Mary Stewart

by Lenemaja Friedman

Book by Friedman, Lenemaja

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Books About Books

137 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1990

About the author

Lenemaja Friedman received her Ph.D. from Florida State University and is the chair of the Department of Language and Literature at Columbus College.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had this book sitting on my physical bookshelf for years, all the while thinking it was a biography of Mary Stewart and looking forward to learning more about her life. Turns out it is more an examination of her works and a detailed look at the structure, content and styling she used in her writing.

For an avid Mary Stewart fan, like me, it was a fascinating read. I have read all of her novels multiple times over the course of my life, and never tire of them. I’m sure if someone had ever asked me what writer I would most want to be, given the chance, she would have been the first to spring to my mind. I have read her books on every level possible, beginning as a teenager and probably being mostly enchanted with the storyline, the strong female figures, and the adventurous nature of the plots and settings. As a more mature reader, I came to respect and admire her use of words, her meticulous research, the way she can transport you to the location she writes about and make you feel you have been there.

Of course, loving her as I did anyway, I would be hard pressed to express how much more affected I was by the Merlin series when it came along. I have, again, read the books numerous times, and I am due for another reading very soon. There is a place in my heart for these novels and characters that no one else has ever been able to occupy. To read this analysis and find that this author finds in them both the same charm and the same skill was quite satisfying.

So, this novel will not fill my “biography, memoir” slot, as I had planned in the bingo challenge, but I am delighted to have possessed and read it nonetheless. It will go right on my keepers shelf with the hardback copies of her novels and serve as a valuable resource when I am inclined to begin a re-read of them, as I know I someday will.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is basically a collection of synopses over Stewart's books, and doesn't particularly offer any insight into the books or insight from Stewart herself. All bits purported to be by Stewart about her work have been collected from other sources and not from interviews by the author.

In a nutshell, if you've read Stewart's books, you know the contents of this one.

[Diane Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really a bit below 3 stars since I can't say "I liked it."

Note: I skipped the parts on the books I haven't read yet. That means all of the Arthurian stories and a few others.

I didn't learn anything new so I was a little disappointed.

[Allison M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers a good clear general background to Mary Stewart, mostly from 'About Mary Stewart' but also from other sources. It is a good compilation of sources and reviews. Each book is summarised but I would have liked to have seen a lot more about themes, character development over time and so on as well as a considered overview of how Mary Stewart's writing evolved over the course of her career. I would have liked to see some examination of Mary Stewart's writing and feminism, and to have seen more genre analysis. I am a little puzzled that the writer travelled to Edinburgh in the course of writing this book but does not seem to have interviewed Mary Stewart, nor to have accessed any of her papers at the National Library of Scotland, during her visit.

The book's analysis falls short for me but I have given it 4 stars for its excellent detailed bibliography of secondary sources, which sent me off on a quest of tracking these down for myself!