This is another enjoyable Mary Stewart suspense novel (sorry, I'm never going to stop talking about her books. They're just so much fun). Airs Above the Ground, written in 1965, may not be her best novel, but it's set in Austria, a lovely country and one of my favorite places in the world, so between the wonderful setting and the pivotal role in the plot played by Lippizaners, who are based in Austria, I have a massive soft spot for this novel.Vanessa March, who's been married for two years, has had a rousing and bitter argument with her husband Lewis, who was inconsiderate enough to go on yet another out-of-the-country trip for his work, cancelling a long-planned vacation with Vanessa to southern Italy. He heads off to Stockholm, or at least he tells Vanessa that's where he's going, but then she sees him in a newsreel about a mysterious circus fire in Austria that caused two deaths. And Lewis' arm is around a pretty, blond Austrian girl. Vanessa is not one to take this sort of thing lying down. So, using the excuse of escorting a divorced friend's 17 year old son Timothy to his father in Vienna, she takes off to Austria to hunt down the circus and her husband. And from there the plot goes in some interesting directions that I wouldn't have expected when I first read this book. This book is unusual for Mary Stewart in that the main characters are already married, so it lacks the developing romance plotline that's so charming in most of her other novels, but you do get some pretty funny light sexy banter between Vanessa and Lewis, so it's a fair trade-off. Plus, no insta-love! Timothy, Vanessa's teenage friend, is a charming addition to the cast. Timothy is a little older than the boys that show up in several of Mary Stewart's other novels, but he's just as delightful as Philippe, David and William. (Extra points to any Stewart fans who can name all of the novels those three boys are in.)The "airs above the ground" are the beautiful, traditional dance moves that the trained Lippizaner stallions do, including the levade, where the horse rears up and holds his pose:Stewart circles back around to the "airs above the ground" theme in a couple of interesting ways, including a terrifying chase across the rooftops and battlements of an old Austrian castle.There are a few slow spots and a few unlikely turns in the plot (especially at the end, when (view spoiler)[Lewis agrees to take Vanessa and Timothy along with him to confront the bad guys. Who are killers, with guns. (hide spoiler)]
Upping this to four stars on re-reading. How could I have forgotten how much fun this is? A classic Mary Stewart blend of action, adventure, travel and a dash of romance. Plus this one has all of my favorite things....Gorgeous Austrian scenery....Horses!And not just any horses....The noble, ancient Lipizzaner stallions of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna are part of the story.There are all sorts of wonderful details about the school, the horses, their well-documented lineages and the way they are trained. This horse lover was in ecstasy. I could practically smell the manure (very mild and delightful in a well run stable); the oats and warm horses; hay and saddle soap. I re-learned so much about the art of dressage, which dates back to Xenophon. Many of the movements horses are taught in dressage were used in war-time cavalry maneuvers. The Haute Ecole airs above the ground might have been originally designed both as defensive and offensive cavalry techniques and are familiar to anyone who has ever admired statues and paintings of great warriors from the Greeks and Persians to Napoleon.This is the Levade, which (in theory) puts the horse's body between the hapless foot soldier and the noble and ever-so-valuable cavalry rider. Then there are the offensive moves like the capriole, croupade and ballotade I'm not sure which this is about to become but it gives you a sense of how high these horses can leap.And if you think horses don't do this sort of thing naturally you have not spent enough time with the beasties.Oh! Uh oh....I'm supposed to be reviewing the book...?*Hana takes deep breath*Yes, the book is really fun. There is a proto-feminist female vet who's really charming (and hot, especially in nylon nighties); and a neglected teenager who wants to join the Spanish Riding School; and a missing hubbie who might or might not be a bad guy. There's a circus (with HORSES!) There are amazing chase scenes across mountaintop castle roofs...Awesome and scary moments with a cog railway...And a very satisfying denouement.Buddy read summer 2015--thanks for sharing the fun! https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
What do You think about Airs Above The Ground (2004)?
My first Mary Stewart book of 2015. It's perfectly ok, but honestly not my favourite. For various small reasons, none of which are particularly major. There is a horsey feature about this book, the airs above ground being a performing horse trick that these Austrian dancing horses do. I'm not into horses at all, so this immediately switches my brain off. I also found the plot slow moving for the bulk of the story, and it was a bit like a couple of stories glued together - first it's about the ci
—Ape
Although there is absolutely nothing wrong with Stewart's literary skills it is her characterisation that I annoys me. Written in 1965 it would appear that the world constitutes two classes of people the upper Middle classes and the people whose duty it is to serve them. again our heroine is a beautiful/talented(vet)lady her husband businessman and part time spy and the young person are heroine is chaperoning private school educated, I think you get the gist. I was also intrigued that the smallish travelling circus had a stable of 26 horses(!)added to the fact that she took poetic liscense and coincidence to 'twilight zone' proportions definitely not my cup of tea!
—Sean Brennan
So, I'll start with a warning that the heroine has a strong revulsion for one of the secondary characters because he has dwarfism. She recognizes the irrationality of her reaction and it's only a couple of scenes, but it's still there. Just a head-up in case you can't take any more sizism/ableism today.Other than that, the story was a lot of fun. I was kind of expecting a Gothic, but turns out it's a Cold War spy novel. Sort of. The "is he?/isn't he?" of the spy-ness is part of the plot, so I'll not give that away. The suspense was very mild, which is my preference. There's a nice amount of humor. Quite possibly the most touching horse scene I've ever encountered (horses aren't my thing, but this one had me a little teary). Also, some light romantic elements. A lovely Sunday afternoon read, really.
—Jessica
