The Splendour Falls by Susanna Kearsley

Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat

Originally published in print in 1995 but new to audio in 2014, The Splendour Falls is a mystery with a touch of romance. Listeners ought not to go into the experience thinking it will be as romantic as The Winter Sea or The Firebird – if they do, I think they might be disappointed. There is a romance but it is very subtle and not at all the main focus of the story. And I can’t say who the romantic interest is without spoiling the mystery, so listeners will have to find out for themselves – just like I did.

Unlike other Kearsley books I have listened to, The Splendour Falls doesn’t have a dual timeline or any kind of time slip/time travel aspect to it. There are some prior historical events which inform the story but it is mainly a mystery set in 1995 – an age before the ubiquity of cell phones. This latter is important because the mystery only hangs together with communication being more difficult than it is today.

Emily Braden is a 28 year old English woman. She is very cynical about love, especially since the divorce of her parents not very many years prior. I must say I didn’t quite understand why Emily was so jaded. She didn’t seem to have had her own heart broken romantically – the only textual reason I could find was her parents’ divorce. That divorce occurred when Emily was an adult and from all accounts, it was amicable, so it didn’t really sit comfortably for me as a reason for her stoic belief that love doesn’t last.

Emily is very close with her cousin Harry – I gather they were raised together and their relationship is more like that of siblings. Harry is a history professor and author with a particular interest in the Plantagenets, King John especially. Emily has been flat and sad and Harry suggests she join him on a research expedition to Chinon in France. The castle there was once owned by King John and his young Queen, Isabelle, lived there for a time. There are stories of a treasure which Harry wants to investigate.

Harry is presented as particularly flighty and unreliable so when he is not there to meet her train, Emily is not initially worried. She checks into the Hotel de France where she learns the story of another Isabelle. This Isabelle was a maid at the Hotel during World War II when the Nazis were occupying France. Officers were billeted in the Hotel and 16-year-old Isabelle fell in love with German officer Hans. Their love had a tragic end and there is a story of yet another treasure.

While waiting for Harry, Emily gets to know the other guests at the Hotel and some of the residents of Chinon. After something happens which makes Emily question whether Harry has in fact gone off on a lark of his own or whether he may have met with some misadventure, she begins investigating with the help of a hotel guest who has become a friend, Paul Lazarus.

The stories of both Isabelles and the “disappearance” of Harry all twist and turn together. There are definite black moments before Emily and her friends solve the mystery and she finds maybe she isn’t so cynical about love after all.

The sense of place in the story is beautiful, with the Chateau de Chinon and the Chapelle de Sainte Radegonde being especially poignant and kind of eerie. As I said above, the romance is subtle but the story is very romantic in the way words are used and its somewhat melancholy air. While there were some little things I didn’t quite understand (I’m not very good at mysteries so that may well be on me), the various plot points came together smoothly but not without some surprise on my part. The story felt slow in a very intentional way – Emily is on holiday and relaxing and she is not initially worried about Harry. I felt the pacing reflected that and gradually increased as the tension built.

I have mixed feelings about the narration. I’ve heard good things about Ms. Rosenblat’s performance of the Amelia Peabody series (but have yet to listen to any of it myself) and she is clearly a very skilled narrator. Her accents were excellent – from the difference between American and Canadian to the portrayals of French, English and German characters. She has a naturally deep voice which lent an authenticity to the male players in particular. However, she also sounded a lot older than Emily’s 28 years and I kept thinking of Emily as nearer to 40, or perhaps older than that, because of it. (Not that 40 is old of course!) There were also times when the wrong accent was used – Emily “slipped” into an American voice or Christian, a German, spoke in French tones, as well as times when the wrong voice was used – Harry spoke with Emily’s voice for example.

There was also an interesting cadence used in the narration – sometimes there were odd pauses which weren’t necessarily explained by the text, for example. On the other hand, Ms. Rosenblat did deliver completely on the tone of the novel and the building sense of ominous danger as the story reaches its climax.

In the end, while there were some things I disliked about the narration, the good far outweighed the bad. I found the story and the narration quite immersive and moody. If I knew more about mysteries I might suggest it was a Gothic – but I’m not an expert so I could have just made that bit up.

I’d recommend this for listeners who like a slow moving, somewhat cosy mystery with a dash of romance.

Editor’s Note: Shannon reviewed this book in March 2014, but did not like it as much.

Kaetrin

Narration: B

Book Content: B

Steam Factor: You can play i out loud

Violence:  Fighting

Genre: Mystery with a touch of romance

Publisher: Audible Studios

The Splendour Falls was provided to AudioGals by Audible Studios for a review.