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Still Glides the Stream
extremely rare,very good condition
254 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1959
175 people are currently reading
314 people want to read
About the author
D.E. Stevenson
67 books627 followersThere is more than one author with this name
Dorothy Emily Stevenson was a best-selling Scottish author. She published more than 40 romantic novels over a period of more than 40 years. Her father was a cousin of Robert Louis Stevenson.
D.E. Stevenson had an enormously successful writing career: between 1923 and 1970, four million copies of her books were sold in Britain and three million in the States. Like E.F. Benson, Ann Bridge, O. Douglas or Dorothy L. Sayers (to name but a few) her books are funny, intensely readable, engaging and dependable.
Dorothy Emily Stevenson was a best-selling Scottish author. She published more than 40 romantic novels over a period of more than 40 years. Her father was a cousin of Robert Louis Stevenson.
D.E. Stevenson had an enormously successful writing career: between 1923 and 1970, four million copies of her books were sold in Britain and three million in the States. Like E.F. Benson, Ann Bridge, O. Douglas or Dorothy L. Sayers (to name but a few) her books are funny, intensely readable, engaging and dependable.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
September 27, 2020
Not my favorite of Stevenson's. It was sweet and neat, but I really didn't like the characters of Will and Patty.
July 8, 2022
3.5 stars. A lovely short but sweet third book in D. E. Stevenson’s Ayrton series. I loved the main characters and how they acted honourably and with love. As an added bonus, I enjoyed reading about their visit to Amberwell and a brief peep at my favourite characters from the first two books.
November 24, 2012
Intriguing story that got more interesting as it went. Will Hastie is coming home after being away for a while, and he is home to stay, to help his father run the farm. A big part of his homecoming is his reunion with his next-door neighbors. There was a son and daughter, Rae and Patty, who grew up with Will and felt like his own siblings. Rae died in the war several years back. Will has a hard time contemplating the house without his friend, but finds that he is just as comfortable as ever with Patty and her parents.
At one point Patty shows Will a letter that Rae wrote shortly before he died. Rae indicated that he had something exciting to confide but that he wanted to do it in person. They never found out what that was.
Will has no idea, either, but the idea stays with him strongly enough that he decides to take a "vacation" to France and see if he can unearth anything from the family that Rae stayed with during the war. He finds out something that, to most readers, will not really come as a surprise. But what happens from there on out is more difficult to predict. The results and decisions that come from his discovery are bittersweet in one way, but also satisfying and a generally good ending.
At one point Patty shows Will a letter that Rae wrote shortly before he died. Rae indicated that he had something exciting to confide but that he wanted to do it in person. They never found out what that was.
Will has no idea, either, but the idea stays with him strongly enough that he decides to take a "vacation" to France and see if he can unearth anything from the family that Rae stayed with during the war. He finds out something that, to most readers, will not really come as a surprise. But what happens from there on out is more difficult to predict. The results and decisions that come from his discovery are bittersweet in one way, but also satisfying and a generally good ending.
May 24, 2023
Re-reading this in May 2023 and Roger Ayrton and Amberwell are in it!! I never realized that before because I read this before I read Amberwell. 😍
June 1, 2014
Will Hastie is home from the war. But everything has changed. Will's childhood best friend, Rae Murray, will never come home, and his family will never be the same.
One of the tragedies of war is the lasting effect on families and their heritage. Will knows that his friend Rae's estate is entailed and therefore will go to a cousin, a change that Will himself cannot seem to come to terms with.
Change is difficult for us all, and Stevenson does a good job of portraying how the small things in life bring comfort:
"So far he had avoided the old play-room - there were too many memories - but he wanted to see Patty and she might be there. He mounted the steep wooden stairs - which still creaked noisily in the same places - and pushed open the door.
The room was empty and tidy but obviously it was used, not abandoned as Will had feared. Patty was the only person likely to use it so probably she came up here when she felt in need of peace - when she wanted to be alone.
Will looked around and saw that nothing had been changed. Except for the tidiness it was just as he remembered. The shelves were crowded with books of all kinds and in various stages of dilapidation....In this room Will and Rae had swapped stamps and practised conjuring tricks; they had played card-games on wet afternoons; they had made toffee and tied flies....and how they had talked! They had talked about school, they had discussed religion; sometimes they had talked sense, but more often absolute nonsense. They had quarrelled and made it up and become closer friends than before."
When Patty, Rae's sister, shows Will a last letter that Rae had written to her, Will decides to take action and the story unfolds from there. The language of the letter is mysterious enough that Will decides to travel to France and discover for himself the circumstances of Rae's death.
This has been called a 'gentle' novel by others, and so it is. It is a pleasant read, although with a few surprises. I enjoyed it more than some of Stevenson's other novels, but that could partly be because I have missed reading her novels so much lately!
I read this delightful novel of post-war England in less than a day. It is fairly simple and yet it does make one question the reasons why people act the way they do. Hugo, Patty's fiance, is well-liked by everyone and stands to inherit the family estate....and yet he makes a decision that has lasting consequences and his treatment of Patty bears its fruit. Julie, a French woman, makes a decision of a different kind, one that is self-sacrificing and very very practical....and Patty has a hard time understanding. But Julie's decision also has a great effect on Patty's own life.
"Does the weather matter so much?"
"Perhaps it is a small thing," admitted Julie. "But life is made up of a lot of small things. I miss the hot golden sunshine and the bright colours of the flowers and I miss the people in the market - talking very fast and waving their hands and laughing - or perhaps getting a little cross when I drive a hard bargain. It is all so different here. It is not amusing to go marketing in Torfoot. The people here are nice and kind, but they are so quiet. All your friends are nice and kind. Your friends ask me to go to tea and they talk to me with pleasant voices but all the same I do not belong. I am outside the fence. I am a stranger."
Marriage and the decisions we make and how we make them are always fun conflicts to read about in literature. "Still Glides the Stream" is also a novel about change; the changes that come from war, from loss, from life itself, and our attempts to understand and adjust.
"I'm crazy, said Patty to herself. Will has always been my friend; he has always been my brother - or almost - so what more do I want? But Will was not really her brother and the fact remained that when she had seen Will and Julie look at each other "like that" it had given her a strange pain in her heart. He's the same but I've changed, thought Patty. Well, I'll just have to bear it."
One of the tragedies of war is the lasting effect on families and their heritage. Will knows that his friend Rae's estate is entailed and therefore will go to a cousin, a change that Will himself cannot seem to come to terms with.
Change is difficult for us all, and Stevenson does a good job of portraying how the small things in life bring comfort:
"So far he had avoided the old play-room - there were too many memories - but he wanted to see Patty and she might be there. He mounted the steep wooden stairs - which still creaked noisily in the same places - and pushed open the door.
The room was empty and tidy but obviously it was used, not abandoned as Will had feared. Patty was the only person likely to use it so probably she came up here when she felt in need of peace - when she wanted to be alone.
Will looked around and saw that nothing had been changed. Except for the tidiness it was just as he remembered. The shelves were crowded with books of all kinds and in various stages of dilapidation....In this room Will and Rae had swapped stamps and practised conjuring tricks; they had played card-games on wet afternoons; they had made toffee and tied flies....and how they had talked! They had talked about school, they had discussed religion; sometimes they had talked sense, but more often absolute nonsense. They had quarrelled and made it up and become closer friends than before."
When Patty, Rae's sister, shows Will a last letter that Rae had written to her, Will decides to take action and the story unfolds from there. The language of the letter is mysterious enough that Will decides to travel to France and discover for himself the circumstances of Rae's death.
This has been called a 'gentle' novel by others, and so it is. It is a pleasant read, although with a few surprises. I enjoyed it more than some of Stevenson's other novels, but that could partly be because I have missed reading her novels so much lately!
I read this delightful novel of post-war England in less than a day. It is fairly simple and yet it does make one question the reasons why people act the way they do. Hugo, Patty's fiance, is well-liked by everyone and stands to inherit the family estate....and yet he makes a decision that has lasting consequences and his treatment of Patty bears its fruit. Julie, a French woman, makes a decision of a different kind, one that is self-sacrificing and very very practical....and Patty has a hard time understanding. But Julie's decision also has a great effect on Patty's own life.
"Does the weather matter so much?"
"Perhaps it is a small thing," admitted Julie. "But life is made up of a lot of small things. I miss the hot golden sunshine and the bright colours of the flowers and I miss the people in the market - talking very fast and waving their hands and laughing - or perhaps getting a little cross when I drive a hard bargain. It is all so different here. It is not amusing to go marketing in Torfoot. The people here are nice and kind, but they are so quiet. All your friends are nice and kind. Your friends ask me to go to tea and they talk to me with pleasant voices but all the same I do not belong. I am outside the fence. I am a stranger."
Marriage and the decisions we make and how we make them are always fun conflicts to read about in literature. "Still Glides the Stream" is also a novel about change; the changes that come from war, from loss, from life itself, and our attempts to understand and adjust.
"I'm crazy, said Patty to herself. Will has always been my friend; he has always been my brother - or almost - so what more do I want? But Will was not really her brother and the fact remained that when she had seen Will and Julie look at each other "like that" it had given her a strange pain in her heart. He's the same but I've changed, thought Patty. Well, I'll just have to bear it."
July 27, 2017
Another book in which the hero returns to Scotland after the war to begin a new life, and is buoyed by old friends, neighbors, and an unexpectedly charming father. However, Will's childhood friend has died, and Will's intervention is needed to find that family something to substitute for their grief. This is a little unusual for Stevenson - the three books in this series are more melancholy than humorous, and contain vivid depictions of what families have lost in the war yet offer hope for the future. Here is a link to my review:
https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/20...
https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/20...
February 25, 2021
I have been In a Mood lately (like, I know, who hasn't?), but purchased this a few days ago when it was on sale and ended up reading it in one big gulp last night. It's entirely predictable and familiar and a total balm - for at least a few hours.
September 30, 2013
Another "nice" post-WWII book by DE Stevenson. And I mean this without sarcasm. Her books are populated largely by nice, decent folks, who try to do the right thing in difficult circumstances. Family, the ancestral home, the faithful retainers, the old friends one has known since the nursery, all of these have a prominent place in the stories.
In this book, Will Hastie decides to leave the military and return to his - there you have it- ancestral home. He is both looking forward to, and dreading, returning home, because nothing can be the same since his closest childhood friend, Rae, died in WWII 10 years before. And yes, the great estates have been neglected, Rae's mother is developing dementia and his father has lost his zest for life, but Rae's sister, Patty, is still the same. Except that she's gotten engaged to a rather pompous cousin, who is in line to inherit her - there you have it again -entailed ancestral home. Will discovers that Patty has been brooding for the past 10 years over Rae's last letter home from France. Something was up, something he wouldn't commit to paper. But what? Will decides to take a holiday in France, largely to escape the having to see Patty and her fiance, and visits the village from which Rae's last letter was sent. And he finds out that the great news that Rae couldn't write about was that he was getting married to a French girl. Will traces the girl, Julie, down to the South of France, and discovers to his stupefaction that there is a 10-year old boy, the spitting portrait of Rae. Of course Tom must come to England and take his rightful place as the heir of the - you guessed it- ancestral home. This takes some doing, because Julie and her mother are not that keen on taking Tom to England. But they do come to England, bringing new joy to their grandparents. Patty, in the meantime, has broken her engagement and is beginning to realize she really loves Will. But Will seems entranced with pretty Julie. Will they all find love in the end? Rest assured, they will.
Some of the attitudes in the book were outdated. For instance, the idea that Tom must come to England, leaving his mother and grandmother in France behind, seemed to be taken as a given, and very little thought was spent on the feelings of the two women who were asked to give him up. Julie decides to marry a wealthy French neighbor of hers, and this shocks Patty and Will. To marry without love, how appalling. But the idea that she might just be trying to compensate for the loneliness she will feel while Tom is being educated in England, does not seem to cross Will's and Patty's head. So there is a bit of Anglo-chauvinism here, which is entirely consistent with the time it was written (1950s). Apart from that, it is a fun read for a couple of hours of escapism.
In this book, Will Hastie decides to leave the military and return to his - there you have it- ancestral home. He is both looking forward to, and dreading, returning home, because nothing can be the same since his closest childhood friend, Rae, died in WWII 10 years before. And yes, the great estates have been neglected, Rae's mother is developing dementia and his father has lost his zest for life, but Rae's sister, Patty, is still the same. Except that she's gotten engaged to a rather pompous cousin, who is in line to inherit her - there you have it again -entailed ancestral home. Will discovers that Patty has been brooding for the past 10 years over Rae's last letter home from France. Something was up, something he wouldn't commit to paper. But what? Will decides to take a holiday in France, largely to escape the having to see Patty and her fiance, and visits the village from which Rae's last letter was sent. And he finds out that the great news that Rae couldn't write about was that he was getting married to a French girl. Will traces the girl, Julie, down to the South of France, and discovers to his stupefaction that there is a 10-year old boy, the spitting portrait of Rae. Of course Tom must come to England and take his rightful place as the heir of the - you guessed it- ancestral home. This takes some doing, because Julie and her mother are not that keen on taking Tom to England. But they do come to England, bringing new joy to their grandparents. Patty, in the meantime, has broken her engagement and is beginning to realize she really loves Will. But Will seems entranced with pretty Julie. Will they all find love in the end? Rest assured, they will.
Some of the attitudes in the book were outdated. For instance, the idea that Tom must come to England, leaving his mother and grandmother in France behind, seemed to be taken as a given, and very little thought was spent on the feelings of the two women who were asked to give him up. Julie decides to marry a wealthy French neighbor of hers, and this shocks Patty and Will. To marry without love, how appalling. But the idea that she might just be trying to compensate for the loneliness she will feel while Tom is being educated in England, does not seem to cross Will's and Patty's head. So there is a bit of Anglo-chauvinism here, which is entirely consistent with the time it was written (1950s). Apart from that, it is a fun read for a couple of hours of escapism.
April 10, 2024
Lovely novel! There's nothing better than a soothing, but interesting D.E. Stevenson book—especially if it's an audio book with a fantastic narrator. Leslie Mackie does such a wonderful job.
This is a somewhat slow (but not in a bad way) story which starts with Will Hastie and his return to his home in Scotland after the war. I enjoyed the set up and Will is a very likable and sympathetic character.
From this point, the novel continues with Will's journey to France connected with his childhood friends, Patty and Rae Murray. Hard decisions need to be made from many different angles, but most especially for Patty and Will.
I really savored this book, even though I thought the ending (which concluded as I'd hoped) was a bit abrupt. Some of the plot was slightly unbelievable, but not so much that I could let it go and follow along.
Still Glides the Stream reminded me of a very abbreviated version of Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher. Maybe it was because of the strong sense of home and family? Either way, that element of the story was in its favor.
Also, I had no idea that is also part of the Ayrton Family Series (staring with Amberwell and Summerhills) It was a nice surprise to hear a few familiar names and places in the latter part of this book.
This is the 35th D.E. Stevenson book I've read—wow! I can't wait to read the last fifteen of her books (I hope I can find some of them!) Let me know your favorite in the comments!
This is a somewhat slow (but not in a bad way) story which starts with Will Hastie and his return to his home in Scotland after the war. I enjoyed the set up and Will is a very likable and sympathetic character.
From this point, the novel continues with Will's journey to France connected with his childhood friends, Patty and Rae Murray. Hard decisions need to be made from many different angles, but most especially for Patty and Will.
I really savored this book, even though I thought the ending (which concluded as I'd hoped) was a bit abrupt. Some of the plot was slightly unbelievable, but not so much that I could let it go and follow along.
Still Glides the Stream reminded me of a very abbreviated version of Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher. Maybe it was because of the strong sense of home and family? Either way, that element of the story was in its favor.
Also, I had no idea that is also part of the Ayrton Family Series (staring with Amberwell and Summerhills) It was a nice surprise to hear a few familiar names and places in the latter part of this book.
This is the 35th D.E. Stevenson book I've read—wow! I can't wait to read the last fifteen of her books (I hope I can find some of them!) Let me know your favorite in the comments!
March 17, 2019
Wonderful story.
I find these we are becoming rather addictive, however this one is not really a continuation of the Amberwell story, but a story that characters from those books make a brief appearance.
I find these we are becoming rather addictive, however this one is not really a continuation of the Amberwell story, but a story that characters from those books make a brief appearance.
September 27, 2019
Only very loosely related to the Aryton family but eventually tied it in but was really it’s own enjoyable story.
June 28, 2019
companion to Amberwell and Summerhills
Will Hastings returns to his Scottish hometown of Torfoot after active military duty in and just after WWII. He has grand plans to reconnect with his dad and run the estate. Being home again brings back memories of his childhood best friend and almost brother Rae, who was killed in action in France. Everything has changed since those idyllic long ago days when Rae, Will and Rae's sister Patience running around the hills. When Patty reveals a mystery Rae left behind, Will just has to solve it. His search takes him of a wild goose chase to France where he discovers what he came for and much more.
I really didn't care for this story much. It's very slow moving and I guessed pretty quickly what the mystery was. It solves problems a little too neatly. I skipped around and ahead to see it was an incredibly predictable story. While the descriptions of the French countryside are beautiful, the depictions of French characters are not. The French waiter is silly and stupid, the vinter is sloppy, the peasants ignorant but hard working and the mother incredibly tough and stubborn. Maybe I'm reading too much into this but it rubbed me the wrong way. Of course this is only for the secondary characters. The main character, Julie, is intelligent and hard working. The only English spinster is portrayed as a sad, lonely woman in need of someone to talk to.
The entail annoyed the heck out of me. Patty clearly loves her home and the entail forces people into lives they may not want to lead. This would have happened to Rae if he had lived and it happens to Patty too. It's not fair. Why can't she inherit? It's all so unfair.
The characters are all so superficial and boring. The one I really liked was Mrs. Murray Elliot and only because she's pleasant and cheerful in spite of dementia. I was also really bothered by the attitude towards someone with dementia. I can make allowances if they didn't know what that was but I'm pretty sure they did because I've read descriptions of "second childhoods" in sources much older than this book. Mrs. Elliot Murray clearly has early dementia stemming from the loss of her only son. Yes this book is dated. I feel bad for the Elliot Murrays that they lost Rae, but he seems like he was not my kind of person- a typical gentryman into outdoor pursuits as a child and then not really seeming to think things through or plan for the just in case. Will is as dull as dishwater. It takes him FOREVER to see what's right in front of his nose. Patty is equally obnoxious and too willing to sacrifice her future for the sake of her parents. Hugh comes across as condescending and the type who likes to mansplain but I don't think he's fundamentally a bad person.
I really can't stand Julie. I did not understand her decision or why she made it.
I liked catching up with Stephen Ayerton and his cousin Emmie. It's nice to know what happened to them and Summerhills. That was the best section of the book. The rest is unmemorable and uninteresting.
Will Hastings returns to his Scottish hometown of Torfoot after active military duty in and just after WWII. He has grand plans to reconnect with his dad and run the estate. Being home again brings back memories of his childhood best friend and almost brother Rae, who was killed in action in France. Everything has changed since those idyllic long ago days when Rae, Will and Rae's sister Patience running around the hills. When Patty reveals a mystery Rae left behind, Will just has to solve it. His search takes him of a wild goose chase to France where he discovers what he came for and much more.
I really didn't care for this story much. It's very slow moving and I guessed pretty quickly what the mystery was. It solves problems a little too neatly. I skipped around and ahead to see it was an incredibly predictable story. While the descriptions of the French countryside are beautiful, the depictions of French characters are not. The French waiter is silly and stupid, the vinter is sloppy, the peasants ignorant but hard working and the mother incredibly tough and stubborn. Maybe I'm reading too much into this but it rubbed me the wrong way. Of course this is only for the secondary characters. The main character, Julie, is intelligent and hard working. The only English spinster is portrayed as a sad, lonely woman in need of someone to talk to.
The entail annoyed the heck out of me. Patty clearly loves her home and the entail forces people into lives they may not want to lead. This would have happened to Rae if he had lived and it happens to Patty too. It's not fair. Why can't she inherit? It's all so unfair.
The characters are all so superficial and boring. The one I really liked was Mrs. Murray Elliot and only because she's pleasant and cheerful in spite of dementia. I was also really bothered by the attitude towards someone with dementia. I can make allowances if they didn't know what that was but I'm pretty sure they did because I've read descriptions of "second childhoods" in sources much older than this book. Mrs. Elliot Murray clearly has early dementia stemming from the loss of her only son. Yes this book is dated. I feel bad for the Elliot Murrays that they lost Rae, but he seems like he was not my kind of person- a typical gentryman into outdoor pursuits as a child and then not really seeming to think things through or plan for the just in case. Will is as dull as dishwater. It takes him FOREVER to see what's right in front of his nose. Patty is equally obnoxious and too willing to sacrifice her future for the sake of her parents. Hugh comes across as condescending and the type who likes to mansplain but I don't think he's fundamentally a bad person.
I really can't stand Julie. I did not understand her decision or why she made it.
I liked catching up with Stephen Ayerton and his cousin Emmie. It's nice to know what happened to them and Summerhills. That was the best section of the book. The rest is unmemorable and uninteresting.
January 18, 2022
I'm on a D.E. Stevenson streak. This one is as charming as usual, but lacks the punch or the hook found in some of her other novels. The discovery of an unknown family in France was contrived, and the mother's final decision seemed out of character. But it was entertaining nevertheless.
February 13, 2019
Originally published 1959
I think I must be turning into my mother, or maybe I am just fed up of trashy Regency romances with the same plot and characters churned out time and time again, and with the same sexual encounters described in the same rather dull way. I'm getting to the point where I can almost say on which page he will force a kiss on her and she will melt into his 'strong embrace' before merrily letting him finger her into ecstasy. And modern romances are even worse.
So I am not going to apologise for finding this book utterly enchanting. At one stage the author got me really worried that she was going to throw a blinder, but all was well in the end. As with the earlier book I read, this is 'of its time' and all the better for it.
Its sweet, clean, romantic, with a touch of mystery and some dastardly deeds, but it was a welcome echo of a time long ago (sixty years!) when the word was still recovering from war and lives had been utterly changed.
Recommended for anyone wanting a 'comfort' read.
I think I must be turning into my mother, or maybe I am just fed up of trashy Regency romances with the same plot and characters churned out time and time again, and with the same sexual encounters described in the same rather dull way. I'm getting to the point where I can almost say on which page he will force a kiss on her and she will melt into his 'strong embrace' before merrily letting him finger her into ecstasy. And modern romances are even worse.
So I am not going to apologise for finding this book utterly enchanting. At one stage the author got me really worried that she was going to throw a blinder, but all was well in the end. As with the earlier book I read, this is 'of its time' and all the better for it.
Its sweet, clean, romantic, with a touch of mystery and some dastardly deeds, but it was a welcome echo of a time long ago (sixty years!) when the word was still recovering from war and lives had been utterly changed.
Recommended for anyone wanting a 'comfort' read.
May 5, 2014
A novel about a man who retires from the military and returns home to Scotland, where the wartime death of his best friend and neighbor is still strongly felt. 1959.
Full review (and other recommendations!) at Another look book
Probably not my favorite DES of the ones I've read so far--they're like delicious candy, gotta dole them out slowly--but a strong contender. It's very different from her other books I've read, too, in that the main character is a man...oh yeah, and the main character is not alive! Much of the book is about memory, but it also manages to contain a plot that moves well in the "present day." I'd recommend it if you like quiet postwar novels or books about memory and families. Oh yes, and if you love the Scottish and/or French countryside!
Full review (and other recommendations!) at Another look book
Probably not my favorite DES of the ones I've read so far--they're like delicious candy, gotta dole them out slowly--but a strong contender. It's very different from her other books I've read, too, in that the main character is a man...oh yeah, and the main character is not alive! Much of the book is about memory, but it also manages to contain a plot that moves well in the "present day." I'd recommend it if you like quiet postwar novels or books about memory and families. Oh yes, and if you love the Scottish and/or French countryside!
March 2, 2020
This is billed as the third in the Ayrton Family trilogy, but it's really a stand-alone with a few mentions of Amberwell (book one) and Summerhills (book two) near the end.
It was different from any other Stevenson title I've read. Yes, there was a gentle heroine trying to make her way in the world, but most of the other dynamics in the book were different. I have been on a D.E. Stevenson binge lately so I appreciated the varied storyline.
It was different from any other Stevenson title I've read. Yes, there was a gentle heroine trying to make her way in the world, but most of the other dynamics in the book were different. I have been on a D.E. Stevenson binge lately so I appreciated the varied storyline.
January 14, 2015
Part of this book is set in France complete with stereotypes. Reading D E Stevenson takes me to a simpler world.
April 3, 2025
Reread as audiobook.
Read
July 15, 2024Like most of D.E. Stevenson's books, not something you read if you want to be very intellectually stimulated, but something you read after a long day of work and it's raining and you feel like you need a relaxing read before bed about old-fashioned, wholesome characters who are fun to get to know.
September 29, 2017
After loving the two Ayrton family books, Amberwell and Summerhills, I couldn't resist reading the book which GR bills as 'Ayrton Family 3'. However, in fact the Ayrtons only put in a cameo appearance in this 1950s story.
The hero this time round is Will Hastie, who returns after years in the army to his family home in the Scottish borders. Will is irritated to discover that a childhood friend, Patty, has become engaged to her conceited cousin, Hugo, who (shades of Mr Collins in Pride & Prejudice) is due to inherit the entailed family estate. Will then discovers there is a mystery surrounding Patty's brother, Rae, who died in the Second World War, and he travels to France to find some answers.
The book is very charming and readable, as with the Ayrton books, but I found the story here rather slight. Although there are some lovely French scenes in particular, I don't think there is quite as much humorous detail of everyday life as in the previous books, and the romance plot is rather predictable. All in all, I enjoyed this, but I don't think it is one of Stevenson's best.
P.S. just on the Ayrtons... I was delighted to meet some of them again, however briefly, but was sad that a loose end hanging over from Summerhills is left untied.
The hero this time round is Will Hastie, who returns after years in the army to his family home in the Scottish borders. Will is irritated to discover that a childhood friend, Patty, has become engaged to her conceited cousin, Hugo, who (shades of Mr Collins in Pride & Prejudice) is due to inherit the entailed family estate. Will then discovers there is a mystery surrounding Patty's brother, Rae, who died in the Second World War, and he travels to France to find some answers.
The book is very charming and readable, as with the Ayrton books, but I found the story here rather slight. Although there are some lovely French scenes in particular, I don't think there is quite as much humorous detail of everyday life as in the previous books, and the romance plot is rather predictable. All in all, I enjoyed this, but I don't think it is one of Stevenson's best.
P.S. just on the Ayrtons... I was delighted to meet some of them again, however briefly, but was sad that a loose end hanging over from Summerhills is left untied.
December 29, 2007
A gentle read which soothes the frazzled soul.
Will Hastie returns from his army duty to begin a life as a gentleman farmer. He finds that his best friend Rae Elliot Murray has died in the war and the family has become depressed and dispirited without him.
He reads a strange clue in Rae's last letter home and decides to travel to France and find Rae's burial place. Instead he finds Rae's wife and child and takes them to Langford to meet Rae's parents and sister. He finds that Rae's wife is very attractive. But she is not happy in cold, rainy England.
Will Hastie returns from his army duty to begin a life as a gentleman farmer. He finds that his best friend Rae Elliot Murray has died in the war and the family has become depressed and dispirited without him.
He reads a strange clue in Rae's last letter home and decides to travel to France and find Rae's burial place. Instead he finds Rae's wife and child and takes them to Langford to meet Rae's parents and sister. He finds that Rae's wife is very attractive. But she is not happy in cold, rainy England.
March 8, 2014
The gentlest of gentle reads. It takes place in Scotland and France just after WWII and features two couples who, to the reader's great satisfaction, find each other despite the odds. The cover on my copy (which I'm giving right back to the Friends of the Library sale for another lucky reader) features an impressionistic photo of the Scottish countryside instead of this insipid young woman.
November 22, 2013
I have just discovered D. E. Stevenson and really enjoy her character development and slowly unfolding plots.
November 10, 2025
Gosh I love her! I bet she was such a fun friend to have. There was a moment I almost gave it a 4.5, but it was only because I wasn’t satisfied with one of the character’s choices. Then, she wrapped it up beautifully (and humorously) and made me smile.
As innocent and wonderful as these books are (like most hallmark movies, for instance), they have much more body and personality to them! Stevenson has the most tasteful twists and turns in her novels, keeping her readers guessing.
5/5: Would recommend!! Love the characters, how she beautifully paints each scene, and her sweet, quirky humor.
As innocent and wonderful as these books are (like most hallmark movies, for instance), they have much more body and personality to them! Stevenson has the most tasteful twists and turns in her novels, keeping her readers guessing.
5/5: Would recommend!! Love the characters, how she beautifully paints each scene, and her sweet, quirky humor.
April 3, 2022
This book isn’t about the Ayrton family - sadly, they make a cameo appearance at best – their appearance was the best part of the book for me.
For some reason this book felt rather dated and didn’t met my hoped for expectation .... I’d been so looking forward to Still Glides the Stream becoming available as an audible book, yet I just couldn’t seem to connect with this story or the characters as much as I did with those in Summerhills: Ayrton Family Bk2, so it remains as an “it’s okay” addition to the series.
For some reason this book felt rather dated and didn’t met my hoped for expectation .... I’d been so looking forward to Still Glides the Stream becoming available as an audible book, yet I just couldn’t seem to connect with this story or the characters as much as I did with those in Summerhills: Ayrton Family Bk2, so it remains as an “it’s okay” addition to the series.
December 30, 2020
Reading a D.E. Stevenson novel is like coming home to a cozy fireside where you can curl up and forget your cares. And this is no exception. Another lovely satisfying story.
August 6, 2021
I was wondering how much of "Amberwell" and "Summerhills" was in this sequel, "Still Glides the Stream" and not until near the very end did I find out that not much additional information, except Roger and Mary had twins. It was still fun to hear about them and Stephen and Emmie. The time frame is a couple years after "Summerhill" ends and it has to do with two family estates nearby. The toll of World War 2 is quite clear and the effects it has to the families. As I read I took notes and it is funny about my guessing of the love matches as I read on and change my mind. This time D. E. Stevenson fooled me but then again I guessed several things before they occurred. A delightful read as all her novels are, they are engaging and make me want to read straight through until I finish, when all is over, I would love to hear more about her characters.
Story in short- Will Hastie comes home to help his father with their estate and looks to see his neighbors, who are truly friends but there is a sadness from the loss of their beloved son, Rae, Will's friend.
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In the end I was happy that Will and Patty married, Rae would be happy besides Julie had been right, she could only love once in a life time, that would be selling Rae short if she married Will, he did not love her enough, otherwise he would have tried to change her mind and followed her to France. I think Julie will probably fall in love with Andre after they have a baby, they will have that special bond.
Will Hastie is coming home after travelling and thinks of his childhood friends Rae and Patty Murray, their father Colonel Tom Elliot Murray. Broadmeadows is the Hasties' place and Langford is for the Elliot Murrays. Will's father travelled a lot and he spend a lot of time with his friends. Will had enlisted during the war and stayed on after, his father let Broadmeadows for 10 years so that while working in London, they could make money on the estate. Will has not been home for 10 years and when he had leave, he stayed with his Dad in London. Rae was killed during the war and it has taken a toll on Colonel Murray. Will feels deep sadness when he sees him. Will sees Patty at the church and they walk home to Langford. Patty wants Will to tell her how much he thinks her parents have changed. Will notices an engagement ring and she tells of her fiance, Hugo, who is her cousin. After Rae died, Hugo wrote a letter to the Murrays about being sorry and he came to stay. Langford is entailed and goes to Hugo. Will seems upset, maybe he loves Patty? Will has lunch and finds out Mrs. Murray thinks her son is away not dead. The Hestons are friends, they come from London. It seems there is another Murray that might be an uncle of the colonel, his father's brother, who has a son. That would ruin Hugo's plans to take the house. Patty tells Will about a letter Rae sent before he died, thinking he can explain to his parents something and for them not to worry. Maybe he found a girl at the farm and she was going to have his baby, maybe they married? Hugo wants Patty to marry him soon but she is not wanting to leave her parents, he decides to wait some more. Patty has wanted to talk to Brenda Heston about the Murrays she knows, that might be Patty's cousin but of course Hugo is not interested and wants her not to write them, he might not be entailed to the estate. Will has seen Hugo at the post office is not impressed, he has stayed away from Langford but when his father and him get invited over, he decides that he must go. It seems like Patty and Hugo like each other a lot but Margaret Murray does not think they like each other that much and are fooling themselves. Colonel Murray told Patty that she must firm up the marriage, Hugo was talking to him. He wants his daughter to come back and be mistress so her children would inherit their home. Patty is not aware of his feelings, she just feels like staying home and not marry too soon. Will is invited to party for Patty and Hugo but he does not want to go. The couple decide to go on a hike and he wants to climb to the top on Cloudhill but it is getting cold and Patty is afraid of getting lost. Hugo tells her to go own herself and he continues to climb. Patty trips and almost hurt herself, she is mad at Hugo, Rae and Will would have helped her down. Hugo has not come back and she starts to worry but then he shows up so self assured and she is quite upset at him. Hugo has placed the rock on top and tells Patty. Will decides he rather go on a trip for he does not like Hugo. Will has planned to go to the farm in France where Rae was before he was killed. Even though he told Patty that Rae's letter was probably nothing, he feels it might be something that he wanted to tell when them, when he returnned home on leave. I bet he married a French girl and they had a baby boy. Father Anton showed Will the grave and he mentioned Julie was the widow of Rae. He had married them himself. Julie puts fresh flowers on his grave yearly but sometimes she can not come herself but a package does. Jean Leyrisse is the farmer who Rae stayed with and is wife and Julie had to leave the farm after the farmer died, soon after Rae. The Leyrisse's son also died in the war. The Father does not know Julie's address but they live in the south, Will took the postmark from the flowers with him to take to the post office. While waiting for the postmark, Mr. Hastie had written his son and he tells of Patty's visit, she wants Mr. Hastie to tell Hugo and her parents that the wedding is off, Patty told him something happened between the couple which caused her to change her mind. Will travels to Nivennes and still nobody has heard of the Leyrisses. Will wonders if he should still look for her and decides that Rae would like him to find and help her, need be. Will is at a restaurant and drinking some wine, he asks the usual question about Leyrisse and finally it is known that she lives nearby with her mother who is sick. The restaurant waiter finds Julie at the market, she knows he is Will & a boy around 11, Rae's son Tom is near by. They both speak English. Julie and Will talk and then Will talks about Rae's parents wanting to see them and that Tom will own the estate. Julie is afraid and Tom can not be shared and Will tells Julie that Rae would want his son to be at his home. Tom is very adventuresome and comes to see Will to watch him shave before school. Will meets Julie's mom who is not happy with him. Will tries to tell Julie that it is important for Tom to be brought up in Scotland and learn what he needs to know about the estate. I was thinking Patty and Will, but there is a slight chance less 1% that Will and Julie marry. Tom visits Will and talks about going to Langford. Madame Leyrisse does not want her daughter to go and does all she can to stop this. Julie does not show up and Will worries but Tom comes the next day saying that his grandmother was faking an illness so Julie will stay home. The grandmother hates Will. Will has a letter from his father about Colonel Murray not doing well and he must fly back to tell them about Julie and Tom, this might help him have an interest in life after Patty broke the engagement. Julie promises to come with Tom to Langford soon. It seems they like each other a lot, as friends. Miss Vernon tells Will that she knew about Tom's grandparents but Julie told her that she did not want to write but she would have told sometime later. I think it is 50% that Will marries Julie. Will is to fly out and wants Miss Vernon to keep an eye on them. Will tells his father about Rae's son and his wife. I think Will will marry Julie. Will has told the Murrays about Rae's family and they are about to come to Langford. They are looking for a pony for Tom from Roger Ayrton from Westkirk, has one that his son has grown out of. Will remembers Roger from the war. Patty wants to go with Will to look at the pony. Patty notices a difference in Will since coming back from France. He talks a lot about Tom but hardly anything about Julie. Will loves Julie, I bet and does Patty love Will? If she did she would never have considered marrying Hugo. As with the last book "Summerhills" the Roger and Mary Ayrton are married and have twins. It seems that Patty does not herself think of marrying Will but I think he will marry Julie. Stephen Ayrton and Tom are about the same age, maybe they wil be fast friends. Will and Julie will marry I am sure now. Colonel Murray is not worried about Hugo. Julie and Tom arrive and the Murrays are stricken how Tom looks just like Rae did as a boy. Patty heard that Julie was beautiful, but thinks she is only attractive. Julie asks about if Patty thinks Will as a brother. Tom is excited about the pony and the Colonel since knowing about Tom is excited about living. Patty sees that the reason Julie asked about Will and her because she likes Will and the way they look at each other. She sees that she did not love Hugo and that she must bare the hurt in her heart because she realizes she loves Will. She saw a stone in the car that she saw before, the one Hugo said that he put up on the mountain, he had lied and she had no regrets. Brenda, Patty's friend sees her friend suffering about Will and Julie; Brenda suggests they go away for few days to see the Murrays from Canada in London and Patty agrees she needs to get away. Patty finds out that indeed the Murrays from Canada are relations for the locket of a grandmother was the same picture at Langford. Brenda is engaged to Duncan Murray. Patty is enjoying the dance and sees Hugo, she mentions the stone and Hugo is speechless. I was wrong, it is Patty that marries Will. Will has gone to friends after he proposed to Julie. She had said no because she sees things in the long run. She would not be happy in Scotland and even though she is not in love with Andre, a man that has wanted to marry her for a long time but she had Tom and could not. He leaves, he thought she had loved him and thought she was cold in marrying someone she did not love. She told Patty the same thing and she wanted to go away before Will came back. Tom will stay at Langford and Julie will go home, and it will seem like she is coming back but then she will write that she will marry Andre. Patty wanted to ask her about loving Will but she can not. Will comes back and Patty tells her messages about Andre and Julie, he says he has been a fool and that he loves Patty. Julie had told Patty that she was very young when she married Rae and they had loved romantically but that had been a fairy tale. I think Julie sees that she would be unhappy in Scotland but I think she does love Will, romantically and that is why she wishes to leave before his return, so she will not cave, knowing that he had proposed. She saw this cleary and I agree with her, she did the right thing, especially since unknown to her Patty loved Will. It would have been hard for them both. Patty and Will come to Nivennes and Will does not want to see Julie but Patty does. She sees Julie is happy and Andre is pleased. She told Patty the reason she left Langford was because of what Rae had told her about Will and Patty love each other, they do not knows it yet. So Julie would have loved Will but knew this to be true. Julie is happy to hear Tom is at Summerhills and he is doing well. Patty and Will have a little girl and been married 2 years, Julie and Andre are expecting a boy and then hopefully a girl. Mrs. Murray has died. I am sure Patty will tell Will about what Rae said about them and he will no longer be upset about Julie.
Story in short- Will Hastie comes home to help his father with their estate and looks to see his neighbors, who are truly friends but there is a sadness from the loss of their beloved son, Rae, Will's friend.
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In the end I was happy that Will and Patty married, Rae would be happy besides Julie had been right, she could only love once in a life time, that would be selling Rae short if she married Will, he did not love her enough, otherwise he would have tried to change her mind and followed her to France. I think Julie will probably fall in love with Andre after they have a baby, they will have that special bond.
Will Hastie is coming home after travelling and thinks of his childhood friends Rae and Patty Murray, their father Colonel Tom Elliot Murray. Broadmeadows is the Hasties' place and Langford is for the Elliot Murrays. Will's father travelled a lot and he spend a lot of time with his friends. Will had enlisted during the war and stayed on after, his father let Broadmeadows for 10 years so that while working in London, they could make money on the estate. Will has not been home for 10 years and when he had leave, he stayed with his Dad in London. Rae was killed during the war and it has taken a toll on Colonel Murray. Will feels deep sadness when he sees him. Will sees Patty at the church and they walk home to Langford. Patty wants Will to tell her how much he thinks her parents have changed. Will notices an engagement ring and she tells of her fiance, Hugo, who is her cousin. After Rae died, Hugo wrote a letter to the Murrays about being sorry and he came to stay. Langford is entailed and goes to Hugo. Will seems upset, maybe he loves Patty? Will has lunch and finds out Mrs. Murray thinks her son is away not dead. The Hestons are friends, they come from London. It seems there is another Murray that might be an uncle of the colonel, his father's brother, who has a son. That would ruin Hugo's plans to take the house. Patty tells Will about a letter Rae sent before he died, thinking he can explain to his parents something and for them not to worry. Maybe he found a girl at the farm and she was going to have his baby, maybe they married? Hugo wants Patty to marry him soon but she is not wanting to leave her parents, he decides to wait some more. Patty has wanted to talk to Brenda Heston about the Murrays she knows, that might be Patty's cousin but of course Hugo is not interested and wants her not to write them, he might not be entailed to the estate. Will has seen Hugo at the post office is not impressed, he has stayed away from Langford but when his father and him get invited over, he decides that he must go. It seems like Patty and Hugo like each other a lot but Margaret Murray does not think they like each other that much and are fooling themselves. Colonel Murray told Patty that she must firm up the marriage, Hugo was talking to him. He wants his daughter to come back and be mistress so her children would inherit their home. Patty is not aware of his feelings, she just feels like staying home and not marry too soon. Will is invited to party for Patty and Hugo but he does not want to go. The couple decide to go on a hike and he wants to climb to the top on Cloudhill but it is getting cold and Patty is afraid of getting lost. Hugo tells her to go own herself and he continues to climb. Patty trips and almost hurt herself, she is mad at Hugo, Rae and Will would have helped her down. Hugo has not come back and she starts to worry but then he shows up so self assured and she is quite upset at him. Hugo has placed the rock on top and tells Patty. Will decides he rather go on a trip for he does not like Hugo. Will has planned to go to the farm in France where Rae was before he was killed. Even though he told Patty that Rae's letter was probably nothing, he feels it might be something that he wanted to tell when them, when he returnned home on leave. I bet he married a French girl and they had a baby boy. Father Anton showed Will the grave and he mentioned Julie was the widow of Rae. He had married them himself. Julie puts fresh flowers on his grave yearly but sometimes she can not come herself but a package does. Jean Leyrisse is the farmer who Rae stayed with and is wife and Julie had to leave the farm after the farmer died, soon after Rae. The Leyrisse's son also died in the war. The Father does not know Julie's address but they live in the south, Will took the postmark from the flowers with him to take to the post office. While waiting for the postmark, Mr. Hastie had written his son and he tells of Patty's visit, she wants Mr. Hastie to tell Hugo and her parents that the wedding is off, Patty told him something happened between the couple which caused her to change her mind. Will travels to Nivennes and still nobody has heard of the Leyrisses. Will wonders if he should still look for her and decides that Rae would like him to find and help her, need be. Will is at a restaurant and drinking some wine, he asks the usual question about Leyrisse and finally it is known that she lives nearby with her mother who is sick. The restaurant waiter finds Julie at the market, she knows he is Will & a boy around 11, Rae's son Tom is near by. They both speak English. Julie and Will talk and then Will talks about Rae's parents wanting to see them and that Tom will own the estate. Julie is afraid and Tom can not be shared and Will tells Julie that Rae would want his son to be at his home. Tom is very adventuresome and comes to see Will to watch him shave before school. Will meets Julie's mom who is not happy with him. Will tries to tell Julie that it is important for Tom to be brought up in Scotland and learn what he needs to know about the estate. I was thinking Patty and Will, but there is a slight chance less 1% that Will and Julie marry. Tom visits Will and talks about going to Langford. Madame Leyrisse does not want her daughter to go and does all she can to stop this. Julie does not show up and Will worries but Tom comes the next day saying that his grandmother was faking an illness so Julie will stay home. The grandmother hates Will. Will has a letter from his father about Colonel Murray not doing well and he must fly back to tell them about Julie and Tom, this might help him have an interest in life after Patty broke the engagement. Julie promises to come with Tom to Langford soon. It seems they like each other a lot, as friends. Miss Vernon tells Will that she knew about Tom's grandparents but Julie told her that she did not want to write but she would have told sometime later. I think it is 50% that Will marries Julie. Will is to fly out and wants Miss Vernon to keep an eye on them. Will tells his father about Rae's son and his wife. I think Will will marry Julie. Will has told the Murrays about Rae's family and they are about to come to Langford. They are looking for a pony for Tom from Roger Ayrton from Westkirk, has one that his son has grown out of. Will remembers Roger from the war. Patty wants to go with Will to look at the pony. Patty notices a difference in Will since coming back from France. He talks a lot about Tom but hardly anything about Julie. Will loves Julie, I bet and does Patty love Will? If she did she would never have considered marrying Hugo. As with the last book "Summerhills" the Roger and Mary Ayrton are married and have twins. It seems that Patty does not herself think of marrying Will but I think he will marry Julie. Stephen Ayrton and Tom are about the same age, maybe they wil be fast friends. Will and Julie will marry I am sure now. Colonel Murray is not worried about Hugo. Julie and Tom arrive and the Murrays are stricken how Tom looks just like Rae did as a boy. Patty heard that Julie was beautiful, but thinks she is only attractive. Julie asks about if Patty thinks Will as a brother. Tom is excited about the pony and the Colonel since knowing about Tom is excited about living. Patty sees that the reason Julie asked about Will and her because she likes Will and the way they look at each other. She sees that she did not love Hugo and that she must bare the hurt in her heart because she realizes she loves Will. She saw a stone in the car that she saw before, the one Hugo said that he put up on the mountain, he had lied and she had no regrets. Brenda, Patty's friend sees her friend suffering about Will and Julie; Brenda suggests they go away for few days to see the Murrays from Canada in London and Patty agrees she needs to get away. Patty finds out that indeed the Murrays from Canada are relations for the locket of a grandmother was the same picture at Langford. Brenda is engaged to Duncan Murray. Patty is enjoying the dance and sees Hugo, she mentions the stone and Hugo is speechless. I was wrong, it is Patty that marries Will. Will has gone to friends after he proposed to Julie. She had said no because she sees things in the long run. She would not be happy in Scotland and even though she is not in love with Andre, a man that has wanted to marry her for a long time but she had Tom and could not. He leaves, he thought she had loved him and thought she was cold in marrying someone she did not love. She told Patty the same thing and she wanted to go away before Will came back. Tom will stay at Langford and Julie will go home, and it will seem like she is coming back but then she will write that she will marry Andre. Patty wanted to ask her about loving Will but she can not. Will comes back and Patty tells her messages about Andre and Julie, he says he has been a fool and that he loves Patty. Julie had told Patty that she was very young when she married Rae and they had loved romantically but that had been a fairy tale. I think Julie sees that she would be unhappy in Scotland but I think she does love Will, romantically and that is why she wishes to leave before his return, so she will not cave, knowing that he had proposed. She saw this cleary and I agree with her, she did the right thing, especially since unknown to her Patty loved Will. It would have been hard for them both. Patty and Will come to Nivennes and Will does not want to see Julie but Patty does. She sees Julie is happy and Andre is pleased. She told Patty the reason she left Langford was because of what Rae had told her about Will and Patty love each other, they do not knows it yet. So Julie would have loved Will but knew this to be true. Julie is happy to hear Tom is at Summerhills and he is doing well. Patty and Will have a little girl and been married 2 years, Julie and Andre are expecting a boy and then hopefully a girl. Mrs. Murray has died. I am sure Patty will tell Will about what Rae said about them and he will no longer be upset about Julie.
September 15, 2022
Will Huist is returning home after serving in WWII and continuing his career in the military for another ten years. His best friend Rae was killed in action. Rae's death has weighed heavily on his family. Will sees how much these people - who were like a second family to him - have aged. Knowing that they have no one to leave their estate to when they die is a major concern. Rae's sister shows Will a letter he sent shortly before his death which hinted at some big news he would soon share with them. On a hunch, Will travels to France in hope of finding something to give hope to these people he loved as another set of parents. An engaging book by D.E. Stevenson who transports her readers to a special place in a less hectic time.
September 22, 2015
Coping with loss from the war is a topic Stevenson often wrote about. In this story the loss is especially difficult because the young man who died was loved by so many people. The characters learn, for the most part, to move on with their life, and while there is sadness, the happy ending is quite fitting. This is a story of romance, mystery, and for good measure, a travelogue. Once again, Stevenson seamlessly builds the plot of expectation, only to neatly change its course in the last few pages.
March 16, 2014
Caro found on library book sale table and rated it highly, so I took it from her, and will re-donate next week. A lovely read, lovely setting and the datedness just makes it charming. Set on the Scottish border (with a trip to the south of France) after WWII. We have some other D.E. Stevenson titles that I will be picking up.
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