I found this an enjoyable read. A solid 3.64 stars. The author has an engaging writing style. That said the story itself has interesting points and moves between two times, inter-meshing lightly. There is no real conclusion - which is much like real life - but leaves the reader hanging looking for more of a tidy ending. (The modern storyline does have a wrap-up of sorts.. and the earlier one does somewhat as well.. but it is more vague - as it should be any more spoils the story) Overall I can see why people enjoy this author. I wouldn't mind picking up another of her novels myself. I'd not mind having a completely historical tale to delve into - just to see what she'd do with it.

I'd also like to say that I found the postscript very interesting. That is very much worth taking the time to read, and gives some excellent back ground on the period, the author's research and methodology, as well as character development. ( )

Interesting historical novel. Enjoyed the story! ( )

A lot of the time in fiction, autistic characters are portrayed as either people with superpowers or helpless lost babies. The main character in the modern perspective of A Desperate Fortune is neither of those. Instead she is refreshingly human, her autism serves as something that both helps and hinders her, neither in a Manic Pixie Dream Girl way. ( )

Susanna Kearsley has rapidly become one of my favorite historical fiction writers. There is always an element of romance in her books, and I confess to enjoying that element, but there is also solid background research, realistic settings within that history, and strong fictional character who are surrounded by people and events that actually occurred.

In A Desperate Fortune, she follows the dual timelines of Sara and Mary. Sara is a young lady with Asperger's who is good at solving encryptions; Mary is a young lady in 1732 France who has left behind her an encrypted diary. In the course of transcribing the diary, we get both Sara’s story and Mary’s. As usual, Kearsley does a marvelous job of juggling the two stories and keeping the reader interested in both. So few writers pull this off well for me.

One of the fun contrivances Kearsley uses is introducing characters from her previous books, mainly for cameo parts, but like running into an old friend when touring a foreign city, it gives you a feeling of connection and home. It also helps to keep the time element clear in the historical portion when you encounter characters that are already firmly placed in your mind. Besides, who doesn’t smile when a character steps onto the page and they can say, “oh, I know him”?

This kind of book always makes me feel young again. It is the kind of book I relished when my dreams were new and the future looked like fun. It was a much needed break from some very heavy reading and made me wonder why I don’t indulge myself more often in reading something just because I want to.
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Sarah Thomas, a modern day computer programmer with a passion for ciphers, decodes a diary written by Mary Dundass 300 years before. Sarah's been different and isolated by her aspergers until she begins working on the diary.

Mary is one of the second generation Jacobites living in exile near Paris. Her Mother is deceased, her Father and brothers left her behind with family to follow King James to Rome. Mary longs for the family which has abandoned her--until they decide she can be used on a mission. ( )