I've been a Mary Stewart fan since a college roommate introduced me to her books, more years ago than I am willing to cop to. But my least favorite of all her books that I've read has always been The Stormy Petrel. I excitedly snagged it at a used bookstore years ago, read it and scratched my head (see my prior review below), read it again, and finally gave it away to Goodwill in disgust.Then I joined Goodreads, and some of my best times here have been with the ladies in the Mary Stewart group. After re-reading several Stewart books with them and, for the most part (with some exceptions *coughThunder on the Rightcough*), realizing that for me they've gotten better with age, I decided I had to give the Stormy Petrel book one more chance, and checked it out of the library since I had gotten rid of my own copy. I was torn between hoping that I would be charmed by previously unseen depths and underappreciated lovely writing in this book, and hoping that I wouldn't bitterly regret dumping my old copy.My revised verdict: Petrel is better than I had remembered, but it's never going to join my favorites bookshelf. If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be "understated." The plot is fairly straightforward: Rose Fenemore, a 27 year old Oxford don, poet and closet SF author, takes a vacation up to the lonely isle of Moira off the west coast of Scotland to try to get some writing done.Rose's married brother is supposed to join her, but between one thing and another he gets delayed. Things start to get more interesting when one night two separate young men seek shelter from a heavy storm in the cottage Rose has rented. Is something underhanded afoot? Can she trust either of them? Is one of them a potential love interest? (Mary Stewart fans will know the answers to these questions.)It sounds like things could get pretty exciting from here, but the tone of the book remains pretty relaxed and laid-back. Is Rose in peril when she decides to explore the empty mansion near her cottage? (view spoiler)[ No, one of the guys grabs her but then he apologizes and they have a nice chat. (hide spoiler)]
When Rose Fenemore travels to the island of Moila off the west coast of Scotland, she is looking forward to spending a quiet holiday with her brother Crispin in a paradise filled with seabirds and wild flowers. Remote and lonely, the secluded island seems to Rose to be the perfect place to relax and get away from it all. In fact, the isolated cottage she has rented - advertised as an "ivory tower" - promises to be the ideal retreat where Rose can finish writing her novel, and Crispin can commune with nature - walking, fishing and indulging in his passion for photography.However, things don't turn out quite so idyllically. Her brother's arrival is delayed, and the island's peace is shattered by the arrival of two men, seeking shelter during a violent summer storm. Each man tells a remarkably different story - conflicting narratives that draw Rose into a web of menace and suspicion.Rose's discovery of the stormy petrels - the fragile, elusive seabirds that nest ashore but spend the majority of their lives flying just above the waves - comes to symbolize for Rose her confusion about Ewen Mackay, the man known as the island's prodigal son, as well as the man who calls himself John Parsons - someone whose account of himself Rose has every reason to distrust.I enjoyed reading this book - it was certainly interesting and a remarkably quick read for me. However, I must say that I didn't really find the plot all that suspenseful - at least not as suspenseful as some of Ms. Stewart's other work that I've read. Although I wouldn't say that this book is Ms. Stewart's absolute best - compared to some of her other books that I've read in the past - it still was quite good. I would give The Stormy Petrel by Mary Stewart an A!
No one creates a story like Mary Stewart! Her location descriptions are so detailed that you feel as if you are there. This was the strong point of this story for me. A house on a desolate island with few citizens amidst birds, seals, rocks, waves, wind, flowers, etc. I really got the sense of the place, the location, smells and terrain. Wonderful!The story itself was interesting, though not really a gothic. It was more of a light mystery and many reviewers said that this type of story is not her usual fare. True, but I look upon this as more of a 'it-could-happen-in-real-life' type of story, not one written with some far-fetched elements to enhance the entertainment for the reader. I enjoyed the characters, though was disappointed that the bad guy was the bad guy! I think he had a more interesting personality than the 'good guy', but overall, everyone in the story was well-written. No surprises in the story, as each new development was revealed in real time but that's OK. It felt like a curl up on the sofa type of read and that is perfect in itself.Buddy read for Madam, want to talk about author Mary Stewart
—Susan
As with most of Mary Stewart's work (the Arthurian books so far being the only ones I'll except from this), this is light, easy, fairly predictable, and very comfortable. I read it in the bath, and didn't give one thought to how icky my surgical incisions would be looking afterwards, so I'm not saying that's a bad thing: I read it in one go, I enjoyed it, I smiled, and though I won't remember the details in a year's time, I'll remember a cosy sort of experience with cottages and a brainy, brave, but sensible heroine.I would've almost preferred a twist at the end, for the reveal to be reversed, because a) it would've been harder to predict and b) I could see the whole course of where it could've gone from the moment one of the two men arrived on the scene. Mind you, then it would've been more like The Moonspinners, I suppose.And hey, at least this time she didn't marry her cousin.
—Nikki
Not the finest of Mary Stewart's romantic suspense novels, but I liked it a lot for several reasons. The first being the heroine ended up with (or it implied she ended up with) the guy I liked better. I always complain to my sister that whenever there are two men in a Mary Stewart novel I always like the one who ends up being the guy she doesn't fall in love with or, on one occasion, the man who ends up being the villain. The second reason is the main character was a writer so I identified with her more than I usually do with Stewart's heroines. I loved several of the passages regarding writing, especially this one on inspiration:"I sat at the kitchen table, staring at the blind white blankness in front of me, and slowly, like a clear spring welling up from the common earth, the poem rose and spread and filled me, unstoppable as flood water, technique unknotting even as it ran, like snags rolled away on the flood. When it comes, it is worth everything in the world. There is too much easy talk about "inspiration," but at such times one sees it exactly for what it is, a breathing in of all experience, all apprehension of beauty, all love. As a fire needs air to make it burn, so a poem needs to be fuelled by each one of these. And the greatest of these is love."The last reason is, well, it's Mary Stewart! Her settings are always so enchanting; I wish I could jump into her novels. Her books and the memories I associate with them make me happy.
—Melee
