First off I love Susanna Kearsley’s writing! As soon as I saw this was available I had to read it. I’m currently working through her back list. This one didn’t disappoint! If you like historical fiction pick this up.

First off, a disclaimer. I am a huge fan of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, which has likely influenced my review of The Vanished Days, another sweeping historical saga set in Scotland. If only one of the main characters wasn’t named Jamie and there wasn’t a Jacobite tie-in.

The Vanished Days had a completely different voice. I enjoyed the first-person narrative, and the author handily balanced dual timelines, but my mind often wandered. Then wham! A delightful twisty ending. As with most reads, I alternated between the eBook and the audio version. Narrator Robert Ian Mackenzie is extraordinarily talented (his Scottish brogue… be still my heart), but in this case, I recommend reading the book to better follow the intricate plot. 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Publication Date: October 2021
Genre: Historical fiction
Read-alikes: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg, The Pretender’s Lady by Alan Gold, The Rebel Wears Plaid by Eliza Knight

I was super excited to have read another great Susanna Kearsley book. Originally published in the UK October 2021, it finally gets its Canadian release Feb 15, 2022!

As I've read a few of her books now, I find that some of her books come across a little on the lighter side and some on the heavier side - this book being on the heavier side. Although 464 pages, it feels like 600. How can that be? Well, perhaps its due to the in-depth 17/18th century Scottish history, perhaps it's from all the extra reading I did on the Jacobite's (not necessary when reading this book, just a personal historical review for myself), or perhaps it’s the dual timelines with a character who’s been through a lot.

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1707- Lily Aitcheson appears out of nowhere to claim her husband's lost wages – he’s dead, and she can’t prove they were ever married. Adam Williamson is the man who unexpectedly gets involved into the inquiry of Lily’s case, and almost immediately Adam becomes enchanted with this mystery women and starts to realize that her unbelievable story may just be the truth. But there are other forces in play, which can and will make things very difficult to prove.

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This story alternates between two timelines; one takes place in Lily’s youth and some specific incidents that would shape who she’d become, and then later as the unknown widow.

Things to note: this book listed as book 3 in the Slairs series on Goodreads, but it is more of a prequel and in fact some of the history overlaps with the book that follows it chronologically (The Winter Sea). This book is perfect for people who love historical fiction with a big emphasis on Scottish history – the research for this series must have been incredible!

Overall great story. 4 stars.

So, I’m not going to go into the storyline for Susanna Kearsley’s new book as all the other reviewers have already done so. What I will say is, in my opinion Ms. Kearsley could write a laundry list and it would be perfection. I’ve read and enjoyed all her books. The Vanished Days does not disappoint. This is the third book (the prequel) of a trilogy and also can be read as a stand alone. I think reading it as book 1 and continuing on to the Winter Sea and then the The Firebird is particularly enjoyable. There is a familiarity of some of the characters and a better understanding of them as well. Choosing a favorite of her books can be difficult as all are so wonderfully well written and researched. I’ve been hooked since I picked up a copy of Mariana. Still one of my favorites. Thank you Ms.Kearsley for another escape into 18th century

This was a bit of a tough review for me because I adore Susanna Kearsley, she can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. I wanted to love the book, and to a degree, I did, but I will say that for once multiple story timelines were a bit difficult to follow. In the big picture sense, I understand it as a literary device given the twist at the end. Going back and forth, can confuse the most sophisticated of readers and while it didn't entirely confuse me, it did make it harder to see some nuisances. I guess maybe that's the point? Anyway, it was fun to see some familiar characters from her prior Scottish stories, and it was really interesting to hear a story from the perspective of what was considered lowest class in a rigidly class enforced society like late 17th century Scotland. And the dual voices of Adam and Lily were also a lovely opportunity. And yes, the twist. :)

I love done Kearsley and really do not enjoy others. This one…I LOVED! This was such an engrossing g read. I craved it every time I had to put it down. Her best since Bellwether. Loved this!

Even though it has been a few years since I read the first book in the series and haven't read #2 yet I didn't feel like I was missing anything. It takes place at the beginning of the 1700s and centers on the character of Lily. As a child she looses her parents and is taken to live with her grandmother and befriends the children of the Laird, especially Jamie. Her grandmother eventually finds a place for her living with a swordslipper and his family as a maid. We then jump ahead a few years and the government is giving money to people who have lost loved one in the war but Lily's claim to have married Jamie is disputed. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and was again made to realize how little women were valued in that culture. There was a lot of intrigue and a bit of romance and lots of twists and turns in the story. I am looking forward to going back and reading the second book in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for providing me with a copy of this book.

I admit that I don't know much about the history of Scotland in the 1600s and 1700s, so that made this book kind of dense and hard for me to follow sometimes. The basic plot of the story was interesting and well told, but I found myself sometimes getting lost in the details that I couldn't really follow. Even at the end I was kind of confused about the plot twist and the many many different characters. I liked the author's writing style, I just think this particular time period historical fiction maybe wasn't for me. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Susanna Kearsley's writing is so beautiful and she continues to weave an engaging and well-researched story. This one didn't quite grab me as well as her previous books - I missed the dueling past and present timelines.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Vanished days
Very descriptive, well written, informative historical novel.
This is a story of family, love, survival and how people lived in the late 1600's
There is deceit and honor
Lily must prove that she was married to James in order to claim a sum of money because he died. She does not have proof so an inquiry has been launched and individuals are being interviewed  to try and gather proof. The story is told from two periods in time, we follow Lily as she grows up and Adam as he leads the investigation
I enjoyed this novel, I found the historical parts a little hard to follow as history is not my forte or usual interest in books that I read. I do recommend this book. Very well written and good story.

Kearsley's third book in the Slains series and prequel to The Winter Sea focuses on what, as someone who is one generation removed from Scotland would say, are the continuation and results of really bad ideas. The survivors of the Darien colony are receiving funds from Queen Anne as part of the Union of Scotland and England, and a young widow of a Darien sailor presents papers showing their marriage, and the investigation of their veracity forms the kernel of the story. The first workings of what will be rebellions against the Union, helped along by the deposed James, and the machinations of the French help to anchor the overall story and provide a timeline for the series.

Overall, the book is a good installment in the series, but I had to work through some portions of the story. I'd recommend this for readers of the Slains series and those who are interested in the era preceding the Jacobite rebellions.

I really enjoyed this book!
THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS BOOK WITH ME!
I got behind in the COVID DRAMA and missed posting about this book when it came out.
Thank you!

I've very much enjoyed many of Kearsley's other books, but this one didn't hit nearly so well for me - I think because it took place entirely in the past, and I prefer her books when she alternates between present day and past.

Positives: I cared about the characters, and wanted to keep reading to find out what happened to them. The ending surprised and delighted me.

Cons: The dialog felt stilted and awkward, and often took me out of the story. I was interested in the story, but often frustrated with stylistic choices.

Although her writing is still beautiful, this book felt unnecessarily convoluted.
I found it hard to finish the book after I sudsed out the twist.

I must admit, my expectations around this book were a little misguided. I adored Kearsley's The Winter Sea and was expecting something similar: a straightforward historical romance with the Jacobean Revolution as a backdrop. Instead, I'd characterise this as historical fiction which is mostly centred around the life of a common Scottish woman and her large family network, both real and found. The romance is central to the plot (it's hard to say more without spoilers), but feels like a second order priority in the telling of Lily's story.

I did love the characters (including the many Slains cameos!), and I liked that this instalment focused more on the lower classes in Scottish society than the lairds of The Winter Sea - Lily in particular was adaptable and resourceful, and following her was an interesting snapshot about how the lives of ordinary people intersected with Scottish politics at the time. The characters' lives are influenced by what is happening at court, but their concerns are more about how it will impact on their ability to go about their every day lives. That said, I found some of the politics rather clunky as a result - Kearsley clearly knows a lot about the time period, but some of the inclusions here weren't really necessary to advance the plot, or were awkwardly slotted in as asides because there was no logical way for the characters to know about or focus on something, but the author felt compelled to include it.

I was also rather let down by the romance. Again, it's hard to say too much without spoilers, except to note that I am generally not a fan of stories where men see fit to insert themselves into the tales of women and/or take over the telling of womens' tales for themselves, and I think I would have enjoyed the romance a lot more without the framing piece that goes around it.

Overall, I didn't like this as much as The Winter Sea, though it's hard to tell how much of that is expectations on my part vs the book itself.

Read 27% of the way into this book but kept starting and stopping. I had trouble getting into it and figured it was better to review as is. It was written well just not my cup of tea.

I would call this an intriguing family saga. Plots, suspicions, secrets of a young widow that circles around the Moray and Graeme families. Historical fiction with some twists that made for interesting reading. This is the first book by S Kearsley, not my usual type of reading, but, I did enjoy the story. I requested a copy through NetGalley, no review was required. My opinion and review are voluntary.

Having read most of Susanna Kearsley’s books I admit to being an admirer of her research - In this book she exhibits her scholarship and remembers the Scottish souls who set sail for Darien. That was an ugly tale which she touches on here and there while incorporating the fight for the monarchy and ascent to the throne of England by William and Mary and the unwanted and reviled union with Scotland amidst the many attempts of the Jacobites to bring exiled young King Jamie back to rule.

The history unspools around the story of Lily Aitcheson and the investigators who are looking into her monetary claim for wages as a surviving spouse of one of those who attempted the journey. This intricate tale brilliantly weaves together insidious politics where a man may be imprisoned and tortured on another’s whim, the every day struggle of the common man and woman to provide shelter and food, the back and forth of which religion is in command at any given time and the punishment for following one’s beliefs when they are out of fashion. It is an historical story of Scotland at the turn of the eighteenth century - but beside a heavy focus on its politics, truly the center of attention is a romance amidst great mystery, all the while dancing around how clever a woman had to be to avoid the blatant gender abuse of the time, acknowledging how easily a woman could be ruined.

While one man thinks of the vanished days as those that are lost and can never be relived nor regained, another man acknowledges that without the living of them, despite the darkness and pain, there would be no recognition when the light shone and happiness prevailed. One is a tale of a man who felt he had lost while the other knew he had won all. I loved them equally.

I admit to being confused on occasion and I am not sure whether it was my failing or that there was so much information and so many characters within the story. I am rounding up for the extraordinary research and a well told tale. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for a copy.

I have enjoyed other books by this author but found this one a little slow and struggled to get into it.

hanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS LANDMARK for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.
The third book in the Slains series and the prequel and companion novel to The Wintersea, it was certainly a pleasure to return to late 17th/ early 18th century Scotland and learn more about the Graeme family. As the story opens, Sergeant Adam Williamson visits the home of an old soldier friend with the request to investigate the validity of a young woman’s marriage to Jamie Graeme. Serving as our narrator and promising 100% truth to the tale, we hear the backstory of Ms. Lily Aitcheson and the events of the present day. Along the way, we learn more about the religious, political, and social upheavals of the time period. Told in flawless historical detail, Susanna Kearsley reminds me once again why she is one of my favorite Canadian historical fiction authors.
Well, not too much more to say- Great characters, fantastic descriptions and a very engaging plot from the first page all the way to the last point of punctuation. In addition, SK is perhaps one of the most engaging and informative authors when it comes to her historical note. I cannot wait to read what she will write next!


Publication Date 05/10/21
Goodreads review 28/12/21