Named of the Dragon

I love the beautiful prose and the compelling stories of Susanna Kearsley!

This is yet another beautifully written book by Susanna Kearsley. Almost as good as "Marianna" and better than "The Shadowy Horses", both by Ms. Kearsley, this book is a highly entertaining gothic style novel.A literary agent with a sad past, her client who is a children's author, another author romantically linked with the agent's client, and his brother, all spend the Christmas holidays together in the two brothers' farmhouse in Wales. Our literary agent starts having vivid dreams in which a woman from the past keeps asking her to protect a beautiful child she has with her. Meanwhile, a local, somewhat eccentric neighbor also perceives this literary agent to be someone sent to guard her own child from danger. She, too, has had haunting dreams.Throw in a brooding Welsh playwright, some atmospheric surroundings, a lonely, wild country side, some romantic yearnings, haunting legends, and mysterious, inexplicable occurrences, and what you have is a gripping page turner. It is a book well worth reading.

Ms. Kearsley's book is the best book I have ever read! She combines a fantastic plot with history and one of the greatest stories of all time-Arthurian Legend. Lyn Ravenshaw travles from London to Angle, Wales with her client, where she meets the interesting and confusing Elen, the "unbearable" Gareth, and a host of other characters who all add to this increadible mystery. I definently recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery and lore.

Lyn is a literary agent who has been haunted by the death of her baby for a long time. Lyn's friend Bridget writes children books. Bridget is tough, mad about men and loves to create scandals. She invites Lyn to spend Christmas in Wales with her and two other writers, James and Gareth. Bridget has her reasons for inviting Lyn along, but my impression is that a power much stronger than a best selling writer has something to do with her trip. Lyn feeling a trip would do her good accepts Bridget's offer. Once there she meets a neighbor who swears Lyn was sent to be a guardian and a writer who believes she is only there to convince him to sign with her company. Lyn finds herself pulled into a mystery that is beyond her control. Now her dreams are not just disturb by the haunting cries of her own lost baby, but by someone else's child as well. What do they want? Why does she keep seeing people in her dreams that do not exist?Susanna Kearsley's writing impressed me greatly! The first page captured me immediately; once drawn in I couldn't let go. Although Named the Dragon is a contemporary novel, the historical aspects of Wales, its castles, its myths and its royalty, along with the quotes at the beginning of each chapter by Shakespeare, W.B. Yeats, and Lord Tennyson made the read that much more delightful for me as a historical buff.Susanna Kearsley's writing has been compared to Barbara Michaels and Mary Stewart. I have to agree - it is that good.

Author Bridget Cooper persuades her literary agent Lyn Ravenshaw to join her on a Christmas vacation in Angle, Wales. Bridget looks forward to spending some time with a famous playwright, whose name she refuses to divulge to Lyn. She wants Lyn to occupy a boy friend, noted writer James Swift. Lyn looks forward to meeting James because she loved his last work "The Leaden Sky" that she thought deserved a Booker.After they arrive in Angle, Lyn learns that Bridget plans to have a tryst with the renowned recluse Gareth Gwyn Morgan, whose play several years took the world by storm. Gareth rejects the spotlights of the London stage and has not published anything since he was heralded as the greatest. When Gareth and Lyn meet for the first time, no sparks fly. There is only a squabble that occurs whenever they're together. As they see each other, they begin to fall in love. However, neither one can handle a relationship filled with love because their respective hearts are overloaded with guilt from their pasts. Adding to their problems is the continual dream that Lyn suffers involving a mother and a child.NAMED OF THE DRAGON is a very interesting contemporary romance that centers on protagonists predominantly belonging to the world of literature. The story line is character-driven, which works because the prime players are different in temperament yet add much to the mix. Though the subplot involving Merlin's Prophecy (Lyn's dream) seems distracting at times, it ultimately works its way into the main plot. Susanna Kearsley provides her audience with a complex relationship drama that shows her ability to showcase her cast.Harriet Klausner