Susanna Kearsley

Susanna Kearsley – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Discover the life and work of Susanna Kearsley, a Canadian novelist best known for weaving historical fiction, mystery, and romance. Learn about her background, novels, writing approach, and memorable quotes.

Introduction

Susanna Kearsley is a Canadian author celebrated for her atmospheric, multi-layered historical novels imbued with mystery, romance, and traces of the paranormal. She crafts stories that interlace past and present, giving voice to characters who span centuries. Her books have earned awards, bestseller status, and a devoted readership around the world. She often explores themes of memory, identity, and the echoes of history in modern life.

Early Life and Background

Susanna Kearsley was born on January 17, 1966 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart (one of Kearsley’s favorite authors) when Susanna was born.

From youth she showed a love for writing. As she describes it, by age seven she read Little Women and recognized parts of herself in Jo March, and by adolescence she was drafting chapters and experimenting with stories.

She studied politics and international development at university. museum curator, a job that allowed her to immerse in historical artifacts, archives, and research.

At the age of 22, she resolved to write more seriously. She left her curator role to become a waitress while she wrote her second novel, Mariana, which would become a turning point in her career.

Today, she lives near Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Literary Career & Major Works

Genres, Style & Themes

Susanna Kearsley writes primarily in historical fiction, often blending elements of mystery, romance, and sometimes paranormal or “time-slip” features. dual timeline narratives — interweaving a present-day protagonist with echoes or reincarnations from the past.

She has said that one of her motivations is to restore “lost voices” of people (often women) whose stories were hidden or marginalized in the historical record.

Bibliography & Selected Works

Kearsley has published many novels under her name and one under the pseudonym Emma Cole.

Under Susanna Kearsley

Some of her notable books include:

• Undertow (1993)

• Mariana (1994) — which won the Catherine Cookson Fiction Prize and was important in launching her career.

• The Splendour Falls (1995)

• The Shadowy Horses (1997)

• Named of the Dragon (1998)

• Season of Storms (2001)

• The Winter Sea (2008) — the first book of the “Slains” trilogy.

• The Firebird (2013) — the second in the Slains trilogy; won the RITA Award for Best Paranormal Romance.

• The Vanished Days (2021) — completes the Slains trilogy.

• The Rose Garden (2011)

• A Desperate Fortune (2015)

• Bellewether (2018)

• The King’s Messenger (upcoming / recent)

As Emma Cole

Under the pen name Emma Cole she published Every Secret Thing, a thriller which was long intended to begin a series. Every Secret Thing has been reissued under her own name.

Awards and Recognition

• The Firebird won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Paranormal Romance (2014).

• The Winter Sea earned the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Historical Fiction.

• Her earlier The Rose Garden also received Romantic Times acclaim.

• Mariana’s recognition via the Catherine Cookson Fiction Prize was a major boost in her early career.

• Every Secret Thing (Emma Cole) was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award (Canada) for Best Novel.

• Her books have been translated into over 25 countries.

• Several of her titles have reached New York Times and major bestseller lists.

Writing Philosophy & Approach

Kearsley’s storytelling depends heavily on research, place, and voice. In interviews she often describes the process:

• She dives deep into original documents, letters, archives, and travels to historical settings to imbue her fiction with authenticity.

• She places importance on mood, atmosphere, and emotional resonance as much as plot.

• Her narratives frequently champion women’s agency, including the often-invisible contributions of women in history, and she views her work as restoring forgotten voices.

• She embraces the mystery of history — uncertainties, gaps, lost documents — and treats them as opportunities for creative imagination rather than constraints.

Personality & Legacy

Kearsley is described as thoughtful, curious, and introspective. Her dual experience as curator and novelist gives her a unique sensitivity to material culture and the resonance of things across time.

Her influence lies in showing readers that historical fiction can be both richly researched and emotionally engaging, bridging past and present with nuance rather than nostalgia.

She has inspired many readers and writers who seek to explore how history continues to echo in modern lives.

Famous Quotes

Here are some notable quotations and reflections from Susanna Kearsley:

“Women have always been largely left out of history books, and I find it an especially rewarding challenge to hunt down their voices.”

“When Lucy pushed aside the coats and stepped past them and found herself in an entirely different world … I thought that was the most wonderful thing.”
(On how The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe influenced her sense of fiction as escape)

“There’s this pervasive myth that strong women in history were somehow remarkable or unusual, but … I find the women in their lives emerging just as strong and influential as the women of today.”

“Every book is a unique journey for me, and I wouldn’t want to miss a single step of it.”

These quotes highlight her belief in the power of historical imagination, women’s hidden stories, and the deep connection between past and present.