses for their part in the Darien expedition eight years ago. That failed expedition just about bankrupted Scotland. Young widow Lily Graeme comes forward to collect her husband's wages, but her claim is being challenged. Former soldier Adam Williamson is investigating Lily's claims to see if they are true. Is she telling the truth?

This was a phenomenal story once I got into the rhythm of going back and forth between Adam's narration of the events of 1707 and Lily's tale beginning in the 1680's. My only knowledge of Scottish history is basically limited to what I've learned from Outlander, so I was a bit overwhelmed with this more detailed description. I didn't know of the clashes between Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Catholics. I had never heard of the failed Darien expedition. Once I stopped worrying about keeping the history straight in my head, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I absolutely loved both Lily and Adam. Lily's life was filled with fun, horror, love and indescribable pain. She showed how strong women can be under incredible duress. She had a good heart and would do anything for those she loved. Adam was a great hero. He was intelligent, protective and was determined to help Lily. There were many great secondary characters such as Gilroy (who investigated Lily's claims with Adam), Maggie (Lily's "sister"), Captain Gordon (a Jacobite sea captain) and Jamie Graeme (Lily's childhood best friend). This story had a twist near the end that I was NOT expecting! I had to go back a chapter or two and re-read to make sure I read everything correctly! I have definitely got to start reading more work by this talented author.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Thanks to @netgalley and @bookmarked (Sourcebooks) for the ARC!

Y’all probably have noticed by now that we don’t read a lot of historicals. Just not our bag. I am 100% obsessed with Jamie Fraser, though, so go figure. Our friend, Nikki LOVES Susanna Kearsley though and during our pandemic book club, we read Bellewether.

Kearsley is a master at what I call the double helix story timeline. Both Bellewether and The Vanished Days (and from what I’ve heard, most of her novels) have two interlaced timelines that reflect back and forth on each other. Then, in addition to all that, most of her books interlink characters, events, locations. It’s just an incredible feat! And this book has A TWIST ENDING. In the afterward of The Vanished Days, she talks about how she was thinking this was going to be a very different book, but her research and the story guided it somewhere else. So: double helix timelines, multiple overlapping characters, surprise ending, AND SHE PANTS’ IT. Just incredible. (Pantsing: is a term for a way of writing that is the opposite of planning/plotting.)

I also do want to point out that this is probably more Historical Fiction, with a large dash of Romance, rather than Historical Romance.

The Vanished Days is about Lily a young girl growing up in Scotland at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century as told by Seargeant Williamson, a man who was tasked with finding out if Lily was lying about her marriage. Not only do you learn about the saga of King James, William of Orange, and the battle between Christian religions in Scotland, but you also get to learn a little bit about their failed colonization of the Darien Gap, aka the Panama Canal.

If you are a sucker for Scots, history, or incredibly structured stories, this is a recommended read! - Ford

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks for access to this arc.


Unlike many of her other books the dual timeline of “The Vanished Days” is separated by less than a decade rather than by hundreds of years. Despite the fact that I will undoubtedly read more books with this more widely spaced sort of timeline, I must admit to being tired of so many recently written historical fiction books that make use of this device, usually with the modern heroine seeking to uncover some long held secret from the past. Ennui has crept in for me. When I realized that this book would not feature that, I rejoiced.

I loved the historical details and “feel” of the book. It has a leisurely pace which allows the story to slowly build in intensity. Readers need to set aside the time to savor this and be prepared to settle down and just let it happen. One thing I will let out of the bag for animal lovers is that the cat gets taken care of. Don’t worry about Lily’s cat. There is also just enough Scots dialect and period dialect to add verisimilitude without driving me batty. It doesna take lang for faux brogue to fash me (and fash can mean more than just worried). One thing that I did begin to notice an excess of was total strangers being able to “read” Lily’s face and immediately divine her exact thoughts thus being able to give her solace and consolation – usually.

But I was glued to my seat reading to discover what’s going to happen next. There are details which I noticed hadn’t been supplied.

It turns out there is a reason for that and I was glad I didn’t flip ahead to the end and have that spoiled for me. Patience is a virtue. I will admit that there are some characters I didn’t like – with good reason – and others who frustrated and angered me at times with what they did. But we were all young and stupid once, the characters who frustrated me matured and in the end, I could pretty much forgive them.

I’m not going to go into many details of the plot beyond reiterating that this is a book to sip and savor rather than chug down like a glass of ice cold water after you’ve spent all day mowing grass in the hot sun. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, important plot details that you will discover are deliciously slipped in without fanfare and which will only become clear later on. If this didn’t take a spreadsheet of monumental proportions to keep straight while the book was being written, I’ll be astonished.

The book can be read without reading any of the others in the “Slains” series or “Bellewether” though if those have been read, it’s fun to see returning characters in roles of varying sizes. To end, I will quote a line that one character, who has many secrets to hold, tells another – “All men do leave pieces out when they tell tales, it is no crime.” B+

This had all the elements of excellent story telling. Strong characters, history, family sagas and their personal
histories, a story encompassing several generations and community and country. What was there not to like.

The period of 1707 but going back to the late 17th century covering the Jacobite revolution, the return of James III.
We have a young woman coming forward to claim her entitlement of a widow of a man who went on the ill fated Darien
expedition. To assess her claim two men have to check out all the facts but one of them is suspicious of what is put
forward, the other falls headlong in love with her.

The story starts from there, alternately going back in time to previous times of Lily's birth, and then her young
years coming into a family which protected her and then when her only protection was gone, literally threw her to
the wolves. The hardships encountered by Lily till her present predicament are very well outlined and told by this
author whose research into the turbulent history of Scotland at the time was meticulous.

A must for readers who like history, who like a story well told. I've liked very much everyone of Susanna Kearsley's books
one of the few authors whose books I have kept back in my declutter as I do so like to go back to them every once in a
while.