Thank you for bringing Mary Stewart to the blogosphere! Her competent heroines were a big influence on me when I was a young woman, and her descriptions of exotic locales will always entrance me.
I hope her earlier novels will be re-issued, as Georgette Heyer's have been.
Gail | Homepage | 06.26.09 - 7:56 am | #

Gail ... I do these excerpts with you in mind, especially since you are eschewing Uncle Tom's Cabin (I think). That we both love Mary Stewart makes me very happy!
Julie D. | Homepage | 06.26.09 - 10:18 am | #

Bless your heart!

I heard a description this morning that may fit what Uncle Tom's Cabin means to me - "so true it's painful." And I think you described it that way too.

I came back, now that I've heard the podcast, to say there's nothing else to say, except what a great choice of book and chapter! It's the one that flashed into my mind when I saw "Mary Stewart" in the feed.
The titles don't always recall to me the correct plot, or maybe I just don't match them up correctly. Is "My Brother Michael" the one you were talking about where the girl is enjoying a quiet smoke in the countryside and is accosted by an angry stranger who insists he knows her? Or is it the one set in Greece, and the younger brother is trying to find his brother's treasure?

I think my first one was the one with a horse on the cover--which tells you how old I was when the librarian showed it to me--and still my fave.
Gail | 06.26.09 - 1:38 pm | #

Oh! You're right about all the Greek - the sign post had to be a joke.

I "say" it all the way you did, I think, but less fancy on the Aggie-ose Georgie-ose. LOL
Gail | 06.26.09 - 2:23 pm | #

The book I was talking about was The Ivy Tree. Although I am now trying to remember My Brother Michael better. It really is time for me to reread these books!
Julie D. | Homepage | 06.28.09 - 9:36 pm | #

I ordered a copy of The Moon-Spinners on your recommendation, and can't thank you enough! What a terrific novel!
Camille | Homepage | 08.21.09 - 9:36 pm | #