Fascinating time slip novel with a character with Asperger's. Really interesting and I had a difficult time putting this story down. Great characters and very fast paced.

I've enjoyed most of Kearsley's works but this one did not work for me. The book had a lot of potential but I failed to care about anyone or anything going on in the novel and the snail pace did not help. Generally my complaint for Kearsley's books is that one time period is more enthralling than the other, in this one they were both duds IMO. I highly recommend reading one of The Slains novels instead.

I always enjoy Susanna Kearsley books and this is another good one. IT is a complex plot and took me sometime to get to grips with but with more time on my hands recently I have gone back to finish some books which I put on the back burner and enjoyed them all the more for it. Take your time with this one and enjoy the read!

Stunningly gorgeous, as always. I have yet to read a Susanna Kearsley book that I didn't absolutely adore, one that kept me up all night and had me totally entranced. I loved the stories of Mary and Sara, and can never get enough of cryptic tales and lost and found journals!

If asked to categorize A Desperate Fortune I would label it a romantic, historical, fiction book.
The dual timelines are perfect. The storyline set in 1732 is told through a diary that Sara is translating. The historical part of this timeframe is wonderful. I could picture the towns they were travelling through, the people they had met, and the way they interacted with each other. The wonderful horses, the beautiful carriages, the horsemen, and of course the houses they stayed in were all brought to life through Susanna Kearsley’s wonderful writing style. The romance part of 1732 was quiet and subtle. It was not the main part of the book, yet it was the part I kept looking forward too.

The current timeline is Sara’s story. She lives with Asperger’s Syndrome and just wants to live a “normal” life. She moves to start working on Mary Dundas’ diary and realizes that she can do more than what she thinks. I enjoyed watching her figure out how to handle her different relationships with the other characters. Everyone from the cat to Noah, a young boy, made a difference to how she acted and how she carried herself. When Luc came into the story I was curious as to how she would react to him. Their relationship was slow and steady. It was a slow build to an ending that I was hoping for.


This is my second book by Susanna Kearsley and I was so excited to read it. I have to say I was not prepared for how much of a slow read it was. The beginning was very slow and it did speed up a little as the story proceeded. Do not get me wrong, I enjoyed this entire story. I loved the characters, I loved the storyline, and I definitely recommend A Desperate Fortune.

This author’s time slip novels never fail to satisfy! Great read alike for fans of Diana Gabaldon or Kate Morton.

I have some pretty mixed feelings about this book. I liked it well enough but I didn't fall in love with it as I had expected to do. This is a story that is told in two timelines and I found that I really enjoyed one timeline much more than the other which usually makes it a little harder to completely enjoy a novel. I am glad that I decided to finally pick this one up and did enjoy the overall experience.

As I mentioned, this book is told in two timelines. The first timeline is focused on Sara. Sara was a really interesting character that I found myself liking her right away. Sara has Asperger's Syndrome which does have an impact on how she thinks and sees the world. I enjoyed watching her work to break the code for Mary's diary as she was hired to do. I think that my favorite part of her timeline was the interactions with all the other characters. I loved watching her develop a relationship with Luc, Noah, and Denise.

The second timeline follows Mary Dundas in the 1730s. Mary has been living with an aunt and really wants her father and brother to want her around so she is excited when her brother comes to get her. Her brother really needs Mary to help out with a mission to protect the Jacobite cause. Before she knows it, Mary is entangled in an exciting adventure that is quite dangerous. I never felt the same connection to Mary that I did with Sara. Even though there was more action in her timeline, I found that everything seemed to move rather slowly.

I believe that this was my first time listening to Katherine Kellgren's narration and I have to admit that it did take me some time to get used to her voice. She did a good job with the rather large cast of characters and added a lot of emotion to the story. By the end of the book she did win me over and I had no problem listening for hours at a time.

I think that a lot of readers will like this one a bit more than I did. This was a book that told two very interesting stories. Unfortunately, I preferred one of those stories much more than the other and anytime the book changed to a new timeline, I thought that it lost some momentum. I do look forward to reading more from Susanna Kearsley in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Sourcebooks Landmark via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the audiobook.

"Beloved New York Times bestselling author Susanna Kearsley delivers a riveting novel that deftly intertwines the tales of two women, divided by centuries and forever changed by a clash of love and fate.

For nearly three hundred years, the cryptic journal of Mary Dundas has kept its secrets. Now, amateur codebreaker Sara Thomas travels to Paris to crack the cipher.

Jacobite exile Mary Dundas is filled with longing-for freedom, for adventure, for the family she lost. When fate opens the door, Mary dares to set her foot on a path far more surprising and dangerous than she ever could have dreamed.

As Mary's gripping tale of rebellion and betrayal is revealed to her, Sara faces events in her own life that require letting go of everything she thought she knew-about herself, about loyalty, and especially about love. Though divided by centuries, these two women are united in a quest to discover the limits of trust and the unlikely coincidences of fate.

"A grand adventure...Susanna Kearsley just keeps getting better and better!" —LAUREN WILLIG, New York Times bestselling author."

If you haven't already fallen for Kearsley, I hope Lauren can persuade you!

A great book by a new to me author. I continue to look for her books because they are different than my normal reading material and I enjoy a change.

Like many of Kearsley’s novels, A Desperate Fortune is set in two different time periods. First, in the modern day, we meet Sara Thomas, a young woman with a special talent for solving mathematical puzzles and breaking codes. Sara also has Asperger’s and relies on the friendship and support of her cousin Jacqui. Jacqui works in the publishing business and when one of her authors, the historian Alistair Scott, asks for help in deciphering a journal written in code, it is Sara who gets the job.

The other thread of the novel takes place in 1732 and follows the story of the diary-writer, twenty-one-year-old Mary Dundas, who is half French and half Scottish. Mary’s family are Jacobites – supporters of the exiled James Stuart, who they believe is the rightful King James VIII of Scotland and III of England. Setting off on a journey across France with her brother Nicolas one day, Mary has no idea what he has planned for her, and is shocked to find herself caught up in a plot to protect a fellow Jacobite who is on the run from the law. Her diary tells of the lengths she goes to, the disguises she adopts and the dangers she faces in trying to conceal her companion’s true identity.

These two storylines alternate throughout the book, so that we read several entries from Mary’s journal, followed by Sara’s experiences in decoding it. Both women are interesting characters – and there are a few parallels between the two – but I found Mary’s story much more gripping and couldn’t help thinking that it would have worked just as well on its own without Sara’s framing it. There’s a romance for each woman too, but again, it was Mary’s that I found most convincing; although I did like Sara’s love interest, it all seemed to happen too quickly and too conveniently.

It was interesting to revisit the subject of the Jacobites, who also feature in The Firebird – although the two books explore the topic from very different perspectives, with this one being set in France and the other in Russia. The author’s note at the end of the book is long and comprehensive, discussing some of the choices made in writing this novel and explaining which parts of the story are based on fact and which are fictional. I was surprised to see how many of the characters I’d assumed were purely imaginary were actually inspired by real people!

I did enjoy A Desperate Fortune, though not as much as most of the other Susanna Kearsley novels I’ve read. My favourites seem to be the ones with supernatural elements, such as The Firebird, The Rose Garden and Mariana. I always like Kearsley’s writing style, though – there’s something so comforting about it, so easy and effortless to read. It’s the same feeling that I get when I pick up a book by Mary Stewart. I’m looking forward now to reading my remaining two Kearsley novels, The Shadowy Horses and Sophia’s Secret (the UK title for The Winter Sea).

Another one I loved by Kearsley! Sara Thomas is a great character, and I loved the premise of her breaking the code of a journal from the 1700's. The storyline kept my interest, and I loved the setting. This is one of my favorites by the author.

Since I never finished this book I don't think it is fair to the author to post any review so I will not do so.

Thanks again for the opportunity, I just don't even remember requesting it!

Very pleasantly surprised, cleverly told and I was incredibly moved by the ending!

Susanna Kearsley is reliably good, and this novel is no exception. Beautiful writing!