A DESPERATE FORTUNE
Susanna Kearsley
Sourcebooks Landmark
April 7, 2015
A Desperate Fortune tells a dual story, one set in the present day and one in 1730's France among the Jacobite followers of exiled King James of Scotland. Sara Thomas is a computer programmer and amateur cryptologist who is hired through the recommendation of her cousin to break the code on a diary from the era. The writer of the diary is Mary Dundas, born at the "shadow court"of King James at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. She is the daughter of a Scots wig maker to the court and a French mother. When her mother dies her father takes her to live with her French aunt and uncle. He and his sons follow James into further exile.
The diary's owner insists that Sara go to France to work with the diary, a problem for Sara who has Asperger's Syndrome. Sara vastly prefers working and living alone but agrees to the conditions of the job. The first part of the diary is not encoded and Sara is able to break the coded sections to transcribe the story of Mary Dundas. Mary on the whole had a very happy childhood but feels the loss of her father and brothers and yearns for adventure. When her brother, Nicholas, comes to fetch her at last, she is overjoyed. But Nicholas has other plans for her. The Jacobites need her to pose as a man's sister; a man who is being sought by the British authorities. Mary can only see this as one more abandonment by her family, but agrees. So her great adventure begins in the company of an older woman, Madam Roy, the fugitive Thomson and their fearsome bodyguard, MacPherson. Mary is terrified of MacPherson but grows to trust him to keep them safe.
I must admit that I preferred the historical narrative to the contemporary but Kearsley is a master of the dual story line. I never felt annoyed by the switches as I sometimes am with this sort of story. Sara's Asperger's Syndrome and it's effects on her life make her much more interesting and accessible. It is a pleasure to see her open up, finding romance and permanent connections in France. But it is Mary and the wounded MacPherson that are the heart and soul of the story. Their slow growth into trust and love made this a very emotional and sometimes tearful read for me. Mary and Hugh MacPherson are characters I could follow into their future, but the story has to end and it does with a very satisfactory ending.
Susanna Kearsley's research into the period is as always extensive and meticulous. The early part of the book offers the most succinct explanation of the religious and political causes of the doomed Jacobite cause I have ever seen. The author's notes at the the end of the book bring further detail and a twist that I didn't see coming, so don't pass them by! I really had to "sleep" on this review but although the book can be slow moving, I think it surpasses The Winter Sea to become my new favorite Kearsley book.
Many, many thanks to Sourcebook Landmark and netgalley for an advance digital copy of A Desperate Fortune.
RATING- 5 Stars
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