Book Review of Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley

 

Having enjoyed Ms Keasley’s recent historical romance titled The King’s Messenger, I found a 2001 title at the Marion Library titled Season of Storms. It is based on some cues from the life of the 19th-century poet, Gabriel D’Annunzio, but is turned into a full-fledged gothic novel.  The heroine is a young English actress named Celia Sands and the London theatre background was what attracted me over the other older titles available.     

Celia has little confidence in herself or her talent, but is young and ready to both make her professional mark and to find a relationship. The kicker is she has the same name as an early 20th-century woman named Celia Sands who vanished on the night of the premiere of a play written in her honor by her lover, an Italian poet and nobleman named Galazzo D’Ascanio. The play that night was never performed, and now, two generations later, the show is to be done in an outdoor theatre on the grounds of the D’Ascanio estate. The modern Ms. Sands has some trepidations, but finally accepts the lead role. Although there is no particular reason to do it, the play’s company is required to travel to the Italian estate to rehearse. This puts all the actors in the old manor house on the grounds. It has a faded splendor along with lots of dark, twisting, and creepy corridors.    

Their host is Alessandro D’Ascanio, the original poet’s grandson.  He is young and mysterious.   Even though he has a love interest living in another building on the estate, Celia finds herself attracted to him. Several other romantic entanglements in the company plus a lot of rain, add to into the rocky rehearsal schedule.

To top it off, paranormal occurrences seem to be taking place. Celia is the most affected since a friend back in London had already given her a scary Tarot Card reading before she left for Italy.  Now, she finds herself billeted in the bedroom of the original Celia, whose portrait hangs ominously “with newly haunted eyes,” right over her bed. Needless to say, she gets a lot of bad dreams. If that is not enough, a decision is made to delve further into the psychological background of the original situation by scheduling a séance to reach the soul of the first Celia. That goes amuck, and ends with a not-so “Blithe Spirit” claiming that Celia did not vanish just before the opening night of her play, but was murdered.

Having directed over 100 plays in my life, I must admit that this is a new research tool for theatre companies. Kearsley’s lush descriptive style matches well with the gothic ambiance she is trying to create and true love is ultimately found. Unfortunately, the girdle of coincidence was stretched far beyond its snapping point and believability in the theatrical details as well as the general plot just plain disappeared.      

I give it a 2.5  out of 5.