Some authors deserve a second look; perhaps they were more popular a generation or two ago? Perhaps they might even seem a bit dated or almost stuck in amber. With our modern lens, we sometimes bypass these authors and their magic of their prose and storytelling. Although I have seen some posts about this author on YouTube, she is not getting the amount of attention that I think she deserves.

Mary Stewart is just such an author. For many of us of a 'certain age' (over 50), we may be aware of her and see her novels in used book stores or as books with older dated covers. Frequently, I find her books at used book sales or yard sales. Her writing has an almost gothic and dark feel at times, which makes me think of Rebbeca by Daphne DuMaurier. However, in the world of Mary Stewart, I have found that her books end with a more positive and less dark tone.

If Mary Stewart is not an author you know much about, I encourage you to give her a try. Mary Stewart's heyday was during the late 50's through to the 1990s. During that time, she produced over 20 books in the genre of suspenseful romances, fiction, poetry, and children's books. Now, right here, you may say no to the romance, but let me tell you. These are not the bodice rippers or chick lit (NOT, that there is ANTYHING wrong with those). Almost all of her books are centered around a strong female heroine who gets embroiled in mysteries and suspense, usually in exciting locales in Greece, England, Europe, and the Mediterranean. Of course, there is a handsome male character who, as you can imagine, often becomes a love interest. A couple of her outings remind me a bit of E.M. Forester's "A Room with a View."

If you read one of these and feel that they are a bit dated to our modern sensibilities, I understand. However, with the world as it is and the speed at which we live nowadays. Sometimes, journeying to another time and place where manners and civility are still the norm is just what the doctor ordered. Mary Stewart had an innate ability to draw you into the locale of these stories, where you felt you were there and going along with the mystery, adventure, and romance.

The first book I read by Mary Stewart was The Ivy Tree, a good ten or so years ago now, and it remains a book that I remember fondly. The Ivy Tree Centers around a woman named Mary Gray, who finds herself in England from Canada and embroiled in deception and long-held family secrets. And to make matters more intriguing, Mary is the spitting image of the missing Annabelle Winslow. Cue in a dying grandfather, an impersonation of Annabelle, an angry landowner, a preoccupied boyfriend, and an aging paramour of Annabelle. What that leaves you with is a story that pulls you in, and you come out the other end, having enjoyed the ride immensely.

Just a few months ago, while roaming the shelves of our local library, I picked up Thornyhold by Mary Stewart. This is a gem, let me tell you. I am not a fast reader; however, I finished this book in a couple of days. Our heroine is Gilly Ramsey, a young woman who has cared for her aging vicar father and now finds herself at a loss after his passing. Gilly had met only a handful of times her wonderful Cousin Gellis when she was a young girl. Cousin Gellis seemed to have a bit of magic about her by the way she spoke and her mysterious herbal remedies. This left a big impression on the very unhappy child of Gilly, who had a distant mother and a weak father. Upon Cousin Gellis' death, Gilly finds that she has been left the cottage in the woods called Thornyhold. Upon arriving, Gilly feels that she is almost in a magical setting, with some neighbors that appear to be in a witches' coven. Her neighbor is determined to get her hands on Cousin Gellis' book of healing remedies. In the meantime, Gellis meets a young boy who had been a friend of Cousin Gellis' and quickly becomes a friend and confidant to Gilly, oh, and did I mention he has a dashing single father? It was a wonderful story, and I had no problem visualizing Thornyhold in my mind's eye. To me, that is another mark of a good author. The ability to create a setting that is so immersive, so tangible, that it feels as if you are coming back from another reality when you set the book down.

During Mary Stewart's lifetime, she wrote over 20 novels, which included romantic suspense, a fantasy series about the legend of Merlin, children's books, poetry, and non-fiction. She was born in Northern England and studied at Durham University. She graduated from there with a first-class honours in English literature. After graduation, she taught as a primary school teacher and eventually as a lecturer at Durham University. It was there that she met her husband, who was a Geology professor. She lived to the age of ninety-seven and passed in 2014.

Below is a listing of all the work produced by Mary Stewart in her lifetime.

Romantic Suspense

• Madam, Will You Talk? (1955)

• Wildfire at Midnight (1956)

• Thunder on the Right (1957)

• Nine Coaches Waiting (1958)

• My Brother Michael (1959)

• The Ivy Tree (1961)

• The Moon-Spinners (1962)

• This Rough Magic (1964)

• Airs Above the Ground (1965)

• The Gabriel Hounds (1967)

• Touch Not the Cat (1976)

• Thornyhold (1988)

• Stormy Petrel (1991)

• Rose Cottage (1997)

The Arthurian Saga

• The Crystal Cave (1970)

• The Hollow Hills (1973)

• The Last Enchantment (1979)

• The Wicked Day (1983)

Children’s

• The Little Broomstick (1971)

• Ludo and the Star Horse (1974)

• A Walk in Wolf Wood (1980)

Poetry

• Frost on the Window (1956)

Nonfiction/Collected Editions

• Mary Stewart’s Merlin Trilogy (omnibus) (1980)

• Mary Stewart’s Rose Cottage (with afterword) (1997)

So the next time you run across a Mary Stewart book or decide to do a search for her books at the library, do read it. I am almost certain that you will enjoy the story and the escapism of her work.

Happy Reading! Sharon