A Mary Stewart appreciation

Writer Unboxed has a lovely post up about Mary Stewart. Sophie Masson, the author, marvels that though she first discovered and loved Stewart as a teenager, the magic of Stewart's books is undiminished as she re-reads them as an adult. I absolutely agree! Her stories are timeless. Here's a quote from the post:

I was struck by the clarity, beauty and intelligence of her style, and the way it manages to wear its learning so lightly. For there are many, many literary and historical allusions in Mary Stewart’s books; her love of Shakespeare and of Greek and Roman classics and Celtic myth, especially, shines through, enriching the books whilst never being overbearing. Her evocation of place, of landscape and architecture and atmosphere, is superb. She effortlessly bridges the so-called gap between ‘literary’ and ‘genre’ fiction, proving you don’t have to use tortured ‘literary’ constructions to write well, and neither do you need to write ‘down’ in order to tell a rattling good story.

The comments on the post prove again to me how many people were given Stewarts' books as a teenager by their mothers (as I was), and have read and reread them for years. Also striking is how many authors quote her as the inspiration for their becoming writers themselves.

Photo Gallery: This Rough Magic

Finally a second installment of our photo gallery feature, where we bring you pictures of the fabulous settings from Mary Stewart's novels! (Our first photo gallery was for Madam, Will You Talk.) Today we're showing photos of Corfu, the setting of This Rough Magic.

Corfu Island
photo by Robert Louden

"Perhaps I should explain (for those who are not so lucky as I) that Corfu is an island off the west coast of Greece. It is long and sickle-shaped, and lies along the curve of the coast... At its northern end the island is broad and mountainous, tailing off through rich valleys and ever decreasing hills into the long, flat scorpion's tail of the south from which some think that Corfu, or Kerkyra, gets its name."

photo by Helen Parker


photo by Marite2007

"The bay was small and sheltered, a sickle of pure white sand holding back the aquamarine sea, and held in its turn by the towering backdrop of cliff and pine and golden-green trees."


The Albanian coast
photo by theoldsmithy

"Away northward, across the dark blue strait, loomed, insubstantial as mist, the ghostly snows of Albania."


Corfu Town
photo by whl.travel


Palm Sunday procession in Corfu Town
photo by mbavinton

"Presently, from somewhere, a big bell struck, and there came the distant sound of the bands starting up. Thevast crowd fell almost silent, all eyes turned to watch the narrow mouth of Nikephoros Street, where the first banners glinted, slowly moving up into the sunlight of the square. The procession had begun."


Keeping Godfrey entertained at the Achilleion
photo by Ava Babili

"I remember very little now of my tour of the Achilleion. I am sure Godfrey was a good guide; I recollect that he talked charmingly and informatively all the time, and I must have made the right responses; but I was obsessed with my new hatred of him..."


Lucy's dolphin
photo by fotolen

"Far out in the bay a curve of blue fire melted, rolled in a silver wheel, and was lost under the light of day."

*All quotes are from This Rough Magic, copyright 1964, by Mary Stewart

Mary Stewart on success

"I can sit and talk happily to people about books and authors without realizing that I am myself the author of nine books... As a matter of fact, it still startles me to see my name on books, or to realize that it means anything to anyone. Yet, judging by the letters I receive from readers, it does."

Quoted in:
Smaridge, Norah. Famous British Women Novelists. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1967. Page 122.

Apologies

Sorry for the long, long, long time between posts! I haven't given up on this blog, I've just been too busy to give it the time it deserves. But I get so many nice comments and emails that I really want to keep it up better. So I will try!

This Rough Magic in the Chicago Tribune, 1964

I just came across a condensation of This Rough Magic that appeared in the Chicago Tribune! They published the story in 18 installments running from Nov. 8 - Nov. 24, 1964, which must have been just as the book was released in the U.S. The illustrations are very 1960-ish.

The quality of the images isn't that great, seeing as they're from a newspaper, but it's still fun. I especially love the taglines that they put at the top of each installment: "Bullets Shatter a Peaceful Vacation," "Spiro Tells of His Brush with Death," "Keeping a Killer off his Victim's Trail." And the best of all: "Suspense Winds an Ever Tighter Coil as Lucy Waring Creeps up like a Ghost from the Sea on the Spy who Tried to Kill Her".

I'm posting the first two pages, as I think that's all I'm allowed due to copyright. I located these images using the ProQuest Historical Newspaper database.





Click on the images to view them larger.

Links of interest

Thanks to author Dee Davis, we finally have a blurb for Wind Off the Small Isles! I've been searching for years for a copy of Wind that had the jacket intact and have never been able to find one. It's Mary Stewart's only novella, which was published in the UK but not in the US. I read it just recently and will try to post a review soon.

Check out Dee's website -- she's an author of romantic suspense who cites Stewart as a source of inspiration. As a tribute, she included references for one of Mary Stewart's books in each of her first fifteen books.

Niranjana Iyer has written a great post about Mary Stewart on her blog. My favorite bit: "Stewart’s heroines are never passive—they usually tumble into adventure in the course of aiding the vulnerable (a child or a wounded animal are favorite hooks). The trouble they land in is never of their own making, but they are nonetheless eager to help. They are also resourceful and practical and don’t care too much about their appearance. A Mary Stewart heroine would always have spare batteries in the kitchen drawer and sheets flapping whitely on a line out back, and her hair would never fall in her eyes."

And AAR has posted several great reviews for Mary Stewart books in the last few weeks: My Brother Michael, Madame Will You Talk, and Wildfire at Midnight.

The winner is....

Rylie! I'll be emailing you shortly to get your mailing address.

Thanks to all who entered! I wish I could send out copies to you all. For those of you who haven't read Mary Stewart, get to your local public library! Most libraries of decent size should have some Stewarts.