A Storm of Infinite Beauty

by Julianne MacLean

From the bestselling author of Beyond the Moonlit Sea comes an atmospheric tale of how one woman’s search for the truth uncovers long-hidden secrets and rocks the very foundation of her world.

Scarlett Fontaine is a true Hollywood legend—a singer, actress, and beloved fashion icon. But Scarlett dies tragically at just thirty-six years old, leaving behind no children. Or so the story goes…

Gwen Hollingsworth is the curator at a museum dedicated to Scarlett’s life. She’s also sole heir to Scarlett’s fortune as a descendant of the star. But all is not well in Gwen’s world. She’s dealing with a messy marital separation and is struggling to move forward. So when Peter Miller, a biographer and photojournalist, comes to the museum with shocking claims about Scarlett—a life of exile in Alaska, a baby born in secret—Gwen’s whole world is turned upside down.Again.

Determined to uncover the truth, Gwen and Peter set out for Alaska together but soon find themselves on a path toward something far deeper and more meaningful than either of them ever expected.

A Storm of Infinite Beauty takes readers on a breathtaking journey from a lush vineyard in Nova Scotia to a rustic lodge in Alaska where old family secrets are revealed and the quest for true happiness begins.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, Ebooks, Chick Lit, Realistic Fiction, Love Story

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 12, 2023

About the author

Julianne MacLean is a USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including the contemporary women’s fiction Color of Heaven Series. Readers have described her books as “breathtaking,” “soulful” and “uplifting.” MacLean is a four-time RITA finalist and has won numerous awards, including the Booksellers’ Best Award and a Reviewers’ Choice Award from Romantic Times. Her novels have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been published in over a dozen languages.

MacLean has a degree in English literature from the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a degree in business administration from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. She loves to travel and has lived in New Zealand, Canada, and England. MacLean currently resides on the east coast of Canada in a lakeside home with her husband and daughter.

For more information about Julianne and her writing life, please visit her website at www.juliannemaclean.com. Be sure to follow her on Bookbub to be notified whenever her ebooks are offered for FREE or 99 cents. (www.bookbub.com/authors/julianne-maclean) and chat with her on Facebook (www.facebook.com/JulianneMacLeanRoman...), Twitter (@JulianneMacLean), and Instagram (@JulianneMaclean).

Reviews

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julianne MacLean has become one of my automatic reads! I’ve loved every book by her and this one was no different.

Gwen runs the museum for her family about their famous actress/singer Scarlett and thought she knew everything about Scarlet. But a tabloid photographer, Peter comes to Gwen doing research for a book he is writing on Scarlett’s life and has discovered a photo of her from Valdez Alaska when an earthquake happened there. Story is told from alternating time lines of the present and Valdez Alaska in/around 1967, flows well and very easy to follow. Characters have depth and are so relatable. Will he thinking about them for some time to come.

Fun cozy mystery, some romance, soul healing as loss is discovered and worked through and just everything you need.

I’m not a fan of huge long lengthy descriptions of scenery and the author describes Alaska so beautifully with just the right amount of words that I am looking into planning a vacation there next year. It was perfect!

Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union publishing for my electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book!
From beginning to end the author captivates us with a story of love, loss and redemption.
Told in dual timelines I was totally immersed in all of the characters as well as the wonderfully descriptive scenery of Alaska.
This novel tells the story of Hollywood legend Scarlett Fontaine's year secretly spent in Alaska when one of the most severe earthquakes in history occurred. The second timeline involves her descendant Gwen who uncovers information regarding Scarlett's secret year away as she works through her own grief over a lost baby resulting in the end of her marriage.
Highly Recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immersive, emotional, and vivid!

A Storm of Infinite Beauty is set in Valdez, Alaska and Wolfville, Nova Scotia, in both 1964 and 2017, and is told from two different perspectives; Gwen, a young woman who spends her days running a museum dedicated to Scarlett Fontaine until a biographer shares some intriguing information that sees her travelling to Alaska to unravel the secrets surrounding one year of her late, legendary family member’s life, and Valerie/Scarlet, a young girl whose life is changed forever after she spends a year of heartache, loss, and tragedy in Valdez before heading to LA to follow her dream of becoming an actress/songwriter.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are resilient, brave, and scarred. And the plot is a moving tale about life, loss, family, secrets, desperation, friendship, survival, grief, marital discord, and the devastation of the Great Alaskan earthquake.

Overall, A Storm of Infinite Beauty is a heartfelt, sentimental, affecting read by MacLean that does a lovely job of interweaving historical facts and compelling fiction into an insightful, heart-tugging tale that is atmospheric and highly absorbing.

Thank you to Firefly Distributed Lines for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Lori Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hollywood icon, Scarlett, dies in Switzerland at a young age, leaving no children. Gwen, cousin and resident expert in charge of running a museum in Scarlett’s family home in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Enter Peter, paparazzi turned biographer, who believes he’s found a secret in Scarlett’s past. Together they work in trying to find out if this secret is true. Thru this process, Gwen heal from her own tragedy and heartbreak, and she’ll learn more than she ever felt possible.

Maclean takes us to the beautiful state of Alaska, with its frozen beauty and warm hearted people, and the horrific earthquake that took place in the early 1960’s. From the first page to the satisfying ending, I found it hard to put down. Dual time line from the 1960s and 2017. The story is fast paced enough to keep the reader engaged and wondering how the two will intersect. Characters are well developed, situations and circumstances are appropriate for the times. Her beautifully descriptive narrative takes us on a journey of love, loss, heartbreak and grief. Secrets are uncovered. I’ve read and enjoyed quite a few books by this author, and this one didn’t disappoint.

Thanks to Lake Union and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my honest review.

[Christine Nolfi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set against the backdrop of the largest earthquake ever to hit North America, A Storm of Infinite Beauty carries the reader from Nova Scotia to the wilds of Alaska as the curator of a museum dedicated to an iconic Hollywood star discovers what happened during a missing year in the actress’s life—and heals her own emotional wounds in the process.

[Susan's Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite a story, set partly in Alaska, Nova Scotia and Hollywood. There were a few mysteries to unravel, lost or withheld letters, broken hearts, earthquakes, rises to stardom ... just a heck of a lot going on, as I said.



The GR blurb reveals that the curator of a museum, dedicated to the town's local Hollywood celebrity, and a writer from Hollywood go on a quest to uncover the truth of what really happened to Valerie McCarthy (aka the legendary Scarlett Fontaine.)



I can't go into too much detail without giving away a ton of spoilers but of course there were the usual plot tropes of a quarrel, a misunderstanding, interference by domineering family members, and two young lives irrevocably set on separate paths.



The description of the devastating earthquake in Valdez, Alaska on March 27, 1964 was very well done.



That breath-taking description, as well as the Alaskan setting, is what kept me reading on.



This is a decent enough story, but I couldn't connect to any of the characters. There was too much telling and not enough showing and the characters (or stock caricatures!) were pretty standard fare.. In short, I didn't get a sense that the characters were real, full dimensional people.



I also often felt as if I were reading a magazine article, or a newspaper clipping. It doesn't help that the reader gets only snippets of events, often second-hand - a snapshot of a moment in time, as it were. The omniscient narrator invariably gives us just so much information to keep the reader engaged, and only at the very end of the novel are the various mysteries resolved to everyone's satisfaction. There was a twist and a happy ending - of a sort - with a touch of bittersweet realism, as if to say: "real life happens, so make the best of things."



This author has a ton of loyal fans, and this book is sure to please them once again. The setting of Alaska was very enticing, as well as the John Muir quote - which is what hooked me into ordering this ARC in the first place. I'm rating this a 3.3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

[Diane Nagatomo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scarlette Fontaine was an iconic movie star and songwriter in the 1960s. Her fifteen-year career (which included four Oscars) ended when she moved to Switzerland, and her early death in 1979 has only added to her legend. Gwen Hollingsworth, a distant relative of Scarlette is the heir of the Fontaine fortune and keeps Scarlette's memory alive as the manager of the Scarlette Fontaine museum in Scarlette's childhood home in Nova Scotia. Photojournalist (well, paparazzi, actually) Peter Miller visits the museum to discuss a book he is planning to write about Scarlette and brings along a photo that is about to change history. Everything that Gwen (and the world) had believed about Scarlette is about to change.

Gwen (who is recovering from her own private tragedies) travels with Peter to Alaska where they attempt to discover what happened to Scarlette in this "lost" year she had spent in Alaska that no one had ever known a thing about.

This is a wonderful novel and I enjoyed every page of it. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Waffling between 2 and 3 stars

For the most part I thought A Storm of Infinite Beauty was underwhelming. A tragic prologue began the narrative, but before I could wrap my mind around what happened in Valdez, Alaska in 1963, the plot moved to Nova Scotia in 2017.

Two women, related by blood but separated by time, suffered from grief. When I read a story with dual timelines I think it’s important to have a smooth transition between the past and the present. Instead, I favored the people from long ago.

I felt a literary hiccup when Gwen, Peter and Eric were being discussed. I was uncomfortable with Gwen’s frankness discussing Eric with Peter. I thought the separated couple passed over the mark that a good marriage counselor wouldn’t have missed. That, and there was little chemistry whenever any on the 3 characters were on the pages.

The story read like women’s fiction except with two timelines. But I think it would have been better served if Ms. MacLean wrote a full-length novel with strong characters coping with the massive earthquake in Valdez, Alaska.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Julianne MacLean for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Ella Droste · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite a story, but it missed the mark for me. The plot is set in Alask and Nova Scotia and is told from two different perspectives. The story centers around a museum dedicated to a Hollywood start and the curator who discovers what happened in the missing year in the actress' life.

The writing is very expressive, and the descriptive narrative is absolutely breathtaking! In spite of that, I couldn't really connect with any of the characters. The plot lacked character development, so the end result fell flat and underwhelming. There were also some very dry parts throughout the book, and it didn't help that there was little to no chemistry between a few of the characters.

Overall, this book was just OK. The setting descriptions were lovely and vividly written, and the different timelines added intrigue to the plot, even though the characters were a bit two-dimensional for my taste. It was still an enjoyable and fun read.

I'd like to express my gratitude for the advanced online copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Meagan✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I want to love and be loved”

RTC ✨✨

My Ratings For JM Books-
A Fire Sparkling- 5 Stars
These Tangles Vines- 4.85 Stars
All Our Beautiful Goodbyes- 4.85 Stars
A Storm Of Infinite Beauty- 4.5 Stars
Beyond The Moonlit Sea- 4.25 Stars

[Diane Holmes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Formulaic, predictable and trite. Not worth reading. Ugh.

[Sesili · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rekli na tiktoku da ćemo voleti ovu knjigu ako smo voleli 7 muževa Evelin Hugo plus ima lepe opise Aljaske i ja šta ću... Lagali su, naravno, nit liči na 7 muževa, nit ima lepe opise Aljaske. I kao ljubić je meh, tako da bebo Isuse, nemoj da mi cela godina bude takva, molim te ko brata. ♡

[Kremena Koleva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Попаднах на топла, реалистична и просветляваща книга като A Storm Of Infinite Beauty на Julianne Maclean. Тя беше откровение по толкова много начини, че жадно поемах емоциите, изборите, играта на съдбата и последиците от житейските ситуации за героите. Подобни събития или решения сме срещали и ние в реалния живот. Понякога го приемаме за заденост или се оставяме да ни влече като придошла река. Но в един момент отрезвяваме и осъзнаваме, че сме тук и сега с любимите хора или занимания по прищявка на съдбата и след мигване можем да загубим всичко, да се намерим на ново място и с различно мислене.

* " ... life was a gift—horrendous at times but also beautiful in its everyday miracles. "

A Storm Of Infinite Beauty е красива съвременна история за това как гледаме на известните личности от света на шоубизнеса. Сякаш носени на крилете на щастието, парите и славата, те не осъзнават борбите на хората в низините. А всъщност срещат перипетии, правят компромиси и имат тъжни мигове, но стоят пред нас с ведро лице и ярък ентусиазъм. Julianne Maclean показва това в лицето на известната Холивудска звезда Скарлет Фонтейн. Книгата тече нежно, деликатно и безкрайно реалистично. Мъката, загубата и цената на успеха й, цялата гама от преживявания, от сълзи и победи и отговора на въпроса защо е такава, какватоя вижда света? И ние четем за Валери Маккарти, отъсила се от маската на звездната Скарлет Фонтейн.
Не можах да прочета книгата без сърдечни трепети и препратки към мен самата, без сълзи и изненада от постоянните нови факти, които излизаха пред наследницата на холивудската актриса. Имаше сълзи и удовлетворение от появилите се истини.
И удоволствие, че добавих Julianne Maclean към любимите си автори!
Действието в романа се развиваше на няколко места, които държат интереса ми отдавна. Аляска с безкрайния простор и усещане за свобода. Халифакс , столицата на провинция Нова Скотия в Канада. И районът Акадия, за който за първи път научих в книгата на Laura Frantz The Seamstress of Acadie. Второто по - сила земетресение в писаната история на човечеството е било в Аляска през 1964 - та година. С могнитут от 9, 2 то има унищожитилни последици за района на Анкоридж , Валдеце , Сюард и на остров Кадяк. То е движеща сила и в книгата и изиграва огромна роля в съдбата на героите.

* " She was coming to realize that everyone dealt with grief in different ways. Some took longer than others to accept a loss. Some could never overcome their anger. "
* " I mean, when you think about it, when a relationship ends, there’s always disappointment for both people, and we tend to focus on our own heartache or anger. It’s easier to believe that none of it is your fault and that you’re the victim, instead of taking responsibility for the mistakes you made too.”

[Tera · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! This was my initial response to reading this book. The descriptions of the Alaskan landscape and the earthquake in Valdez, Alaska on March 27, 1964 were simply outstanding. The beauty of the writing is really what kept me going... add in a bit of mystery, and I couldn't put it down.

This story is about Hollywood icon Scarlett Fontaine and her short, but exceedingly successful career in Hollywood. She secured 4 Oscars and then retired to Switzerland where she died very young.

Gwen is a distant relative of Scarlett, but heir of her fortune. She also runs Scarlett Fontaine Museum in Nova Scotia, and believes she is quite the expert when knowing all about her life. But questions arise when paparazzi cameraman Peter Miller shows up with a photograph that Gwen has never seen. The two embark on a journey to Alaska together to find out about Scarlett's "lost year."

The story follows two timelines which I had no problem following. During their trip to Alaska, we also get to learn much about what has also happened in Gwen and Peter's lives. Overall, I loved everything about this story. I loved the backdrops and descriptions. I loved the dual timelines. And I loved the characters. I just feel it was all just perfect. And then there is that cover... it is stunning!

[Leanna Mattea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve liked everything I’ve read by Julianne McLean, so it wasn’t a surprise that I would love this. It follows the story of a woman Gwen, that maintains a museum in Nova Scotia, the Scarlett Fontaine Museum, dedicated to her deceased cousin, who passed before she was born.
She is approached by Peter Miller, a photo journalist, who is interested in writing a book about Scarlett’s life. Gwen is suspicious of Peter, because of his photo journalism background, but he convinces her that he is serious and has no intention of exploiting her story.
So begins a a journey that takes them to Alaska, to find the fascinating story of Scarlett. This is a beautifully written story with interesting characters, wonderful descriptions of the beauty of Alaska, and the challenges to bring the real Scarlett to life. This definitely a five star effort.
My thanks to the author, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Kezia Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It was all a journey of life and death, all of it a storm of infinite beauty. But always, months of darkness slowly gave way to light. How welcome it was, and how special, after a long cold winter.”

This novel tells a heartfelt story of love, loss, and finding yourself, all set in the beautiful landscape of Alaska. It moves between two timelines. One follows Hollywood star Scarlett Fontaine during a life-changing year in Alaska. The other follows her descendant Gwen, who travels there many years later to learn Scarlett’s story while coping with the pain of losing a baby and going through a painful divorce.

Gwen’s trip with Peter becomes more than just a search for answers. As they explore Alaska together, they begin to heal and find comfort in each other. The descriptions of Alaska are also one of the best parts of the book. They genuinely make you feel like you are really there, surrounded by glaciers, mountains, winter air, and wild beauty.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks so much to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley.

Scarlett was a true Hollywood legend who died alone with no children.

Gwen is a curator of the museum dedicated to Scarlett's life. Peter, a biographer, shows up with an old newspaper article that could be proof of a life in exile and a secret baby that no one knew about. They set out for Alaska to investigate.

This was such a great novel, and Julianne MacLean crafts a story with secrets in the past as well as new hope for the present. I was so curious to find out about Scarlett as well as what was going to happen with Gwen as she dealt with her own losses to figure out how to move on in her life. I really enjoyed this one.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Storm of Infinite Beauty reveals beauty on many levels: physically, emotionally, even spiritually as Julienne MacLean’s characters learn to rise above life’s clutter and come to see unvarnished truth. It’s a book to savor and reread. Gwen, the custodian of her relative’s public life as a famous movie star and song writer, gets involved in learning about her relative’s very private unknown life when photographer and contracted book author, Peter arrives with a surprising photo that might refute some of the public narrative. Gwen soon comes to realize she has more in common with her relative than she ever could have imagined. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommend.

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific read. Thoroughly enjoyed Gwen and Peter’s search for the truth about Scarlett/Valerie’s life.

I never knew about the earthquake in Alaska until this story, and the descriptions of it and Alaska in general were powerful.

Julianne MacLean is a terrific author and always has a few lines that hit home when I read her books.

Highly recommend this.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was suspenseful, action-packed and kept me reading. I was quickly caught up in the story and didn't want to put it down. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an absolutely beautiful read that takes you on a journey through family drama, secrets, friendship, love, loss, grief, disaster and even redemption. Equally captivating was the description of Alaska (I feel the same). I’m not sure someone could so adequately capture the depth of its beauty, but she’s absolutely done a splendid job.

I enjoyed the dual timelines set in both 1964 and 2017 which includes the tales of both Scarlett Fontaine, Hollywood legend and recording actress, and Gwen, one of Scarlett’s distant relatives who manages the museum dedicated to her life.

In the present timeline, Gwen (who happens to believe she is the leading authority on Scarlett’s life) is introduced to a new piece of evidence from a writer covering Scarlett for an upcoming book. The only problem is that it’s for a time period in Scarlett’s life that there is no known record of. Together with the source, she travels to Alaska and starts to piece together history that includes one of the most devastating earthquakes in history that Scarlett could have just happened to have been a part of.

This journey helps Gwen explore her own grief that led to the end of her marriage. I loved the ending. I was really waiting to be really PO’d or annoyed but the little twist at the end… yeah.

Worth the time to explore this book!

[Ali Bonnon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook of this novel. I found the plot of the book quite boring and the storyline didn’t engage me. Maybe I would have felt differently if I had read the book and not listened to the audio version as I’m normally a big fan of this genre?

[Brenda Engen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good novel by Julianne Maclean.

[Megan Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect book to get out of a rut. Read it in a day 🙃

[Linda Palazzolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. The narrator was spot on.

[Megan Gibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a such a sweet story. The first chapter hit hard with disaster and devastation, and the rest of the book was spent putting the pieces together. I was instantly hooked, and I enjoyed the angle of Gwen being personally invested as a descendent of Scarlett. The romantic element was lacking for me, I didn’t quite feel the spark and the dialogue was a bit formal. But I was so invested in Scarlett’s story and uncovering the pieces of her past. Overall, I really enjoyed this!

[Laura (kroosreadsandreviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author knocked it out of the park with this book! She has such a way with words that the reader can picture herself sitting in the Wilderness Lodge with Blaine and Maud.

I'm not usually a fan of dual timeline stories but this one worked so well and flowed so effortlessly.

The book left me thinking about each of the characters and the strength and resilience of their story.

Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.

[Diane Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is the best book yet Julianne MacLean. She knows how to tug on the heartstrings. Gwen learns that her famous cousin had a whole other life she never about. It sets Gwen on a journey to find answers and quickly finds herself questioning her own decisions in life. Outstanding and Unputdownable!

[January · Rating 2 out of 5]

Juvenile and predictable

Great descriptions of Alaska. Poor character and plot development. Neither character’s (Scarlett’s or Gwen’s) story provided much depth and the characters were flat and boring. Lots of words that lacked significance , color or content. I would not recommend

[Janet Peck · Rating 3 out of 5]

First 2/3 was interesting but the last 1/3 sappy and predictable. Mediocre characters IMO. 2.5 stars rounded up