Mary Stewart Novels blog

Article in Mystery Scene Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:37:00 +0000

I just came across a nice article that appeared in Mystery Scene Magazine last summer. Not too much new information, except that it shares a little about Mary Stewart's reaction to getting an honorary degree from her alma mater, Durham University:

In a letter to me that same year, Lady Mary Stewart said of the experience, “It was indeed wonderful to be remembered—and in such a way—by my old University.”

And apparently the author of the article asked her if she would write another book:

“No new book! I know better than to try at (nearly) 93!” she wrote me in 2009.

Hi Meg Cabot fans!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:37:00 +0000

So I was looking at the blog's stats today and realized that Meg Cabot linked to us from her blog! YAY! I love Meg Cabot, and I'm very very honored that she likes our blog. And she has about a bazillion million fans -- especially younger readers, which is awesome because she is getting the word out to younger readers about Mary Stewart.

So, Meg Cabot fans, welcome! Here are a couple links for you:

A complete listing of Mary Stewart's books
A blog post with suggestions for which Mary Stewart book you might want to read first.

Anyone have a favorite Meg Cabot book? I really loved the Princess Diaries books (come on, who doesn't?), but I also really liked her Mediator series. They're about a girl who sees ghosts, but not in a scary way like the movie. She sees the ghosts when they need her help resolving some unfinished business here on earth. They're really funny.

Mary Stewart's signature?

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:40:00 +0000

Hi Mary Stewart fans! I am hoping someone can help me out here -- does anyone have a copy of Mary Stewart's signature?

[Sidenote: I've always meant to write her a letter, but honestly it's a little intimidating. I mean, what do you write to your favorite author of all time? Hi. I really really like your books. I don't want to be lame! It's MARY STEWART!]

The reason I'd like to have her signature is because I am getting married in April, and instead of plain old table numbers for the reception, I'm going to name each table after one of my favorite authors. (Plus a couple of my fiance's favorites.) I'd like to incorporate images of their signatures somehow (either on the table number signs or the escort cards).

Here are the other signatures I've found so far:

Can you read that last one? I'm struggling with David McCullough too -- he's my fiance's favorite, but his signature is totally illegible!

So, if you've ever gotten a letter from Mary Stewart or have a book autographed by her, would you consider scanning it and sending it to me (jenniesizemore@gmail.com)? I'd really appreciate it!

If I get anything, I'll share it with everyone. :)

Off the Page -- Video interview with Mary Stewart

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:21:00 +0000

Myrna-nora left a comment on the blog ages ago directing us to a YouTube video of Mary Stewart! It's a great interview from a TV program called Off the Page, which apparently featured a different Scottish writer every week. It's about a half hour long and so lovely! It was filmed in 1992, just after the release of The Stormy Petrel.

One tidbit that I thought was interesting -- Mary Stewart says that when she was writing the scene in The Moon-Spinners where Nicola swims in the Bay of Dolphins, she decided that her next book would feature a dolphin as a sort of hero. Of course, This Rough Magic was next (and is my absolute favorite Mary Stewart book).

I really hope that the interview was set at Mary Stewart's house in Scotland. Because I like to think of her enjoying her retirement in such a beautiful place!

Mary Stewart ebooks

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:09:00 +0000

I've recently fallen in love with my Kindle. I never thought I'd jump on the ebook bandwagon, but in the last year or so it has seemed more and more inevitable. And I'm astonished by how pleasant the reading experience is on my Kindle. I still miss the idea of having all my physical books around me -- though even this seems less important now that I am approaching yet another move to a new city.

Every so often I cruise Amazon's Kindle Store to see if they've released Mary Stewart's books in ebook format. There's still nothing in the U.S. store, but the U.K. seems to have the full line of her romantic suspense books! Hopefully this means that the U.S. editions are on their way.

I couldn't find any of the Arthurian series on the U.K. Amazon. Surely they are working on those?

Anyone have any info about Mary Stewart ebooks in other formats besides Kindle?

New UK covers!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:03:00 +0000

Emily, a fellow Mary Stewart fan, let me know about these beautiful new editions that Hodder is publishing in the UK in March. Oooooh, LOVE! The illustrations are great -- especially because the women are wearing such fabulous clothes and looking as posh and capable as any Mary Stewart heroine should.

If I had the money, I'd buy the whole set! You can get them on Amazon UK.

A Mary Stewart appreciation

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 02:11:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 01:14:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 23:30:00 +0000

"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

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 23:23:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:25:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:26:00 +0000

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....

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

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.

Happy Birthday to Mary Stewart!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:14:00 +0000

Today is Mary Stewart's 93rd birthday. We send our best wishes to her for a happy day!

In honor of the event, we'd like to do a little GIVEAWAY! Chicago Review Press has been reissuing some Mary Stewart titles in trade paperback editions with lovely covers. The lastest is The Ivy Tree.

The publisher was nice enough to send us a review copy -- we, in turn, will pass it along to one of you. Simply leave a comment and you'll be entered in a drawing to win it. (International is fine, but please be aware that I will send it by the cheapest, slowest delivery method available to me. I'm a poor grad student, you know.) We'll pick a name out of the hat this Sunday.

Don't know what The Ivy Tree is about?! Read the blurb! It's so fabulous. Believe me.

Contacting Mary Stewart

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 03:08:00 +0000

We've gotten several emails from people asking if we know how to get fan mail to Mary Stewart. I'm afraid I don't have a very good answer. I've never tried to write to her. Has anyone ever been successful in getting mail to her?

The only suggestion I have is to write to her c/o her publisher. Her American publisher is HarperCollins. Their contact page says that they will forward fan mail on to their authors. You should address the envelope as follows:

Mary Stewart
c/o Author mail, 7th Floor
HarperCollins Publishers
10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022

Her British publisher, Hodder, does not have any info on their website about contacting authors. They might forward mail as well, but I'm not sure. I've written emails to them a couple times about it, but haven't gotten any response.

If anyone has any other info to share, please do!

Better scans from LHJ!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:17:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I posted about the Nine Coaches Waiting condensation that was published in Ladies Home Journal in 1958. I'd scanned some images from a microfilm copy, and the quality was really sad. I have a wonderful mother who loves to shop online (she can find anything!) and who also loves Mary Stewart. So I was surprised by a package on my stoop -- a print copy of the September 1958 Ladies Home Journal. Yay! Here are much improved scans (in color!). They're so pretty.

The table of contents page has a little biography of Mary Stewart. It says that in her spare time she "directs college plays and exercises race horses." I knew about her passion for drama, but exercising race horses? So glamorous! I guess that's why The Ivy Tree's horse-whisperer heroine seems so authentic.

Thanks, Mama!!

Congratulations to Lady Stewart!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:43:00 +0000

On July 3, Mary Stewart was awarded an honorary degree (a Doctor of Letters) by her alma mater, Durham University. This news release states that she is one of six to be honored this summer, though the article is sadly almost entirely about some British newscaster who I don't care about. However, I was able to find a copy of the speech that was to be read at Mary Stewart's ceremony, which includes a nice biographical sketch. Stewart attended Durham University as a student from 1935 to 1938, and then returned in 1941 as a Lecturer of English, during which time she also received her MA. She taught at Durham until 1945, when she married.

Durham Cathedral, where the ceremony took place

The speech doesn't really provide any new info that I haven't found previously in other sources (and I think my biography is a little better!). But it does mention that Stewart currently still resides in her home on the shores of Loch Awe in Scotland. I love the idea of Mary Stewart enjoying her retirement in a picturesque Scottish house on the shores of a beautiful lake.

Loch Awe

I'll keep an eye out for any photos or info that surface on the Internet about the ceremony.

Charles Geer retrospective at Mulford Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:08:00 +0000

Charles Geer is a children's book and cover illustrator who did the beautiful drawings for many of the William Morrow editions of Mary Stewart's hardcovers. I've tried to do research on him, but have been unable to find too much. Here are a couple of his Stewart covers:

I came across an announcement for a show of Geer's work at the Mulford Gallery in Rockland, ME. From the announcement, it sounds like there will be drawings from his Stewart covers there, though I'm not sure. Anyone live near Rockland who can go check it out for us? The show runs through June 15.

Coronet covers

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Sun, 31 May 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A couple of kind Stewart fans have sent us a few more covers that we'd never seen before, including these two Coronet paperback covers. I've seen other Stewarts in this style and have loved them. They're obviously done by the same illustrator, and I think they really capture the feeling of Stewart's books, with a certain 1970s flair.

Look how glamorous Gianetta looks!

I have to say this one is less attractive than the others. I suppose that man must be Con? He looks so angry and mean he just couldn't possibly be Adam! And in Kelly's words, Annabel looks vapid.

Here are some more that we already had in our collection. This Madam, Will You Talk is my absolute favorite! We loved it so much that we used the illustration on the header of the website. Richard is looking very James Bond with his pistol.

I love that you can see the dead body washed ashore in the background. And Lucy looks so unconcerned.

Beautiful! But why is Jennifer wearing a Grecian outfit? And what is to the left of her? Is that a boat? There are no boats in Thunder, are there?

Nine Coaches Waiting in Ladies Home Journal, 1958

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Thu, 28 May 2009 01:54:00 +0000

Many of Mary Stewart's novels were condensed and published in women's magazines around the time that the novels were first published. Though this sort of thing is done infrequently now, back in the day I think it was a fairly common way to publicize a new book by a well-known author. I was unable to find print copies of any of them (I guess women's magazines weren't considered worthy of preservation), but my local university library has many of them on microfilm.

The image above is the illustration by Harry Anderson that accompanied the condensation of Nine Coaches Waiting in the September 1958 issue of Ladies Home Journal. I'm sorry the quality isn't great -- the microfilm was black and white and a bit fuzzy. But it's a lovely picture. It must depict the scene when Linda is in Madame de Valmy's room trying on the ballgown she'd made. Raoul finds her there and they have a nice little interlude. ;)

I pushed away from him at last, both hands against his chest. "But Raoul, why?"
"What d'you mean why?"
"Why me? Your father called me 'Jane Eyre,' and he wasn't far wrong. And you--you could have anyone. So ... why?"
"Do you want to know why?" His hands turned me around to face the mirror again, holding me back against him. I could feel his heart hammering against my shoulder blade. His eyes met mind in the glass. "You don't have to be humble, ma belle. That's why."

*sigh*

The title page is below -- the typography is so, so pretty. If you click on the picture it'll take you to a larger version, though I'm not sure you'll be able to read the text. The condensation is quite long -- I think around 15 pages or so. I found it sort of odd that they decided to condense the whole thing rather than just print an excerpt (and who did the condensing, I wonder, and what did Mary Stewart think of it?!). It was discomfiting to read an abridged version since I'm so familiar with the original text.

I've only had time to locate this one article so far, but I'll try to scan the others soon. If anyone has an attic full of Ladies Home Journals or Good Housekeeping from the 1950s and 60s, let me know! I'd love to see color scans of these!

New Favorites Poll

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:40:00 +0000

We've had a poll running over on the sidebar since we put the blog up -- asking what people's favorite Mary Stewart book is. I've just posted a new one, since someone noticed that not all of Stewart's books were listed as options. Sorry! I think I'd only put my favorites on there, which was very egocentric of me. :)

So go vote! (Again, or for the first time.)

Here are the top results of the previous poll. 107 people voted.

Nine Coaches Waiting -- 19%
This Rough Magic -- 14%
Madam, Will You Talk -- 13%
The Crystal Cave -- 9%
Airs Above the Ground -- 9%
My Brother Michael -- 9%

Madam, Will You Talk giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:35:00 +0000

Angie has posted a lovely essay about how she discovered Mary Stewart's books. She's also giving away a free copy of Madam, Will You Talk. So head over there and comment -- you could win! The contest closes tonight (May 6) at midnight.

Covers from Susanna Kearsley!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:54:00 +0000

Susanna Kearsley (an author whose books I love and which are very reminiscent of Mary Stewart) scanned a bunch of her Mary Stewart covers and sent them to us. Yay! Thanks, Susanna!

I've added them all to the cover gallery on the website. Here are some of my favorites:

The Gabriel Hounds, original UK hardback, Hodder & Stoughton, 1967. I love the colors on this one.

Touch Not the Cat, UK hardback, Hodder & Stoughton, 1976

Thunder on the Right, US Fawcett paperback. I like this one, but why on earth is Jennifer Silver wearing a medieval costume??

Literary Guild Review -- This Rough Magic

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:37:00 +0000

A few years ago I was at the Strand (a great used bookstore in NYC) and found a beautifully preserved hardcover copy of my very favorite Mary Stewart book, This Rough Magic. When I opened it up a little pamphlet fell out--the Literary Guild Review that came with the book when the original owner received it in 1964. I did a little happy dance right there in the store. It contains an interview with Stewart and a summary illustrated with these fantastic drawings. I had some fun with Photoshop and added in little excerpts of the text.

Lucy meets Sir Julian Gale.

Oh, Max. *Swoon*

Such great adventures.

Wings: The Literary Guild Review, August 1964. Garden City, NY: Literary Guild of America, Inc., 1964.

Susan Wiggs likes Mary Stewart too

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Bestselling author Susan Wiggs has posted a list of her five favorite authors. Mary Stewart didn't quite make her top five. But she had such trouble narrowing her list down, she added a few more, one of which was Mary Stewart.

Nice list, Ms. Wiggs!