Presenting Author: Mary Stewart

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Name of the author: Mary Stewart
Main genre: , Historical, Historical Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Suspense, Mythology
Main audience: young adult on
Main books: Arthurian Saga (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment, etc), The Moonspinners, Nine Coaches Waiting, The Ivy Tree (and many more)
Short summary of the author: Mary Stewart, a novelist of a distinctly magical way of writing, has entranced readers once they have read their first book of hers. Many of her books reflect the point of view of a strong, gentle, smart and brave woman -- like her.
Good points / bad points: If you like a good read, you might want to try out her books. She's not for everyone -- no book is. But her books are good enough, strong enough in the story line, that many call her one of their favourite authors. One of her books, The Moon Spinners, was made into a movie.

Wikipedia says

Mary, Lady Stewart was a British novelist who developed the romantic mystery genre, featuring smart, adventurous heroines who could hold their own in dangerous situations.

Goodreads say this about Lady Mary Stewart

Born in Sunderland, The United Kingdom September 17, 1916
Died May 09, 2014
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Suspense
Lady Mary Stewart, born Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow, was a popular English novelist, and taught at the school of John Norquay elementary for 30 to 35 years.
She was one of the most widely read fiction writers of our time. The author of twenty novels, a volume of poetry, and three books for young readers, she was admired for both her contemporary stories of romantic suspense and her historical novels. Born in England, she lived for many years in Scotland, spending time between Edinburgh and the West Highlands.

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Title of the book: The Ivy Tree
Author: Mary Stewart
Series: no (which is quite too bad, because I'd love to read more of this area and the people of the story)
Genres: mystery, romance, fiction, gothic, suspense, historical fiction, historical
Short summary of the story: Mary Grey has left Canada to visit, and perhaps stay, in England. She is accosted, while wandering the highlands, by Con Winslow, who accuses her of being the long-lost, and assumed dead, granddaughter of Matthew Winslow, Annabel. She is frightened of him and declines any participation of whatever he is 'raving' about (pretending to be Annabel). But then, for good or for ill, she changes her mind and, after an intensive course in learning about Whitescar (the family home) given her by Con and his half-sister, Lisa, she goes there - as Annabel. Thing is, there are others who remember Annabel, too, and Con and Lisa didn't know anything about them. A totally and thorough Good read, The Ivy Tree might not flummox folks with the solution of the obvious mystery for long, but there are plenty of other mysteries to solve within the story and some very scary bits of suspense.
Good Points; Mary Stewart knows her way about history, and suspense and has a knack of weaving a story which incorporates that and more. She also knows a lot about horses, and it shows in the writing, the words used, while telling this story.

Goodreads has this to say about The Ivy Tree

A TRICK OF COLORING... HER WALK... THE WAY SHE SMILED...

An English June in the Roman Wall countryside; the ruin of a beautiful old house standing cheek-by-jowl with the solid, sunlit prosperity of the manor farm - a lovely place, and a rich inheritance for one of the two remaining Winslow heirs. There had been a third, but Annabel Winslow had died four years ago. [ ]

Mary Grey has nothing to look forward to except a future as colorless as her name. So if she looks, walks, and smiles so much like the glamorous missing heiress Annabel Winslow, why not be her for a little while? To the lonely young woman--living in a dreary furnished room, faced with an uncertain future--the impersonation offered intriguing possibilities.

If Mary looked so much like the missing heiress, why should she not be an heiress? And so plain Mary became the glamorous Annabel. But she did not live happily ever after. In fact, she almost did not live at all. Because someone wanted Annabel Winslow missing ... permanently.

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Title of the book: Nine Coaches Waiting
Author: Mary Stewart
Series: no
Genres: mystery, romance, fiction, suspense, thriller

Short summary of the story: Linda Martin dislikes intensely the job she has in England and takes a job as a governess to return to her beloved France. She works for Léon and Héloïse de Valmy, the uncle and aunt of the orphaned Phillipe. Orphaned herself, Linda has no one who would look for her or stand up for her if something went wrong. Well, things go wrong with incidents which appear to be accidents plaguing her charge, Philippe. Enter Raoul, Léon's son and stepson to Héloïse, and the stakes change. But in which direction?

Good Points: There is a fine tension in the book almost from the start. A feeling of suspense and of danger builds almost from the first page. The story itself is lovely! Well, it's lovely if you like the genres in which it falls! I do. Suspense and adventure, written so believably, is a wonderful find. This story is written with such richness and eloquence. The scenes are painted with evocative prose; you can easily find yourself 'in' the story, because of the wealth of description. At the same time, there is not a plethora of words ... there is precisely what is needed and no more.

Goodreads says this about Nine Coaches Waiting -

A governess in a French chateau encounters an apparent plot against her young charge's life in this unforgettably haunting and beautifully written suspense novel.

When lovely Linda Martin first arrives at Château Valmy as an English governess to the nine-year-old Count Philippe de Valmy, the opulence and history surrounding her seems like a wondrous, ecstatic dream. But a palpable terror is crouching in the shadows. Philippe's uncle, Léon de Valmy, is the epitome of charm, yet dynamic and arrogant, his paralysis little hindrance as he moves noiselessly in his wheelchair from room to room. Only his son Raoul, a handsome, sardonic man who drives himself and his car with equally reckless abandon, seems able to stand up to him. To Linda, Raoul is an enigma, though irresistibly attracted to him, she senses some dark twist in his nature. When an accident deep in the woods nearly kills Linda's innocent charge, she begins to wonder if someone has deadly plans for the young count.

Published in 1958, it's currently classified as 'historical' as well as 'gothic' but it wasn't written as a history but as a contemporary story. There are references in the book to things which are of the time period in which it was written, like 'fins' on a car (Cadillac).