Veena’s review of The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley
Paranormal Romance published by Sourcebooks Landmark 4 Jun 13
In Russian Fairytales a Firebird is the object of a quest which yields unexpected results. When Nicola Marter encounters a wooden carving that she knows once belonged to the Empress Catherine of Russia, she sets out on her own firebird quest to prove its provenance. In a fascinating tale that stretches from the wilds of Scotland and the time of the Bonnie Prince Charlie through Europe and all the way to Russia, I breathlessly lived with Nicola on her quest, my own mundane world forgotten.
Nicola has always hidden her own psychic talents, though she is hard pressed when she finds the most recent client who comes to the art gallery with dreams in her eyes under a sentence of death and cannot prove the carving that has been in her family truly once belonged to the Empress Catherine. Determined to find a way to help the poor woman, Nicola goes to her ex-boyfriend Rob, who openly embraces his psychic abilities and uses them daily on his job for help on her quest.
With Rob’s help she’s able to go back to the beginning when Anna, her client’s ancestress, was a child growing up in the Scottish Highlands, hidden away amongst a simple fishing family to protect her parents who were noble and highly sought after by the English in those dangerous times. She traces Anna’s journey to a convent in Belgium and then to Calais, where, in danger of exposure, Anna uses her quick wits to become a ward of a high ranking naval officer on his way to Russia.
I find the way Rob is able to just drop into the past and view it in a series of frames extremely interesting. Nicola, who once ran away from a relationship with Rob to escape his and her own talents, now finds herself not just using his talent but also starting to re-forge their romance through a series of tender moments as Rob gives her what she wants and encourages her to use and develop her own abilities.
As they make their way to Russia, the shoe’s on the other foot because Nicola speaks fluent Russian while Rob doesn’t speak any. Nicola starts to gain confidence in her own talent and truly begins to find herself while she pursues Anna’s life, trying to find the moment in time when the Empress Catherine gifted Anna with the bird. It seems that Nicola’s life in some ways parallels Anna’s, as they both try to deal with the rigid conventions of their upbringing to find their happiness.
Is Anna destined to ever find her family and to find love or will she spend her entire life taking care of others? Can Nicola truly accept Rob for what he is and find happiness? I don’t want to take away from the twists and turns of the book, but it almost seems that Nicola’s happiness is bound up with Anna’s choices.
It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a book so much. I love how the author blends the historical events in with the fictional elements, such that it truly is hard to distinguish fact from fiction, and I lived in the story. Is the depiction of Rob’s talents a bit unrealistic? I don’t know, but it works for the story, so who I am to complain?
Grade:A
Summary:
Two Women.
One Mysterious Relic.
Separated By Centuries.Nicola Marter was born with a gift so rare and dangerous, she kept it buried deep. When she encounters a desperate woman trying to sell a small wooden carving called “The Firebird,” claiming it belonged to Russia’s Empress Catherine, it’s a problem. There’s no proof.
But Nicola’s held the object. She knows the woman is telling the truth.
Read an excerpt.
