The Firebird

July 15, 2013
Nicola Marter has the gift of psychometryâthe ability to touch an object and discover information about its previous owners. Her grandfather's adamant instructions to never reveal her abilities, coupled with the negative reactions from those who do not understand her, has Nicola eager to keep her talent a secret. Margaret Ross appears at Nicola's artifacts and art gallery with a small carving of a bird, called the Firebird, and claims the item was given to her ancestor, Anna, by Peter the Great's wife, the Empress Catherine of Russia. Once Nicola holds the Firebird, she sees a vision of Anna with the Empress and realizes the carving could bring Margaret, who is in dire need of money, a fortune. Determined to help Margaret and prove the authenticity of the Firebird, Nicola enlists the help of Rob, who also has the same psychic abilities as Nicola's, only stronger. Following Anna's path, Nicole and Rob find themselves crossing Scotland, Belgium, and Russia, taking the reader on a journey spanning the Jacobite Rising of 1715 and its aftermath. Historical novelist Kearsley (The Rose Garden) wonderfully weaves past, present, and paranormal in this enjoyable adventure.

May 1, 2013
Nicola Marter's Russian grandfather was tortured for his gift of psychometry, so she's hidden her own talent for years, but she may have to risk sharing it to help another. Kearsley gives Robbie McMorran from Shadowy Horses his own story. Able to see ghosts and to sift carefully through the years of memories attached to objects, Rob's power of sight has always been much stronger than Nicola's. At her best, she receives a sudden, uncontrolled, sharp image or scene, which is fine with her. Nicola would much prefer to keep her gift hidden, particularly from her boss, Sebastian, who would probably fire her from the art gallery. But when Margaret Ross turns up, everything changes. After having cared for her aunts and mother until their deaths, Margaret has known little of her own life. To finance a well-deserved cruise, she's hoping to sell a wooden carving of a firebird, a sculpture she claims has been in her family for three centuries, a gift from the First Empress Catherine of Russia. Unfortunately, she has no way to prove Firebird's provenance. Nicola casually picks up the carving and instantly realizes the truth. Yet a psychic flash is a far cry from an officially documented provenance. Nicola desperately wants to help Margaret, and she's willing to ask Rob for help. The only trouble is, well, Rob's mischievous blue eyes still make her forget her own words. Rob is more than willing to travel to Russia to help Nicola, and soon, he is training her to not simply observe, but fully witness the 18th-century romance between a young Anna (Margaret's ancestor) and her own mischievous Edmund. Kearsley blends history, romance and a bit of the supernatural into a glittering, bewitching tale.

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Starred review from May 1, 2013
Authentic historic detail, a touch of the paranormal, and romance come together with a synergistic effect in versatile Kearsley's (The Rose Garden, 2011) lovely and memorable novel. Nicola Marter works for a London gallery. She not only holds master's degrees in Russian studies and art history; she also has the secret ability to hold an object and see past events. When a woman comes in with a small carved bird, Nicola has a vision of the Empress Catherine giving it to a young woman named Anna. With no documented provenance, the carving is worthless to collectors, and Nicola feels impelled to authenticate it. Impulsively, she heads to Scotland and enlists the assistance of Rob McMorran, to whom she was attracted when she met him in a psychic study. Even though Nicola can practice psychometry, she knows that Rob's much stronger psychic powers will be invaluable. Together they embark on a journey that takes them to Ypres and Saint Petersburg and opens a window onto the early eighteenth century and the plight of Jacobites as they unravel Anna's story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)