Season of Storms

Book excerpt: In this intriguing novel filled with romance and mystery, a young actress travels to a lakeside villa in northern Italy for the role of a lifetime only to find herself haunted by the ghost of a missing woman—from the New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling author Susanna Kearsley. When promising young actress Celia “Sullivan” Sands receives a letter from Italy offering her the lead role in a play, she is baffled. The invitation from Alessandro D’Ascanio is curiously addressed to her under her real name, which she has long kept secret. D’Ascanio is planning to stage the first performance of his grandfather Galeazzo D’Ascanio’s masterpiece at an isolated villa on Lake Garda. The stunning play—Galeazzo’s final work—was written in the early 1900s for his muse and mistress, his most enduring obsession: the original Celia Sands. But the night before she was to take the stage in the leading role, she vanished without a trace. Now, decades later, her namesake accepts the part and travels to Italy. She is instantly drawn to the mysteries surrounding the play—and to her compelling, compassionate employer. But as she settles into the role, she begins to wonder if what happened to the first Celia will come back to haunt her....