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A Desperate Fortune

By: Susanna Kearsley

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Paperback | 11 August 2026

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Divided by centuries, two women are united in a quest to discover the limits of trust and are forever changed by a clash of love and fate. A gripping timeslip romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The King's Messenger.

For nearly 300 years, the mysterious journal of Jacobite exile Mary Dundas has lain unread, its secrets safe from prying eyes. Now, amateur codebreaker Sara Thomas has been hired by a once-famous historian to crack the journal's cipher. But when she arrives in Paris, Sara finds herself besieged by complications from all sides: the journal's reclusive owner, her charming Parisian neighbour, and Mary, whose journal doesn't hold the secrets Sara expects. As Mary's tale grows more and more dire, Sara, too, must carefully choose which turning to take... to find the road that will lead her safely home.

Praise for Susanna Kearsley:?

‘I’ve loved every one of Susanna’s books! She has bedrock research and a butterfly’s delicate touch with characters - historical fiction that pulls you in and won’t let go!’?Diana Gabaldon?

‘Kearsley has a poetic sensibility and a sense of mystery; she could write the modern Rebecca’?The Bookseller?

‘Evocative and romantic’ Nicola Cornick

‘Sometimes an author catches lightning in a bottle, and Susanna Kearsley does just that’ New York Journal of Books

‘A deeply engaging and compelling historical novel... Susanna Kearsley has written a marvellous book’ Bernard Cornwell

‘One of Canada’s best historical fiction writers’ The Globe and Mail

‘Kearsley is nothing less than a magician weaving together the past and the present… utterly unputdownable’ M J Rose

‘A master storyteller’ Leslie Howard

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