The Winter Sea
A writer rents a cottage on the Scottish coast and discovers her novel about the 1708 Jacobite invasion is writing itself, drawing on ancestral memories she never knew she had.
Themes & atmosphere
Books in conversation with The Winter Sea
A few of the closest reads from our full list.
What you might want to know about The Winter Sea
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Novelist Carrie McClelland rents a cottage near the cliffs of Slains Castle in Cruden Bay to write about the failed 1708 Jacobite landing on the Scottish coast. As Carrie writes her ancestor Sophia Paterson into the story, scenes start arriving with details she could not have invented.
Susanna Kearsley's loose Slains series includes The Winter Sea, The Firebird, and The Vanished Days. Each can be read as a standalone, with shared characters appearing across them.
Yes. The Winter Sea blends contemporary and 1708 Scottish historical timelines, focused on the Jacobite rising. Susanna Kearsley researches her historical settings extensively.
The Winter Sea was written by Susanna Kearsley, published in 2008 by Simon & Schuster.
The Winter Sea is 528 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Winter Sea takes most readers 8 to 11 hours to finish.
The Winter Sea is a standalone novel by Susanna Kearsley, not part of a series.
The Winter Sea is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.