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A Desperate Fortune cover art

A Desperate Fortune

Written by: Susanna Kearsley
Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
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Publisher's Summary

Beloved New York Times best-selling author Susanna Kearsley delivers a riveting novel that deftly intertwines the tales of two women, divided by centuries and forever changed by a clash of love and fate.

For nearly 300, the cryptic journal of Mary Dundas has kept its secrets. Now, amateur codebreaker Sara Thomas travels to Paris to crack the cipher.

Jacobite exile Mary Dundas is filled with longing - for freedom, for adventure, for the family she lost. When fate opens the door, Mary dares to set her foot on a path far more surprising and dangerous than she ever could have dreamed.

As Mary's gripping tale of rebellion and betrayal is revealed to her, Sara faces events in her own life that require letting go of everything she thought she knew - about herself, about loyalty, and especially about love. Though divided by centuries, these two women are united in a quest to discover the limits of trust and the unlikely coincidences of fate.

©2015 Susanna Kearsley (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

What the critics say

A grand adventure...Susanna Kearsley just keeps getting better and better! (Lauren Willig, New York Times best-selling author)

Featured Article: A Love Story for the Ages: 10 Incredible Historical Romance Audiobooks

Historical romance fiction masterful combines, passion, drama and suspense all while keeping the storyline factually accurate. From historical events to wardrobe and attire, these writers expertly weave their tales while remaining accurate and committed to their time. We’ve made a list of our top 10 historical romance audiobooks for your listening pleasure.

What listeners say about A Desperate Fortune

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5 Stars 🌟 A Really Wonderful Book❣

With audiobooks, the narrator has a huge impact on whether or not we want to listen to an audiobook, it's not just the quality of the story that matters. This narrator was exceptional. She didn't read too slow or too fast, not too loud or too soft, and she did a really good job with the accents.

I fell in love with this story from the first page and remained so until the last word.

I love well-told historical details, and scenery described in a way that is relevant and told in a way that I can imagine. This book consistently delivered on that.

I was equally engrossed in the characters and interesting plot in both the modern story and the past story. I felt a bit bothered when we switched from modern to past, as I always am when I love both storylines in a book. This was not a hard problem to deal with though, because within a few paragraphs I was deeply into the new chapter. And I know that the best way to tell a modern and historical story that have parallels is to switch back and forth this way.

One memorable moment is when I realized that what I hoped would happen, but didn't expect would, was actually going to happen. The second was how it ended, which is exactly how I hoped it would end.

Most important, I was surprised at the exceptionality of the modern female lead. I am somewhat like that, so is my husband, and many members of my family are too. It is nice to see people like us portrayed as lovable, relatable and successful, just like in real life. Big kudos to the author for choosing to write about this in such an empathetic and relatable way.

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Loved this book and am a fan of the author.

Wonderful travels and intriguing stories about history with thrill and learning . To include insight into the autism spectrum was brilliant. Loved the collateral interwoven lives. Again, oh oh what a story.

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Loved it so much that I'm listening again

Looking for historical fiction after finishing the Outlander books led me to Kearsley, who is now my favourite author. I haven't been disappointed by any of her books, but I think this is one of her best. There are many interesting characters and two separate storylines (one set in the present and the other in the past) that are skillfully woven together to create a coherent narrative. Although most of her books are narrated by Carolyn Bonneyman, I enjoyed Katherine Kellgren's performance. Like Bonneyman, she can cover a surprising range of accents, which was critical for this book.

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Good story but difficult to listen to.

Found the narrator of the story very hard to listen to. Accents good but felt preached at

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Loved it!

One of my favourites by Susanna!! I absolutely love her ability to create intricate characters and amazing stories. She always has strong female protagonists and this is no exception.

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A lovely ending for sure

Stay to the ending by the author for sure. The author demonstrates her diligence and kindness to her historical figures and I very much appreciate her style.

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Another Excellent Story

You appreciate just how much work it takes to write this type of novel when you hear the author detail her research at the end of the novel. The story was seamless and I was invested the whole time.

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Captivating story with a great narrator.

I didn't think I'd be into this type of a story ad I usually read thrillers and mysteries, but this was fantastic. At first the narrator was a bit too classic British but I got used to it about 15 minutes in. The story is wonderful and unexpected.

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