Friday's Forgotten Books - This Rough Magic

Mary Stewart was born in 1916 in Sunderland, County Durham, England and graduated from Durham University, later serving as a lecturer in English Language and Literature there. She turned to writing novels in the 1950s and is considered to be one of the founders of "romantic suspense." Her marriage to Sir Frederick Stewart, one-time chairman of the Geology Department of Edinburgh University, led to extensive travels that provided inspiration for the detailed exotic settings her novels are famous for.

One such novel heavily dependent upon a sense of place is 1964's This Rough Magic, a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel in 1965 (beaten out by John Le Carré's The Spy Who Came in From the Cold). Lucy Waring, a young British stage actress whose first big play folded abruptly, is having a hard time finding work, so she accepts an invitation to stay with her married sister on the idyllic Ionian island of Corfu. At least, it appears idyllic, but on her first morning there, someone shoots at a tame dolphin, a young Greek boy drowns off the coast of Albania, and soon afterward a smuggler washes up dead in a nearby cove. The prime suspect is one of their neighbors, the handsome, arrogant son of a famous British actor-turned-hermit, although he's not the only one with secrets to hide.

In the story, Corfu is the alleged locale for Shakespeare's The Tempest, which provides plenty of fodder for tie-ins to Shakespeare's play, including the character of Sir Julian Gale (who is a Lawrence Olivier clone), elements such as a deliberate take on Prospero's books, a girl named Miranda and a touch of Ariel's music and epigraphs from the play prefacing each chapter, along with plenty of other literary references.

Setting is another major aspect of the novel, not surprising since the author has said she is blessed with a very good visual memory, "almost like a movie camera. When I start describing something in a book, I find myself putting down things I didn't know I'd caught. I'm a sponge, a happy thing for a writer to be":

The alleys were deserted, save for the thin cats and the singing birds in cages on the walls. Here and there, where a gap in the homes had a blazing wedge of sunlight across the stones, dusty kittens baked themselves in patches of marigolds, or very old women peered from the black doorways. The smell of charcoal-cooking hung in the warm air. Our steps echoed up the hills while from the main streets the sound of talk and laughter surged back at us, muted like the roar of a river in a distant gorge.

Stewart is also solid in her characterizations for the most part, with Lucy, the typical plucky-and-feisty Stewart heroine, and the various supporting cast members fleshed out in vivid detail, particularly the aging hermit actor, Sir Julian. As this is "romantic suspense," there are a couple of love-story angles involved. However, they actually take a back seat to the suspense elements that start off slowly but build steadily until the end, which includes a bona fide deus ex machina (involving a young man, a motorcycle and the island's patron saint, Spiridion).

As for male readers hesitant to pick up a Stewart book, Anthony Boucher noted that "it would take a suspiciously over-male he-man to resist the charm and narrative vigor of Mary Stewart's adventure stories." Stewart's strong story-telling skills are indeed evident, something she once commented on:  "I've written stories since I was three and a half, and I think you're either born with the storyteller's flair or you're not. You can learn much about the craft of writing, but you either have the storyteller's flair or you don't. It's no virtue of mine. It's just there."

Comments

[Patti Abbott]

She was an early favorite. Time to revisit her.

[J F Norris]

Confession: I read Mary Stewart's books when I was a teenager. Probably the only boy in my town in the 1970s who did. My Mom was an old Book-of-the-Month Club subscriber and our house had shelves lined with hundreds of books from the 1950s and early 1960s. Several of Stewart's books were included: The Airs Above the Ground, (learned all about the Lippizaner horses) The Moon-Spinners, (better than the Haley Mills movie), Touch Not The Cat. That last one was from the 70s.

She was the leading writer of this modern Neo-Gothic. And she was much better than Phyllis Whitney who was terribly formulaic. She sure got the setting aspect nailed down. And guess what? I found a pile of her early books just last year at an estate sale (all 1st editions with the wonderful Charles Geer cover art) and bought every last one of them in a fit of nostalgia.

Thanks for bringing her out of the guilty pleasure closet, so to speak. She really was a leader in this genre way back when.

[BV Lawson]

I found that this particular Stewart book has aged well and doesn't feel particularly out of place in today's world, except for some of the political background (Albania). Her sense of place and setting are quite fun to read, and the suspense angle was handled very well -- even though I guessed the culprit fairly early on, she built the suspense throughout the book in layers that do make it a "page turner" regardless. I don't think the "romantic suspense" category fits this one, actually. It's less easily classifiable.

[Yvette]

Great choice, BV! I read all the Mary Stewart books I could get my hands on, once upon a time. My favorite, I think, was NINE COACHES WAITING. But, in general, I loved them all. I still remember the pleasure I got from reading these books. In fact, my Forgotten Choice today was another of these Grande Dames of the 'Gothic': Phyllis Whitney.

I loved the cover of THIS ROUGH MAGIC - it hinted at the special nature of the book.

[BV Lawson]

Like the other comments from folks today, I had forgotten about Stewart, even though Mom had many of her books available when I was growing up. I was going through the list of Edgar nominees and winners, and that's when I thought of her books again. I really was pleasantly surprised at how well her writing had aged (unlike some of the other FFB books I've covered in the past). Wish I could say the same for me!

[Naomi Johnson]

This was always one of my favorites of Stewart's books. I've never stopped wanting to see Corfu because of it. Haven't made it yet, but someday.

[BV Lawson]

Same here, Naomi! I've always wanted to visit the areas around Greece, and this made me want to include Corfu on the list. Maybe some day...

[Richard R.]

This is one of those books - there is one every week or three - that I see on FFB and think "But it's not forgotten!". Not by me, that is. Nice to see this one, and your review of it. It's still on my shelf, or will be once the hardcovers come out of the boxes... but that's another story.

I like her Authurian books too.

[George Kelley]

Like Rick, I'm a big fan of Mary Stewart's Arthurian books. I haven't read everything Mary Stewart ever wrote, but I've liked everything I've read by her.

[BV Lawson]

Several of the books I've featured aren't exactly "forgotten," I agree, Rick. More like "recently neglected" or as you say, just on the back shelf to make way for the newer books.

[BV Lawson]

You know, George, I haven't read the Arthurian books yet, either, although some reviewers have said they're "better." I wish my current TBR pile weren't so huge and people wouldn't keep writing so many good new books and that I had more time (a lot more time) to read. Sigh.

[Katherine Tomlinson]

I love her books shamelessly, particularly the Arthurian books. And (sigh) Moonspinners.