NAMED OF THE DRAGON
Susanna Kearsley
Sourcebooks
October 6, 2014


Susanna Kearsley has been one of my favorite authors since The Winter Sea. I had long wanted to read Named of the Dragon but was unable to get my hands on a copy. It has been out of print for quite awhile. So when Sourcebooks offered me the opportunity to read and review a digital copy I was delighted.

London-based literary agent Lyn Ravenshaw allows herself to be persuaded to spend Christmas in Wales with her flighty and flamboyant client, Bridget Cooper. Little did she know that she would be stepping into a world in which Arthurian legend is still very much alive. Lyn is a young widow who has suffered another devastating loss; a still-born child. Her grief is always with her along with dreams of her child. In Wales, the dreams increase in intensity; meeting another young widow whose child seems to be in some sort of jeopardy does not help. Lyn's conflicted feelings for an irascible playwright who lives near the farm she is visiting add to her turmoil.

The excellent world-building and lyrical descriptive language I have come to expect from Susanna Kearsley is very much present in Named of the Dragon. I have never visited Wales, but I have some clear pictures in my head now. I enjoyed the book but thought the characterization was a little weak and the ending rushed. Perhaps if I had a better understanding of Arthurian legend I might have enjoyed it more.The romance element didn't work nearly as well as in her later work. Susanna Kearsley has grown tremendously as a writer over the years. Overall, Named of the Dragon is a good read, but not a great one.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for a digital copy of Named of the Dragon in return for an honest review.


RATING- 3 Stars