The ivy tree (original 1961; edition 1961)

Oh, Mary Stewart, no, I KNOW you can do better than this. I KNOW you are a better writer than this. This is way too boring for the woman who writes the Crystal Cave! And too many people here are just...petty. Urgh. ( )

This is the third novel by Mary Stewart I’ve read in the past few months and my least favourite so far. It lacks in a number of departments. Firstly, although the novel is nominally set around Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, the setting could just as easily have been any rural England location with horses. Some early references to the Wall and a theme involving a search for Roman ruins provide the totality of the Northumberland scene setting. While the descriptive writing is excellent, it doesn’t evoke a sense of place in the same way as the south of France is evoked in “Madam, Will You Talk” or Corfu is evoked in “This Rough Magic”. Thirdly, while the action appears to take place around the time the novel was published (that is, in 1961), there is little in the text to place it within that time period, with the notable exception of a heroine who smokes like a chimney and some very dubious gender politics. Thirdly, the characters are two-dimensional and I found it difficult to care about any of them, other than a secondary character, Donald, of whom I wish I had seen more. Fourthly, the twist in the tale was, I thought, patently obvious from early on. I kept hoping that I was wrong about this and I expected some other twist, but it never came. For me, the twist was that there wasn’t actually a twist. In a way, Stewart hid everything in plain sight, which is clever writing, but not clever enough to overcome my disappointment with the predictability of the plot.

Although I’ve focused on the negatives, I don’t wish to imply that I disliked reading the novel. It’s an easy and entertaining read and deserves its 3 stars. However, I prefer Josephine Tey’s “Brat Farrar”, which is referred to in the narrative and which clearly gave Stewart plenty of inspiration. The plot in that novel is also predictable, but the psychological portrait of the central character makes the novel considerably more interesting. ( )

Possibly my favourite Mary Stewart so far -- and the last of her mystery/romances, which is possibly why. Gah, I can't believe I have no more to look forward to. I accidentally spoilered myself as to the end of this one, but that was okay because the narration is clever enough that I just spent the time trying to catch Mary/Annabel out.

I wish I knew what it was that makes Mary Stewart's mystery/romances work for me, but I can't really put my finger on it. Something about the atmosphere, the characters, the simple inevitability of it all, the way she can make me believe the most terribly far-fetched things. The way I end up falling in love with most of her pairings. She didn't make me fall in love with Con -- I saw him coming far too easily, the way he was -- or understand Mary/Annabel's willingness to work for his interests, but still. Somehow I accepted the plot anyway.

I'll miss Mary Stewart's romances. They're immensely easy to read, addictive, and usually well-balanced as regards the amount of suspension of disbelief necessary, description vs. action, characters, romance vs. mystery... I'd have to be very sure of someone's taste before recommending these, I think, but I was utterly and unexpectedly charmed. ( )

Very British mystery story about mistaken and hidden identity. Read this in high school and then reread it a few years back and still didn't see the ending coming. ( )

After mostly liking Nine Coaches Waiting, I decided to try another Mary Stewart. This is another mystery. It’s not nearly as atmospheric and I had figured out the central twist long before it was actually revealed. However, the characters were interesting and the beautiful descriptions of Northumberland were great. [May 2010]

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I had read this a long time ago, but have been reading more Stewart lately and wanted to revisit it. I was interested by how obvious the mystery seems on a second read, though I remember feeling surprised when the big reveal comes along. In some ways, I enjoyed it more this time through, and certainly I like it better than Nine Coaches Waiting or Madam, Will You Talk. Though perhaps not quite as much as Thornyhold. (Dec 2011) ( )