04-18-2011, 04:45 AM
[A short review with no spoilers.]
The Ivy Tree is vintage Mary Stewart, a wonderful novel written in the elegant, pitch-perfect prose that sets this author apart.
Beginning with what would seem to be a hackneyed storyline -- a young woman is hired to impersonate an heiress -- Stewart pulls a tour de force that approaches the ingenuity of Agatha Christie. I don't want to give anything away, though, so I'll say nothing specific about the plot.
I would not classify this book as a Gothic. Stewart's milieu is really Romantic Suspense, although readers of Gothics are likely to enjoy this book. Apart from the well-defined characters and romantic sweep, the virtuosity of the plotting itself makes this book one of Stewart's best.
If you want to be really dazzled, read this book and then go back and read the first few pages again. Amazing how all the clues to the mystery are right there out in the open!
The Ivy Tree is vintage Mary Stewart, a wonderful novel written in the elegant, pitch-perfect prose that sets this author apart.
Beginning with what would seem to be a hackneyed storyline -- a young woman is hired to impersonate an heiress -- Stewart pulls a tour de force that approaches the ingenuity of Agatha Christie. I don't want to give anything away, though, so I'll say nothing specific about the plot.
I would not classify this book as a Gothic. Stewart's milieu is really Romantic Suspense, although readers of Gothics are likely to enjoy this book. Apart from the well-defined characters and romantic sweep, the virtuosity of the plotting itself makes this book one of Stewart's best.
If you want to be really dazzled, read this book and then go back and read the first few pages again. Amazing how all the clues to the mystery are right there out in the open!
