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Thornyhold
When Gilly's witch aunt leaves Thornyhold to her, a house in the middle of the woods, Gilly finds that she has inherited far more than she realized. Along with the house comes a cat, a still room filled with herbs (and a missing recipe book), an attic chamber with carrier pigeons (who have secret messages), and an attractive neighbor whose young son offers the sacred and unique blessing of friendship.
But Thornyhold possesses far more than even these simple offerings. The place itself seems to convoke otherworldly gifts as well: Gilly cultivates the abilities to heal and to foresee the future once she makes Thornyhold her home.
But Thornyhold possesses far more than even these simple offerings. The place itself seems to convoke otherworldly gifts as well: Gilly cultivates the abilities to heal and to foresee the future once she makes Thornyhold her home.
289 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
809 people are currently reading
5832 people want to read
About the author
Mary Stewart
92 books2,870 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Lady Mary Stewart, born Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow, was a popular English novelist, and taught at the school of John Norquay elementary for 30 to 35 years.
She was one of the most widely read fiction writers of our time. The author of twenty novels, a volume of poetry, and three books for young readers, she was admired for both her contemporary stories of romantic suspense and her historical novels. Born in England, she lived for many years in Scotland, spending time between Edinburgh and the West Highlands.
Her unofficial fan site can be found at http://marystewartnovels.blogspot.com/.
Lady Mary Stewart, born Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow, was a popular English novelist, and taught at the school of John Norquay elementary for 30 to 35 years.
She was one of the most widely read fiction writers of our time. The author of twenty novels, a volume of poetry, and three books for young readers, she was admired for both her contemporary stories of romantic suspense and her historical novels. Born in England, she lived for many years in Scotland, spending time between Edinburgh and the West Highlands.
Her unofficial fan site can be found at http://marystewartnovels.blogspot.com/.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 872 reviews
September 8, 2019
Next up group read with the Mary Stewart group, October 2019.
This is maybe 3.75 stars for me, but if I'm judging it just as a comfort read, that and my general love for all things Mary Stewart push it to a solid 4 stars. Mary Stewart (perhaps inspired by her Merlin books that she'd been writing) wrote this sweet romance with a dash of magical realism, as our heroine dabbles in white magic of the hedgewitch variety, like crystal balls and potions. Thornyhold is also a charming ode to the English country life and the healing that a lovely old home can bring to your life.
Thornyhold is on a slightly different wavelength than Stewart's earlier romantic suspense novels; although there are both a mystery and a romance in this book, both are somewhat understated. This book centers around a charming, soul-satisfying place where a young woman can finally find herself, and the plot is more location-driven than action-driven. In any case Mary Stewart's penchant for lengthy, lovingly detailed descriptions of scenery is in full bloom here, so to speak.
The main character, Geillis (Jilly), is very sympathetic: the first three chapters relate her lonely childhood, with a distant father and harsh mother. Jilly's life is lightened only by the periodic appearances of her older cousin Geillis, who brings a breath of fresh air, love, a little white magic, and encouragement. Cousin Geillis shows young Jilly a baby insect, a nymph, that "lives at the bottom of the pond in the dark, and feeds on whatever it can get, till one day it finds it can climb out into the light, and grow its wings, and fly. ... Another nymph, another way, another day."
But these lovely stolen moments with cousin Geillis are few and far between, and by the time Jilly/Geillis reaches adulthood in the fourth chapter I was desperately hoping for her to find some happiness. Luckily for both me and Geillis, she inherits Thornyhold from her cousin, which is where she finally finds herself and discovers love. This love isn't just romantic love; it's more love for a home and a place where Geillis can truly find herself.
Thornyhold is a lovely old home, with antique furnishings:
And there's a cat named Hodge, who comes with the home ...
... not to mention a friendly young neighbor boy and his single father. Drama is supplied by a neighborhood woman who dabbles in witchcraft and hides her jealousy toward Geillis under a layer of overfriendliness.
This is a gentle, thoughtful, feel-good tale with just a little romance and a dash of (mostly) white witchcraft. In general I love Mary Stewart's earlier, more suspenseful reads more than her later books, but this one is a nice comfort read and one I'm happy to revisit every few years.
Buddy reads with the Mary Stewart group.
This is maybe 3.75 stars for me, but if I'm judging it just as a comfort read, that and my general love for all things Mary Stewart push it to a solid 4 stars. Mary Stewart (perhaps inspired by her Merlin books that she'd been writing) wrote this sweet romance with a dash of magical realism, as our heroine dabbles in white magic of the hedgewitch variety, like crystal balls and potions. Thornyhold is also a charming ode to the English country life and the healing that a lovely old home can bring to your life.
Thornyhold is on a slightly different wavelength than Stewart's earlier romantic suspense novels; although there are both a mystery and a romance in this book, both are somewhat understated. This book centers around a charming, soul-satisfying place where a young woman can finally find herself, and the plot is more location-driven than action-driven. In any case Mary Stewart's penchant for lengthy, lovingly detailed descriptions of scenery is in full bloom here, so to speak.
The main character, Geillis (Jilly), is very sympathetic: the first three chapters relate her lonely childhood, with a distant father and harsh mother. Jilly's life is lightened only by the periodic appearances of her older cousin Geillis, who brings a breath of fresh air, love, a little white magic, and encouragement. Cousin Geillis shows young Jilly a baby insect, a nymph, that "lives at the bottom of the pond in the dark, and feeds on whatever it can get, till one day it finds it can climb out into the light, and grow its wings, and fly. ... Another nymph, another way, another day."
But these lovely stolen moments with cousin Geillis are few and far between, and by the time Jilly/Geillis reaches adulthood in the fourth chapter I was desperately hoping for her to find some happiness. Luckily for both me and Geillis, she inherits Thornyhold from her cousin, which is where she finally finds herself and discovers love. This love isn't just romantic love; it's more love for a home and a place where Geillis can truly find herself.
Thornyhold is a lovely old home, with antique furnishings:
It was a big kitchen, old-fashioned but well enough planned, and after the vicarage kitchen, a delight. Instead of our vast black Eagle range there was a cream-coloured Aga, nestling under the old mantelpiece as if it had been built with the house ... Opposite the fireplace was a tall dresser with rows of pretty plates in white and powder-blue, with cups to match hanging along the fronts of the shelves.... a still room with medicines and herbs . . .
And there's a cat named Hodge, who comes with the home ...
... not to mention a friendly young neighbor boy and his single father. Drama is supplied by a neighborhood woman who dabbles in witchcraft and hides her jealousy toward Geillis under a layer of overfriendliness.
This is a gentle, thoughtful, feel-good tale with just a little romance and a dash of (mostly) white witchcraft. In general I love Mary Stewart's earlier, more suspenseful reads more than her later books, but this one is a nice comfort read and one I'm happy to revisit every few years.
Buddy reads with the Mary Stewart group.
February 26, 2023
Updated review to commemorate my 14th read of this book:
I first read Thornyhold in 2009, and have re-read it every February or March since then. I really need to read it in February only, as I consider this little book a Valentine present to myself 💕
Why is this story so important to me? Why do I still treasure it and get emotional from it after all these years? The best I can come up with to explain the appeal of this book is to say that it nourishes and comforts some part of my soul still in search of my own Thornyhold. Cousin Geillis' words of wisdom and advice to young Geillis just speak to me, especially when she talks about the nymph rising up through the sunless muck to recreate itself into a beautiful dragonfly. Young Geillis doesn't realize it at the time, but Cousin Geillis is really speaking about her and her own emotionally starved and sunless life. I really get that, and from then on I'm cheering on our heroine as she re-makes her life out of ordinary and homely pleasures.
Thornyhold inspires me every time I read it. I can't say it will inspire you, but you probably have a book that does.
One day, perhaps after my 25th re-read, I can tell you all that I've finally found my Thornyhold. I'd like to believe it will happen! Wish me luck, and Happy Valentine's Day ❤
Original review:
Those readers who love the vivid, lyrical prose of Stewart's novels shouldn't be disappointed in this offering, although be warned, it does differ from her earlier works.
Thornyhold is a more subtle and contemplative story then you might be used to when it comes to reading Stewart. After all, she was in her 70's when she wrote this, and I imagine she was harkening back to her youth while penning Thornyhold. Generally absent is the suspense and romance so magically woven throughout in The Moonspinners, Madam, Will You Talk or This Rough Magic. Instead, there is a magic of another kind here: a gentle, hearth-and-home-loving tale of a house well loved and much desired, and an ode to the beauty of a time and place now gone but fondly remembered by the author.
I can't really put into words how much this story affected me. It was as if Stewart had looked into my heart much like cousin Geillis looked into Gilly's heart and provided the nourishment for her soul that she craved.
...and Stewart did the same for me with Thornyhold.
I first read Thornyhold in 2009, and have re-read it every February or March since then. I really need to read it in February only, as I consider this little book a Valentine present to myself 💕
Why is this story so important to me? Why do I still treasure it and get emotional from it after all these years? The best I can come up with to explain the appeal of this book is to say that it nourishes and comforts some part of my soul still in search of my own Thornyhold. Cousin Geillis' words of wisdom and advice to young Geillis just speak to me, especially when she talks about the nymph rising up through the sunless muck to recreate itself into a beautiful dragonfly. Young Geillis doesn't realize it at the time, but Cousin Geillis is really speaking about her and her own emotionally starved and sunless life. I really get that, and from then on I'm cheering on our heroine as she re-makes her life out of ordinary and homely pleasures.
Thornyhold inspires me every time I read it. I can't say it will inspire you, but you probably have a book that does.
One day, perhaps after my 25th re-read, I can tell you all that I've finally found my Thornyhold. I'd like to believe it will happen! Wish me luck, and Happy Valentine's Day ❤
Original review:
Those readers who love the vivid, lyrical prose of Stewart's novels shouldn't be disappointed in this offering, although be warned, it does differ from her earlier works.
Thornyhold is a more subtle and contemplative story then you might be used to when it comes to reading Stewart. After all, she was in her 70's when she wrote this, and I imagine she was harkening back to her youth while penning Thornyhold. Generally absent is the suspense and romance so magically woven throughout in The Moonspinners, Madam, Will You Talk or This Rough Magic. Instead, there is a magic of another kind here: a gentle, hearth-and-home-loving tale of a house well loved and much desired, and an ode to the beauty of a time and place now gone but fondly remembered by the author.
I can't really put into words how much this story affected me. It was as if Stewart had looked into my heart much like cousin Geillis looked into Gilly's heart and provided the nourishment for her soul that she craved.
...and Stewart did the same for me with Thornyhold.
January 21, 2018
Would it seem a little too precious if I said this book is bewitching? Seriously, it is. Thornyhold itself is so charming and alluring, with hidden staircases in cupboard doors and walled gardens in varying states of disarray.
It had a mediaeval look, like the jewelled, out-of-perspective illuminations in a tale like The Romance of the Rose. Within the irregular circle of ancient walls and vegetable plot someone, a long time ago, had made a garden within a garden. At its center stood a well, ancient and canopied, and knee-deep in bushes of lavender and sage and lady’s love.”
Conjures up every lovely English garden I have ever adored, from the childhood haunts of Frances Hodgson Burnett to the other Cornwall beauties of Rosamunde Pilcher. I wish nothing more than to know all the plants and their uses when I visit a garden with Stewart! I can see her explosions of color and smell delicious fragrances on the gentle winds.
There is a strong theme of connections to nature that runs through this novel. Geillis Ramsey is in tune with her surroundings, including the animals that share her world. The cat, Hodge, and the dog, Rags, are central to the story and add much to how affected we are by the human characters. I am a huge believer in being able to judge a person’s true worth by how they treat animals and small children.
The undercurrent of witchcraft and that creepy, uncomfortable feeling that makes you fear for the central character but which you cannot quite get a hold on are supremely done. It is a short tale and not one that can be discussed in any depth without ruining the story for others, so I will not elaborate. I will say that if anything disappoints it is that the punishment does not, in the end, fit the crime.
Thank you so much, Mary Stewart, for all the joy you have brought to my life. I have been losing myself in your stories since I was a girl, and I always feel at home the moment I open the book and stroll into an English world that I have never seen but that fills me with familiarity and nostalgia none the less.
It had a mediaeval look, like the jewelled, out-of-perspective illuminations in a tale like The Romance of the Rose. Within the irregular circle of ancient walls and vegetable plot someone, a long time ago, had made a garden within a garden. At its center stood a well, ancient and canopied, and knee-deep in bushes of lavender and sage and lady’s love.”
Conjures up every lovely English garden I have ever adored, from the childhood haunts of Frances Hodgson Burnett to the other Cornwall beauties of Rosamunde Pilcher. I wish nothing more than to know all the plants and their uses when I visit a garden with Stewart! I can see her explosions of color and smell delicious fragrances on the gentle winds.
There is a strong theme of connections to nature that runs through this novel. Geillis Ramsey is in tune with her surroundings, including the animals that share her world. The cat, Hodge, and the dog, Rags, are central to the story and add much to how affected we are by the human characters. I am a huge believer in being able to judge a person’s true worth by how they treat animals and small children.
The undercurrent of witchcraft and that creepy, uncomfortable feeling that makes you fear for the central character but which you cannot quite get a hold on are supremely done. It is a short tale and not one that can be discussed in any depth without ruining the story for others, so I will not elaborate. I will say that if anything disappoints it is that the punishment does not, in the end, fit the crime.
Thank you so much, Mary Stewart, for all the joy you have brought to my life. I have been losing myself in your stories since I was a girl, and I always feel at home the moment I open the book and stroll into an English world that I have never seen but that fills me with familiarity and nostalgia none the less.
June 12, 2025
Beautiful, vivid imagery - the house, the animals, the people, the whole world comes alive. I’m not sure who the target audience is - the characters are adults but the story is very simplistic with no depth or complexity. Unfortunately it features the typical Mary Stewart romantic arc (i.e. two adults meet, have a few purely platonic conversations, profess their love, and presumably live happily ever after).
February 25, 2025
This has been a lovely read, but I feel it needs some fleshing out, the end felt rushed. I wouldn't have minded to spend another 100 pages at Thornyhold.
While thoroughly liking this book, I think I now understand Catherine Moreland's feelings in Northanger Abbey a bit better. You know, when she realised that instead of finding a dramatic and mysterious set of letters, she was actually holding a couple of washing and clothing bills in her hands.
But I was not self-delusional, it was the author herself, who kept leading me on with strong hints of magical intrigue and suspense and then have me bump into a wall of the comedy of errors.
Still, a cosy, comforting read and I enjoyed it very much.
While thoroughly liking this book, I think I now understand Catherine Moreland's feelings in Northanger Abbey a bit better. You know, when she realised that instead of finding a dramatic and mysterious set of letters, she was actually holding a couple of washing and clothing bills in her hands.
But I was not self-delusional, it was the author herself, who kept leading me on with strong hints of magical intrigue and suspense and then have me bump into a wall of the comedy of errors.
Still, a cosy, comforting read and I enjoyed it very much.
October 3, 2019
Ha! I'm sick at the moment and accidentally deleted this review! Fortunately I had already posted the review on my blog.
So here it is again, folks. :)
2.5★
Well…it was better than Stormy Petrel, but still fell short of the mark for me.
The beginning, although sad and depressing was well written. I felt for the lonely child that Jilly was and loved the relationship with her “fairy godmother”, Geillis.
And as always, Lady Stewart creates a wonderful sense of place, vividly described people. I’m interested in life in post war Britain with all the frustrating hardships and food shortages.
I was fine with the magic realism element.
But this book shares the same major fault that Stormy Petrel has, where Lady Stewart seems to head towards a major plot point and then backs away. For me the instalove was extreme – and for a very anonymous hero. (who also appears to be a negligent father.)
I really liked Rose Cottage, but Lady Stewart’s other two cottage books aren’t for me. Even Rose Cottage I’m unlikely to reread.
It wasn’t really relevant to the story, but I’m glad that Lady S introduced me to the poet Sidney Keyes. Did she know him? Or as a well read woman, did she decide to use her influence with her readership to stop this young man, who was killed in WW2, from fading into obscurity.
A sample poem that Keyes wrote about the grandfather who raised him.
Elegy
(In memoriam SKK)
April again, and it’s a year again
Since you walked out and slammed the door
Leaving us tangled in your words. Your brain
Lives in the bank-book and your eyes look up
Laughing from the carpet on the floor:
And we still drink from your silver cup.
It is a year again since they poured
The dumb ground into your mouth:
And yet we know, by some recurring word
Or look caught unawares, that you still drive
Our thoughts like the smart cobs of your youth –
When you and the world were alive.
A year again, and we have fallen on bad times
Since they gave you to the worms.
I am ashamed to take delight in these rhymes
Without grief; but you need no tears.
We shall never forget nor escape you, nor make terms
With your enemies, the swift departing years.
Keyes was only 16 when he wrote this. Sixteen!
A remarkable talent was lost. Best poetry I have read this year. 5★
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess…
So here it is again, folks. :)
2.5★
Well…it was better than Stormy Petrel, but still fell short of the mark for me.
The beginning, although sad and depressing was well written. I felt for the lonely child that Jilly was and loved the relationship with her “fairy godmother”, Geillis.
And as always, Lady Stewart creates a wonderful sense of place, vividly described people. I’m interested in life in post war Britain with all the frustrating hardships and food shortages.
I was fine with the magic realism element.
But this book shares the same major fault that Stormy Petrel has, where Lady Stewart seems to head towards a major plot point and then backs away. For me the instalove was extreme – and for a very anonymous hero. (who also appears to be a negligent father.)
I really liked Rose Cottage, but Lady Stewart’s other two cottage books aren’t for me. Even Rose Cottage I’m unlikely to reread.
It wasn’t really relevant to the story, but I’m glad that Lady S introduced me to the poet Sidney Keyes. Did she know him? Or as a well read woman, did she decide to use her influence with her readership to stop this young man, who was killed in WW2, from fading into obscurity.
A sample poem that Keyes wrote about the grandfather who raised him.
Elegy
(In memoriam SKK)
April again, and it’s a year again
Since you walked out and slammed the door
Leaving us tangled in your words. Your brain
Lives in the bank-book and your eyes look up
Laughing from the carpet on the floor:
And we still drink from your silver cup.
It is a year again since they poured
The dumb ground into your mouth:
And yet we know, by some recurring word
Or look caught unawares, that you still drive
Our thoughts like the smart cobs of your youth –
When you and the world were alive.
A year again, and we have fallen on bad times
Since they gave you to the worms.
I am ashamed to take delight in these rhymes
Without grief; but you need no tears.
We shall never forget nor escape you, nor make terms
With your enemies, the swift departing years.
Keyes was only 16 when he wrote this. Sixteen!
A remarkable talent was lost. Best poetry I have read this year. 5★
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess…
September 26, 2024
The bright spots in Gilly Ramsay's lonely childhood were visits from her godmother, Cousin Geillis. Gilly inherited Thornyhold, Geillis' country cottage, when her beloved relative died. Thornyhold gave Gilly a new start in the beautiful English countryside.
She finds that Cousin Geillis had been a herbalist, tended extensive gardens, and loved animals and birds. There were rumors that a neighbor dabbled in witchcraft, including magic potions, so Gilly stayed alert every time the neighbor appeared at her door. The story is a Gothic romantic fantasy with a bit of mystery and gorgeous descriptions. It's an engaging fairytale for adults--a light read to relax with between heavier books. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
She finds that Cousin Geillis had been a herbalist, tended extensive gardens, and loved animals and birds. There were rumors that a neighbor dabbled in witchcraft, including magic potions, so Gilly stayed alert every time the neighbor appeared at her door. The story is a Gothic romantic fantasy with a bit of mystery and gorgeous descriptions. It's an engaging fairytale for adults--a light read to relax with between heavier books. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
August 25, 2016
4.5 stars
A lovely reread of an old favorite....a lonely, unloved child with a godmother known as a healer and white witch inherits Thornyhold when the old woman passes away. A gentle, quiet tale of a young woman's transformation as the magic of her country sanctuary and her love of all creatures great and small lead her to find happiness and love. Pure poetry.
A lovely reread of an old favorite....a lonely, unloved child with a godmother known as a healer and white witch inherits Thornyhold when the old woman passes away. A gentle, quiet tale of a young woman's transformation as the magic of her country sanctuary and her love of all creatures great and small lead her to find happiness and love. Pure poetry.
May 11, 2015
This is simple perfection in descriptive poetic writing. Not earth shattering or life-changing, just a magical ride to another time and place chock full of imagery and tactile experience. If you enjoy exploration of nature and and discovery of nooks and crannies in historical old estates, quirky mysterious characters, with a little witchery thrown in, this is for you. The characters are colorfully drawn and feel real all the way down to the animals and birds. There are many quaint phrases that I really enjoyed - I assume they are typical of the era and place -1940s, England. Interesting that this was written in the 1980s - it has such a wonderful vintage feel. But Mary Stewart is of another era so she really handles this time period so well. We see the heroine evolve from a child with a troubled, bleak childhood to a woman who discovers herself through the inherited property of her elder cousin and godmother who's special "talents" encourage her to recognize her own. We've got the insta-love thing here again - seems to be a thing in Stewart's novels. It wasn't quite as unbelievable as in the others I read because there was a little magic or purposeful direction involved that made some sense, so I'll take it. I actually wish this had been longer. 4.5
October 14, 2025
Una historia inmensamente disfrutable para los que amamos las novelas más bien contemplativas.
Aunque la trama es muy simple y la recta final precipitada, 'La mansión embrujada' es uno de esos libros que te invita a detenerte en los pequeños detalles, en las descripciones del otoño adueñándose del paisaje, el placer de hacer de una casa tu hogar, el contacto con los animales y las amistades inesperadas. Su protagonista tiene un punto encantador y consigue transmitir mucha ternura, y aunque, como digo, esta sea una historia poco original, eso es lo de menos, al menos yo conseguí disfrutar de cada página y me dio mucha pena terminar la lectura.
El tema de la brujería no es más que una excusa pero se agradece ese punto diferente (que me recordó a Loly Willowes o La librería)... por cierto el romance tiene poquito peso. 🍂
Aunque la trama es muy simple y la recta final precipitada, 'La mansión embrujada' es uno de esos libros que te invita a detenerte en los pequeños detalles, en las descripciones del otoño adueñándose del paisaje, el placer de hacer de una casa tu hogar, el contacto con los animales y las amistades inesperadas. Su protagonista tiene un punto encantador y consigue transmitir mucha ternura, y aunque, como digo, esta sea una historia poco original, eso es lo de menos, al menos yo conseguí disfrutar de cada página y me dio mucha pena terminar la lectura.
El tema de la brujería no es más que una excusa pero se agradece ese punto diferente (que me recordó a Loly Willowes o La librería)... por cierto el romance tiene poquito peso. 🍂
September 12, 2021
Halloween Bingo 2021
This is one of those two-birds-with-one-stone books. It's my September birthday book, Ms. Stewart being born in this fair month, and it also fits one of my Halloween Bingo categories, as it has both Hodge, the witch's cat, and Rags, the border collie rescued from a nasty witchy fate. I love Stewart's books and I read this one several times in the 1980s. Then I had to move several times and let it go, along with a number of other titles that I wish I'd hung onto. This year I tracked down a second hand copy of Thornyhold and I’ve enjoyed it yet again. I'll be keeping it in the permanent collection now.
Love of animals and plants is something I completely understand and identify with, endearing the main character, Geillis Ramsey, to me. If one of my relatives had left me a lovely cottage with an herb garden and a cat, I would have been just as pleased as she was. I'd also be thrilled with the witchy powers, of which I am sorely lacking.
This is a short and simple romance, with only a few mysterious elements to it. I suppose people who don't believe in presentiments of any kind wouldn't care for it, but I've had just enough freaky dreams (talking to dead relatives or seeing someone that I met later) that I was perfectly suited to the subject matter.
This is one of those two-birds-with-one-stone books. It's my September birthday book, Ms. Stewart being born in this fair month, and it also fits one of my Halloween Bingo categories, as it has both Hodge, the witch's cat, and Rags, the border collie rescued from a nasty witchy fate. I love Stewart's books and I read this one several times in the 1980s. Then I had to move several times and let it go, along with a number of other titles that I wish I'd hung onto. This year I tracked down a second hand copy of Thornyhold and I’ve enjoyed it yet again. I'll be keeping it in the permanent collection now.
Love of animals and plants is something I completely understand and identify with, endearing the main character, Geillis Ramsey, to me. If one of my relatives had left me a lovely cottage with an herb garden and a cat, I would have been just as pleased as she was. I'd also be thrilled with the witchy powers, of which I am sorely lacking.
This is a short and simple romance, with only a few mysterious elements to it. I suppose people who don't believe in presentiments of any kind wouldn't care for it, but I've had just enough freaky dreams (talking to dead relatives or seeing someone that I met later) that I was perfectly suited to the subject matter.
April 19, 2024
2024 Review
A satisfying, comfortable read, the kind that deserves a big cup of tea. Different than I remembered. But definitely one I'm adding to the list to return to.
2019 Review
I suppose at 208 pages Thornyhold qualifies as a novel, but in some ways it feels like a novella. Sparse and focused, yet somehow sufficient for the story it tells. It is an odd, beautiful little book. It borderlines the feeling you get when you read a classic novel because it contains many of the same elements and archetypes: the lonely, orphaned girl, the emotions that reveal the human experience, the fight between good and evil. I'm sure you could find any number of Themes or Literary Tropes within the story as well.
I hesitantly remove a star for the romance. I know the entire story aims for it, yet somehow I found it disappointing. Maybe all the early references to the Victorian expectation that she meet a 'nice young man' gave me false hope that the story would subvert the expected happily ever after. But happily ever after comes in the nice, expected way and it isn't bad. Just...a little less than amazing. Plus, insta-love. I do despise insta-love, even well explained and reasonable insta-love.
Do recommend, for all that. I need more Mary Stewart!
A satisfying, comfortable read, the kind that deserves a big cup of tea. Different than I remembered. But definitely one I'm adding to the list to return to.
2019 Review
I suppose at 208 pages Thornyhold qualifies as a novel, but in some ways it feels like a novella. Sparse and focused, yet somehow sufficient for the story it tells. It is an odd, beautiful little book. It borderlines the feeling you get when you read a classic novel because it contains many of the same elements and archetypes: the lonely, orphaned girl, the emotions that reveal the human experience, the fight between good and evil. I'm sure you could find any number of Themes or Literary Tropes within the story as well.
I hesitantly remove a star for the romance. I know the entire story aims for it, yet somehow I found it disappointing. Maybe all the early references to the Victorian expectation that she meet a 'nice young man' gave me false hope that the story would subvert the expected happily ever after. But happily ever after comes in the nice, expected way and it isn't bad. Just...a little less than amazing. Plus, insta-love. I do despise insta-love, even well explained and reasonable insta-love.
Do recommend, for all that. I need more Mary Stewart!
October 22, 2025
Yes, yes, yes, I have always enjoyed the first chapters of Mary Stewart's 1988 novel Thornyhold (and where first person narrator Gilly Ramsey looks back on her own and personal childhood) considerably more than once Gilly has inherited the Thornyhold property and cottage from her late aunt. For I indeed do find it very engaging and also really nicely interesting having Stewart (with Gilly's poignant and evocative voice) in the first part of Thornyhold show to and tell us readers how from toddlerhood until she becomes an orphan in her early twenties, as the daughter of a taciturn vicar father and a cold, emotionally distant mother Gilly has generally felt mostly completely unheard, lonely, isolated (and was also often mercilessly bullied at school), thus experiencing a pretty joyless childhood and with the only bright spots being very rare visits from Gilly's godmother, from her mother's unconventional, free spirited cousin Geillis. However and unfortunately, once the plot of Thornyhold moves to the late 1940s, Stewart's text (and Gilly Ramsey's voice) soon do become (well, at least for me and in my opinion) more than a trifle draggingly frustrating and that my reading interest thus kind of begins to steadily wane as well, with Gilly becoming friends with ten year old Willian, her slow-moving romance with William's widowed father and the entire witchery and holistic, herbal medicine scenarios of Thornyhold (as well as the rather flat and silly "villainess" who wants to be a success as a witch, as a so-called wise woman but is obviously not sufficiently talented and thus wants and desires Geillis' book of spells and remedies) not really tickling my reading fancy all that much, not really all that exciting me and sometimes even rather distracting and far far too often quite boring me throughout the second part of Thornyhold. But just to say that I do definitely and indeed quite enjoy and appreciate Mary Stewart's British landscape descriptions throughout Thornyhold, that Stewart's words show a real love for and appreciation of nature, of United Kingdom flora and fauna, and that the latter, that the wonderful nature descriptions found in Thornyhold is why my rating is still three stars. But to be honest and for me personally, the second part of Thornyhold is only a two star rating, and that Stewart's beautiful descriptions just cannot surmount the problematic truth that the second part of Thornyhold and Gilly exploring, settling in at Thornyhold and finally finding love with William's father just has not been a very fun and exciting eading experience for me and is certainly sub-par compared to the beginning (and thus and definitely, three stars for Thornyhold and for Mary Stewart's penmanship it is).
February 15, 2014
I loved this book!
The setting of Thornyhold is post WWII England. Young Geillis, known as Jilly has had a quietly miserable vicarage childhood raised by a stern mother and a gentle Vicar father. Her sad childhood is occasionally relieved by visits from her mother's Cousin Geillis, a world traveler, herbalist, and Jilly's sponsor/godmother. Jilly is gentle, intelligent and lonely, and the infrequent visits from Cousin Geillis have a magical quality for the lonely child. Cousin Geillis pays her school fees, so she is sent away to school and then to university. When her mother dies, Jilly has to leave the university early to look after her newly widowed father, and when he dies she finds herself with no money and no job. The timely inheritance of Cousin Geillis cottage, Thornyhold, gives her new hope for her lonely life. The solicitors also inform her that her cousin has left her enough money to live on, together with all of Thornyhold's furniture contents and Hodge, the cottage cat. Those contents include the still room filled with herbs, potions and books and, Jilly also discovers, Cousin Geillis's reputation as a witch and a healer. Gilly settles in to Thornyhold and her life begins to change.
My thoughts:
Geillis Ramsey is not Mary Stewart's typical heroine, the career girl on vacation who stumbles into a mystery and danger. Geillis is alone in the world, gentle, reflective artistic, and lacking in self confidence. At Thornyhold, she must deal with finding her place in this new community and the new people she meets who will change her life forever, Mrs Trapp, Jessamy, William, and Christopher John.
As usual, Mary Stewart's writing is lyrical. Her descriptions of the cottage, the still room, the woods, plants and places are wonderfully evocative. Her characters come alive before our eyes, and Gilly, in particular, is very likable. Although she had a miserable childhood she never comes across as self pitying. In a matter of fact way,(through the power of Mary Stewart's writing) she tells us of her love for her new home, her desire to fit in, and of the small strange happenings in her life. The setting, close to Stonehenge in Wiltshire, with its green English splendor is gorgeous. The small hints of some "practical magic" add a touch of suspense to the story. The love story doesn't come until we are well into the book, but when it comes it's as Geilly says, "love at first sight".
The over all tone of the book is peaceful, yet with strong hints of otherworldly menace and undercurrents of the romance that is to come. Above all, though, it is the rich descriptions that make this book so enjoyable.
If you need a lovely place to escape to, if you need a romantic cottage full of magic, a gentle story filled with life and love, then I recommend you visit Thornyhold. You'll love it there.
Highly recommended
The setting of Thornyhold is post WWII England. Young Geillis, known as Jilly has had a quietly miserable vicarage childhood raised by a stern mother and a gentle Vicar father. Her sad childhood is occasionally relieved by visits from her mother's Cousin Geillis, a world traveler, herbalist, and Jilly's sponsor/godmother. Jilly is gentle, intelligent and lonely, and the infrequent visits from Cousin Geillis have a magical quality for the lonely child. Cousin Geillis pays her school fees, so she is sent away to school and then to university. When her mother dies, Jilly has to leave the university early to look after her newly widowed father, and when he dies she finds herself with no money and no job. The timely inheritance of Cousin Geillis cottage, Thornyhold, gives her new hope for her lonely life. The solicitors also inform her that her cousin has left her enough money to live on, together with all of Thornyhold's furniture contents and Hodge, the cottage cat. Those contents include the still room filled with herbs, potions and books and, Jilly also discovers, Cousin Geillis's reputation as a witch and a healer. Gilly settles in to Thornyhold and her life begins to change.
My thoughts:
Geillis Ramsey is not Mary Stewart's typical heroine, the career girl on vacation who stumbles into a mystery and danger. Geillis is alone in the world, gentle, reflective artistic, and lacking in self confidence. At Thornyhold, she must deal with finding her place in this new community and the new people she meets who will change her life forever, Mrs Trapp, Jessamy, William, and Christopher John.
As usual, Mary Stewart's writing is lyrical. Her descriptions of the cottage, the still room, the woods, plants and places are wonderfully evocative. Her characters come alive before our eyes, and Gilly, in particular, is very likable. Although she had a miserable childhood she never comes across as self pitying. In a matter of fact way,(through the power of Mary Stewart's writing) she tells us of her love for her new home, her desire to fit in, and of the small strange happenings in her life. The setting, close to Stonehenge in Wiltshire, with its green English splendor is gorgeous. The small hints of some "practical magic" add a touch of suspense to the story. The love story doesn't come until we are well into the book, but when it comes it's as Geilly says, "love at first sight".
The over all tone of the book is peaceful, yet with strong hints of otherworldly menace and undercurrents of the romance that is to come. Above all, though, it is the rich descriptions that make this book so enjoyable.
If you need a lovely place to escape to, if you need a romantic cottage full of magic, a gentle story filled with life and love, then I recommend you visit Thornyhold. You'll love it there.
Highly recommended
April 30, 2015
I'm not sure what to make of Mary Stewart's oeuvre.
The Ivy Tree was my first MS experience, & I loved it. Spurred by success, I quickly followed with Nine Coaches Waiting & My Brother Michael, both of which I liked. But then came Wildfire at Midnight, which was disappointing. And now...Thornyhold.
It's well-written from a technical standpoint; then again, I'd expect nothing less. Stewart always displays a strong command of language & description, while her narrators are prone to quotable insights re: human nature. The heroine of this particular novel is classic Stewart formula -- a young, intelligent Englishwoman, softly spoken & occasionally befuddled, but also a keen observer & easily riled by injustices against the innocents of the universe.
In these respects, Thornyhold is no different from the Stewart novels I enjoyed. So what went wrong?
The ending. It was GHASTLY.
Through the first 180-some pages, we've had a romantic suspense novel -- a gentle one, yes, but there is definitely something sinister building in the background. There's a spooky neighbor lady who may or may not be involved in a coven -- the same woman who may or may not have turned her abusive mother into a mindless drone in a rocking chair. A woman who frightens her simple-minded son. A woman who orders said son to chain & starve a dog...because she needs the hair for a sinister love spell, which she then plans to use on the heroine's love interest. But while the heroine is uncovering each layer of her neighbor's creep factor, she's also uncovering each layer of her cousin's white magic -- her medicinal herbs, her treatment of injured animals, her intuitive cat, her undefinable presence in the house.
Oh good, says I. This is setting up for a classy-yet-epic showdown between good & evil. Bring it on!
...That never happened.
I can't, guys.
HEAs are well & good, but this one was abrupt & disconnected. I wasn't expecting something on par with Hell House -- it's Mary Stewart, after all. But there's no reason why a delicate, gentle story needs to shrug off the struggle between good & evil. WTF was the purpose of the conflict? Why even bother?! If you want to write an English comedy, fine -- but don't milk suspense that serves no purpose. So much atmospheric verbage was spent on the dog's rescue (poor little Rags <3), the grotesque love spell, the heroine's discomfort at what her neighbor was potentially involved in -- but then it fizzled into absolutely nothing.
Stewart wimped out. End of story.
3 stars.
The Ivy Tree was my first MS experience, & I loved it. Spurred by success, I quickly followed with Nine Coaches Waiting & My Brother Michael, both of which I liked. But then came Wildfire at Midnight, which was disappointing. And now...Thornyhold.
It's well-written from a technical standpoint; then again, I'd expect nothing less. Stewart always displays a strong command of language & description, while her narrators are prone to quotable insights re: human nature. The heroine of this particular novel is classic Stewart formula -- a young, intelligent Englishwoman, softly spoken & occasionally befuddled, but also a keen observer & easily riled by injustices against the innocents of the universe.
In these respects, Thornyhold is no different from the Stewart novels I enjoyed. So what went wrong?
The ending. It was GHASTLY.
Through the first 180-some pages, we've had a romantic suspense novel -- a gentle one, yes, but there is definitely something sinister building in the background. There's a spooky neighbor lady who may or may not be involved in a coven -- the same woman who may or may not have turned her abusive mother into a mindless drone in a rocking chair. A woman who frightens her simple-minded son. A woman who orders said son to chain & starve a dog...because she needs the hair for a sinister love spell, which she then plans to use on the heroine's love interest. But while the heroine is uncovering each layer of her neighbor's creep factor, she's also uncovering each layer of her cousin's white magic -- her medicinal herbs, her treatment of injured animals, her intuitive cat, her undefinable presence in the house.
Oh good, says I. This is setting up for a classy-yet-epic showdown between good & evil. Bring it on!
...That never happened.
I can't, guys.
HEAs are well & good, but this one was abrupt & disconnected. I wasn't expecting something on par with Hell House -- it's Mary Stewart, after all. But there's no reason why a delicate, gentle story needs to shrug off the struggle between good & evil. WTF was the purpose of the conflict? Why even bother?! If you want to write an English comedy, fine -- but don't milk suspense that serves no purpose. So much atmospheric verbage was spent on the dog's rescue (poor little Rags <3), the grotesque love spell, the heroine's discomfort at what her neighbor was potentially involved in -- but then it fizzled into absolutely nothing.
Stewart wimped out. End of story.
3 stars.
April 14, 2017
Lo único que no me ha gustado ha sido lo precipitado del final, le hubiera puesto una estrella más si no fuera por ese motivo.
January 6, 2015
Three and a half stars. I think this is one book that should have been about a hundred pages longer. It got off to a very promising start but then sort of petered out into nothing much. I really enjoyed the story of Gilly Ramsey’s lonely childhood and the bright moments of connection with her godmother. When Gilly inherits Thorneyhold I was delighted with both the house and all the mysterious goings on: flashes of intuition, cats, dogs, pigeons appearing, locked rooms and herb lore. And then…the book ends. Everything gets resolved and largely demystified and the romance just happens all in about twenty pages.
I loved Gilly as a character and really enjoyed the hedge-witch lore; I wish that she'd developed her vocation as an animal healer, but she seems to have given it all up for reasons that are unclear. Not as good as Rose Cottage, the only other cozy village Mary Stewart that I’ve read, and nowhere near as much fun as the romantic adventure stories for which she is best known.
Elements of her Arthurian saga found their way into this book. I'm something of an outlier among Mary Stewart fans because I love her Merlin stories, particularly The Crystal Cave--that's the one I'll go back to when I'm in mood for more magic.
Content warning: Suggested paranormal happenings and witchcraft, but pretty tame. Otherwise a clean read.
I loved Gilly as a character and really enjoyed the hedge-witch lore; I wish that she'd developed her vocation as an animal healer, but she seems to have given it all up for reasons that are unclear. Not as good as Rose Cottage, the only other cozy village Mary Stewart that I’ve read, and nowhere near as much fun as the romantic adventure stories for which she is best known.
Elements of her Arthurian saga found their way into this book. I'm something of an outlier among Mary Stewart fans because I love her Merlin stories, particularly The Crystal Cave--that's the one I'll go back to when I'm in mood for more magic.
Content warning: Suggested paranormal happenings and witchcraft, but pretty tame. Otherwise a clean read.
January 16, 2009
Gilly has a lonely childhood in the north of England between the two WWs, and foresees a long, lonely adulthood for herself. But then her father dies, and her godmother Geillis leaves her a house and garden in Thornyhold. Geillis always had an air of mystery and magic about her, and so does her house. Gilly begins exploring her godmother's herbologies and the woods around the cottage, but interruptions by her various neighbors leave her both unsettled and intrigued. Led by occasional messenger pigeons and flashes of memories that aren't her own, Gilly begins to piece together the puzzle her godmother left behind.
I loved this book. Gilly is a delicately painted, nuanced character who feels perfectly real and quite familiar. The plot dances between moments of darkness and warm bucolic romance. And the setting! I fell absolutely in love with Stewart's England, with its bramble jelly and cats falling asleep in front of the Aga.
I loved this book. Gilly is a delicately painted, nuanced character who feels perfectly real and quite familiar. The plot dances between moments of darkness and warm bucolic romance. And the setting! I fell absolutely in love with Stewart's England, with its bramble jelly and cats falling asleep in front of the Aga.
June 1, 2010
This has been one of my favourite books for years, and I have recently re-read it. What I love about it is that it makes magic commonplace, seeing it everywhere in nature. The story is about Geillis (Gilly) Ramsey, who after the death of her parents finds a haven when she inherits a house in the country from her godmother (also called Geillis).
As she brings the house and garden back into good order, Gilly discovers that her godmother was known locally as a witch - and she wasn't the only one. And as Gilly meets and gets to know the locals, she finds something she never thought she would - love.
Although Gilly seems to have something of the 'gift', she herself has no desire to be a witch. However, she has also inherited her godmother's love of the natural world, plants and animals alike, and her joy in her new surroundings comes across in every page.
In 'Thornyhold', author Mary Stewart has produced a lovely, happy, gently magical read.
As she brings the house and garden back into good order, Gilly discovers that her godmother was known locally as a witch - and she wasn't the only one. And as Gilly meets and gets to know the locals, she finds something she never thought she would - love.
Although Gilly seems to have something of the 'gift', she herself has no desire to be a witch. However, she has also inherited her godmother's love of the natural world, plants and animals alike, and her joy in her new surroundings comes across in every page.
In 'Thornyhold', author Mary Stewart has produced a lovely, happy, gently magical read.
September 1, 2008
Well, it's not really fantasy, more of a light little romance. Gilly is a lonely young woman whose strict, religious parents tried their best to keep her from her aunt who was rumored to be a witch. Now that Gilly is grown she's inherited the aunt's cottage . . . and her book of "recipes." Enter a serious widower with a charming son, a rival "witch" and some very daft sheep, and you have a charming book!
November 17, 2015
A lovely gentle story full of magic and romance.
Wonderful descriptions of the countryside.
Geillis inherited Thornyhold from her godmother , which is nestled in a wood.
A magical place with a resident black cat.
Strange neighbours and a secret recipe.
I loved it, beautifull descriptively written with suspense.
If you are looking for escapism this just does the trick.
Wonderful descriptions of the countryside.
Geillis inherited Thornyhold from her godmother , which is nestled in a wood.
A magical place with a resident black cat.
Strange neighbours and a secret recipe.
I loved it, beautifull descriptively written with suspense.
If you are looking for escapism this just does the trick.
March 12, 2018
I've loved Mary Stewart's romantic mysteries for decades, and I go back to them often. I picked up a digital copy of THORNYHOLD recently. I enjoy Stewart's characterizations but most of all, her descriptions of Thornyhold and its gardens. And of course, there's a stillroom. Any book that includes an herbalist, a stillroom, and a bit of witchery wins my heart.
May 19, 2019
Firstly, let me be blunt by saying I’m disappointed and regret the waste of time I spent reading this book. It is filled with false foreshadowing, chapters and scenes that end with unrealized suspense, and a final turn in the story that makes the first 80% of it meaningless.
SPOILERS!
You get a hard smack in the face on just how misleading this story has been in Chapter 22, which opens with the line “Since this not a tale of midnight witchcraft, but a simple–relatively simple–love story, it is fitting the final chapters should open on a glorious day.”
Um…what? The 21 chapters I’ve read, beginning in Gilly’s childhood, and swirling almost entirely around an atmosphere of magic and a young girl’s desire for independence and self actualization is, in fact…a love story?
And this so-called love story revolves around Christopher, a man who comes into the story more than halfway through and is given virtually no characterization at all beyond being male and relatively good looking. Point in fact, the first information we’re given about Christopher is that he’s a self-absorbed writer who routinely drives his young son out of the house with his foul temper while writing. Sounds quite appealing already, huh? In fact, Gilly herself mentally describes him as a “homme fatale”, while seeming to completely miss the fact that this is not a good thing. She falls in love with him quickly and–going by anything the reader can see–for no apparent reason other than that’s he is there!
To match Gilly’s unreasonable and unexplained attraction to this suddenly introduced character, Christopher is also conveniently and confusingly in love with Gilly. Again, virtually nothing given to the reader to make this sensible or understandable. If this was indeed a love story, as Gilly tells us out of the friggin’ blue in Chapter 22, it’s a pretty bad one.
(I felt I could give this some leeway due the age of the book, until I remembered it’s only set in the 40s. It was written in 1988! The entire interaction between Gilly and Christopher feels horribly dated and shallow, like the author chose at the last second to tack the glossy surface of a romance onto a book that was never about that.)
Now, let’s address the villain who, in the same disappointing and boring fashion as the rest of the story, ends up accidentally dosing herself and the wrong man (she had been after Christopher) with a love potion that results in her and the poor drugged man getting married and doing the domestic thing off into the sunset. Agnes was a psychopath, and yet the story treats her like some silly woman who…meh…made some mistakes (Like trying to starve a dog to death for a spell, and turning her own mother into an imbecile by dosing her. Like, oh, trying to drug someone into being in love with her!)
And if I needed any reason to finally dislike this neurotic heroine, it’s her reaction to learning that the wrong man took Agnes’ love potion: She thinks it’s funny. “So the witch-story turned into comedy, and the midnight enchantments faded…into the common light of day.”
I admit, this may be another symptom of a dated book, but my tolerance for the sheer lack of empathy and real emotional characterization just won’t let me ignore this kind of stuff. Agnes drugged a man, permanently, into marrying her. It doesn't matter if she got the wrong one. But, yeah, sure, the long term rape of an innocent guy who ate the wrong chocolates by a psychopathic witch is no big deal. Ha-ha. At least she didn’t get YOUR man, right, Gilly? I must have stared at teh page for 30 seconds thinking "i'm supposed to like this person?"
So, we have a story that tricks the reader into believing Gilly is a repressed woman about to open her wings and realize a magical destiny–for well over 100 pages– that turns out to be a tale about a woman who does have magical abilities but chooses to completely ignore them while getting married to a man she just met and promptly settling down to have kids. The same character who mourned her loss of freedom and life when she had to return home to play housekeeper for her aging father. Quite the character turnaround there. In fact, not so much a turn as a drop off a cliff!
Magic and mystery and potential thrown away by a character that, for no given reason, suddenly found a desperate desire to be humdrum normal. This is a story about a magical young woman’s disappointing, and self inflicted, decline into COMMON.
SPOILERS!
You get a hard smack in the face on just how misleading this story has been in Chapter 22, which opens with the line “Since this not a tale of midnight witchcraft, but a simple–relatively simple–love story, it is fitting the final chapters should open on a glorious day.”
Um…what? The 21 chapters I’ve read, beginning in Gilly’s childhood, and swirling almost entirely around an atmosphere of magic and a young girl’s desire for independence and self actualization is, in fact…a love story?
And this so-called love story revolves around Christopher, a man who comes into the story more than halfway through and is given virtually no characterization at all beyond being male and relatively good looking. Point in fact, the first information we’re given about Christopher is that he’s a self-absorbed writer who routinely drives his young son out of the house with his foul temper while writing. Sounds quite appealing already, huh? In fact, Gilly herself mentally describes him as a “homme fatale”, while seeming to completely miss the fact that this is not a good thing. She falls in love with him quickly and–going by anything the reader can see–for no apparent reason other than that’s he is there!
To match Gilly’s unreasonable and unexplained attraction to this suddenly introduced character, Christopher is also conveniently and confusingly in love with Gilly. Again, virtually nothing given to the reader to make this sensible or understandable. If this was indeed a love story, as Gilly tells us out of the friggin’ blue in Chapter 22, it’s a pretty bad one.
(I felt I could give this some leeway due the age of the book, until I remembered it’s only set in the 40s. It was written in 1988! The entire interaction between Gilly and Christopher feels horribly dated and shallow, like the author chose at the last second to tack the glossy surface of a romance onto a book that was never about that.)
Now, let’s address the villain who, in the same disappointing and boring fashion as the rest of the story, ends up accidentally dosing herself and the wrong man (she had been after Christopher) with a love potion that results in her and the poor drugged man getting married and doing the domestic thing off into the sunset. Agnes was a psychopath, and yet the story treats her like some silly woman who…meh…made some mistakes (Like trying to starve a dog to death for a spell, and turning her own mother into an imbecile by dosing her. Like, oh, trying to drug someone into being in love with her!)
And if I needed any reason to finally dislike this neurotic heroine, it’s her reaction to learning that the wrong man took Agnes’ love potion: She thinks it’s funny. “So the witch-story turned into comedy, and the midnight enchantments faded…into the common light of day.”
I admit, this may be another symptom of a dated book, but my tolerance for the sheer lack of empathy and real emotional characterization just won’t let me ignore this kind of stuff. Agnes drugged a man, permanently, into marrying her. It doesn't matter if she got the wrong one. But, yeah, sure, the long term rape of an innocent guy who ate the wrong chocolates by a psychopathic witch is no big deal. Ha-ha. At least she didn’t get YOUR man, right, Gilly? I must have stared at teh page for 30 seconds thinking "i'm supposed to like this person?"
So, we have a story that tricks the reader into believing Gilly is a repressed woman about to open her wings and realize a magical destiny–for well over 100 pages– that turns out to be a tale about a woman who does have magical abilities but chooses to completely ignore them while getting married to a man she just met and promptly settling down to have kids. The same character who mourned her loss of freedom and life when she had to return home to play housekeeper for her aging father. Quite the character turnaround there. In fact, not so much a turn as a drop off a cliff!
Magic and mystery and potential thrown away by a character that, for no given reason, suddenly found a desperate desire to be humdrum normal. This is a story about a magical young woman’s disappointing, and self inflicted, decline into COMMON.
December 9, 2014
I loved ‘Thornyhold’ every bit as much as I had expected. And maybe even a little more.
Geillis was a lonely child, the only daughter of undemonstrative parents, but her godmother, a herbalist and maybe a white witch, understood and showed her the magic in the world that she had always wanted to see:
“Everything, suddenly, seemed outlined in light. The dog-daisies, white and gold, and taller than I was, stirred and swayed above my head as if combed through by a strong breeze. In its wake the air stilled again, thick with scents. The birds stopped singing, the grasshoppers were silent. I sat there, as still as a snail on the stem, in the middle of a full and living world and saw it for the first time, and for the first time knew myself to be a part of it.
She sank down beside me on the grass. She seemed to manage it without disturbing the dog-daisies. she ran a forefinger up the stem of one daisy, and a ladybird came off it on the finger and clung there.
“Look,” she said. “Quickly. count the spots.”
I had loved Gilly from the start, and I was as captivated by her godmother and by the magic in the world as she was.
visit was magical, but life was difficult.
Gilly had to leave university early to look after her newly widowed father; and when he died she found herself alone in the world, with no job, little money, and no idea how she should live.
Until, that is, she inherited Thornyhold, her godmother’s woodland cottage, and just enough money to live on.
Gilly fell in love with her home, and so did I, as Mary Stewart described everything that she saw, everything that she felt so beautifully.
I would love to curl up and read in the bedroom:
“After what I had seen downstairs, the bathroom was a surprise. It was a big room with two tall windows giving on the back, or south side of the house. In each with a wide window seat, set in the depth of the wall. The fireplace was delicate, with pretty flowered tiles. A bow-fronted chest did duty as a dressing-table, and a deep cupboard beside the fireplace stood open, showing the hanging-room of a big wardrobe. The bed was double, and high. The carpet was a soft green, lining the room, as it were, with the woods outside. By one of the windows was an easy chair. A lovely room.”
I would love to step outside:
“All that remained of the original plan was the broad flagged wall that ran straight from the house, bisecting the lawn, to a belvedere at the river’s edge. This was a paved half-moon, edged with a low balustrade, holding a pair of curved stone benches. Between these a shallow flight of steps led down to the water where just below the surface could be seen a row of stepping-stones that would, in summer or a low water, be uncovered. On the opposite bank willows trailed their hair in the shallows, and golden flakes of fallen leaves turned idly on the current before floating downstream. Coppices of hazel framed the entrance to an overgrown forest ride stretching up through the trees.”
Gilly’s story works wonderfully as an ‘inheriting a house book’ and could stand happily alongside books like ‘The Scent of Water’ by Elizabeth Goudge, ‘The House on the Cliff’ by D E Stevenson, ‘The Heir’ by Vita SackvilleWest …. and if you can think of others that I might not have read I’d love to know …..
This is one of Mary Stewart’s later works, and there is less action and intrigue than there is in her earlier works of romantic suspense, but the more thoughtful, more contemplative feel of this book works wonderfully.
There is a little mystery.
Gilly finds that she has inherited a book of spells and a black cat named Hodge. Was her godmother really a witch? Why is the housekeeper so interested? What is happening in the house?
There is a little romance too.
It’s engaging, but it does become a little silly at times, and the plot is not quite as strong as the writing in the latter part of the story.
I loved following Gilly’s progress , I loved seeing the world through her eyes, and the way that the pieces fell into place was wonderful.
I suspect that there were loose ends, and unanswered questions, but I’m not going to worry about them; because I loved that heart and soul of this book.
Geillis was a lonely child, the only daughter of undemonstrative parents, but her godmother, a herbalist and maybe a white witch, understood and showed her the magic in the world that she had always wanted to see:
“Everything, suddenly, seemed outlined in light. The dog-daisies, white and gold, and taller than I was, stirred and swayed above my head as if combed through by a strong breeze. In its wake the air stilled again, thick with scents. The birds stopped singing, the grasshoppers were silent. I sat there, as still as a snail on the stem, in the middle of a full and living world and saw it for the first time, and for the first time knew myself to be a part of it.
She sank down beside me on the grass. She seemed to manage it without disturbing the dog-daisies. she ran a forefinger up the stem of one daisy, and a ladybird came off it on the finger and clung there.
“Look,” she said. “Quickly. count the spots.”
I had loved Gilly from the start, and I was as captivated by her godmother and by the magic in the world as she was.
visit was magical, but life was difficult.
Gilly had to leave university early to look after her newly widowed father; and when he died she found herself alone in the world, with no job, little money, and no idea how she should live.
Until, that is, she inherited Thornyhold, her godmother’s woodland cottage, and just enough money to live on.
Gilly fell in love with her home, and so did I, as Mary Stewart described everything that she saw, everything that she felt so beautifully.
I would love to curl up and read in the bedroom:
“After what I had seen downstairs, the bathroom was a surprise. It was a big room with two tall windows giving on the back, or south side of the house. In each with a wide window seat, set in the depth of the wall. The fireplace was delicate, with pretty flowered tiles. A bow-fronted chest did duty as a dressing-table, and a deep cupboard beside the fireplace stood open, showing the hanging-room of a big wardrobe. The bed was double, and high. The carpet was a soft green, lining the room, as it were, with the woods outside. By one of the windows was an easy chair. A lovely room.”
I would love to step outside:
“All that remained of the original plan was the broad flagged wall that ran straight from the house, bisecting the lawn, to a belvedere at the river’s edge. This was a paved half-moon, edged with a low balustrade, holding a pair of curved stone benches. Between these a shallow flight of steps led down to the water where just below the surface could be seen a row of stepping-stones that would, in summer or a low water, be uncovered. On the opposite bank willows trailed their hair in the shallows, and golden flakes of fallen leaves turned idly on the current before floating downstream. Coppices of hazel framed the entrance to an overgrown forest ride stretching up through the trees.”
Gilly’s story works wonderfully as an ‘inheriting a house book’ and could stand happily alongside books like ‘The Scent of Water’ by Elizabeth Goudge, ‘The House on the Cliff’ by D E Stevenson, ‘The Heir’ by Vita SackvilleWest …. and if you can think of others that I might not have read I’d love to know …..
This is one of Mary Stewart’s later works, and there is less action and intrigue than there is in her earlier works of romantic suspense, but the more thoughtful, more contemplative feel of this book works wonderfully.
There is a little mystery.
Gilly finds that she has inherited a book of spells and a black cat named Hodge. Was her godmother really a witch? Why is the housekeeper so interested? What is happening in the house?
There is a little romance too.
It’s engaging, but it does become a little silly at times, and the plot is not quite as strong as the writing in the latter part of the story.
I loved following Gilly’s progress , I loved seeing the world through her eyes, and the way that the pieces fell into place was wonderful.
I suspect that there were loose ends, and unanswered questions, but I’m not going to worry about them; because I loved that heart and soul of this book.
July 5, 2020
love the house, a bit like Shell Seekers, a bit like Outlander, but short
Mom loved it, too.
***
Notes like that are charming little surprises now. Mom was dyslexic (probably) and reading was very slow. Understandably, she was delighted when books on tape then disc became widespread.
She also read stories by Mary Stewart in the Good Housekeeping magazines of my childhood. Because reading was slow and she was a working woman, which means "with practically no freetime," she had a large, tidy collection. When I started being interested in pretty houses and/ or had run out of anything else to read, I had a year or two's back numbers to go through. Rather later, when I realized how much time she spent sitting in the car, waiting for me to come out of rehearsal, I very sweetly thanked her for that tedious duty. She said she always brought something to read, so liked sitting in the car with no distractions. I learned to value that cartime myself.
Earlier in this benighted year I decided to re-read only. And a different time I thought it would be fun to read only books with witches, so I pulled Eastwick for the stack. This week I am again faffing about, even though I am really enjoying the half dozen that are started. So back to witches, in a nice, zippy, short genre novel. Just the thing I hope.
Mom loved it, too.
***
Notes like that are charming little surprises now. Mom was dyslexic (probably) and reading was very slow. Understandably, she was delighted when books on tape then disc became widespread.
She also read stories by Mary Stewart in the Good Housekeeping magazines of my childhood. Because reading was slow and she was a working woman, which means "with practically no freetime," she had a large, tidy collection. When I started being interested in pretty houses and/ or had run out of anything else to read, I had a year or two's back numbers to go through. Rather later, when I realized how much time she spent sitting in the car, waiting for me to come out of rehearsal, I very sweetly thanked her for that tedious duty. She said she always brought something to read, so liked sitting in the car with no distractions. I learned to value that cartime myself.
Earlier in this benighted year I decided to re-read only. And a different time I thought it would be fun to read only books with witches, so I pulled Eastwick for the stack. This week I am again faffing about, even though I am really enjoying the half dozen that are started. So back to witches, in a nice, zippy, short genre novel. Just the thing I hope.
June 6, 2022
4.5 stars. I really enjoyed both the paper and audio versions of this.
We meet the heroine as a young girl, she is a lonely child, not receiving much attention from her parents and her mother, in particular. Her mother’s cousin always showed a lot of interest in her and has a reputation for being a “wise woman”, perhaps even a witch. This cousin and her old, Victorian era house become more important as the story continues.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but if you like magic and gothic fiction with a little love story off to the side (it’s very much off to the side, but I still enjoyed it bc I’m partial to this), you’d more than likely enjoy this. Especially if you like your fiction on the gentle/classic side, or if you’re in the mood for a cozy suspense read.
I also loved the cat and dog characters in this book. And there is a young character I fell pretty hard for too. Really enjoyed the heroine as well and this book made me wish Mary Stewart was still alive so I could beg her to write a sequel.
I have a feeling I’ll be reading more fiction from this era, and from Mary Stewart in particular.
We meet the heroine as a young girl, she is a lonely child, not receiving much attention from her parents and her mother, in particular. Her mother’s cousin always showed a lot of interest in her and has a reputation for being a “wise woman”, perhaps even a witch. This cousin and her old, Victorian era house become more important as the story continues.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but if you like magic and gothic fiction with a little love story off to the side (it’s very much off to the side, but I still enjoyed it bc I’m partial to this), you’d more than likely enjoy this. Especially if you like your fiction on the gentle/classic side, or if you’re in the mood for a cozy suspense read.
I also loved the cat and dog characters in this book. And there is a young character I fell pretty hard for too. Really enjoyed the heroine as well and this book made me wish Mary Stewart was still alive so I could beg her to write a sequel.
I have a feeling I’ll be reading more fiction from this era, and from Mary Stewart in particular.
November 20, 2023
I fell in love with Mary Stewart's Romantic Suspense novels decades ago when they were serialized in my Mom's magazines. I read all of them I could find on library shelves and eventually collected copies for myself. Her King Arthur stories are also wonderful, but so sad, and I never liked gothic novels so I tended not to read those tales. The problem is, when you've read the ones you love many times over, what do you read next? Recently I decided to branch out and try her other novels, too.
Thornyhold is in the gothic tradition, and at one point I thought the story was going to take a direction I really didn't like. But at heart it's simply tells about one young woman, her childhood and the people she meets when she inherits a house deep in the countryside. There's a little mystery going on and lots of the beautiful descriptive writing Stewart did so well. The first thing I think of when I remember one of her books is the setting - I feel as if I've been to Greece, France, England, or wherever they're set, and this book is no different. I've always suspected that she must have been an amateur naturalist and a gardener, as her descriptions are more detailed than most writers, and are very evocative. While reading this one I was sometimes I was reminded of The Secret Garden.
This will never be my favorite book by Stewart, but I'm very glad I read it. Any time reading with this wonderful author is well spent, and I'm sure I'll want to come back again some day, visit with these characters and tramp these woods again.
Thornyhold is in the gothic tradition, and at one point I thought the story was going to take a direction I really didn't like. But at heart it's simply tells about one young woman, her childhood and the people she meets when she inherits a house deep in the countryside. There's a little mystery going on and lots of the beautiful descriptive writing Stewart did so well. The first thing I think of when I remember one of her books is the setting - I feel as if I've been to Greece, France, England, or wherever they're set, and this book is no different. I've always suspected that she must have been an amateur naturalist and a gardener, as her descriptions are more detailed than most writers, and are very evocative. While reading this one I was sometimes I was reminded of The Secret Garden.
This will never be my favorite book by Stewart, but I'm very glad I read it. Any time reading with this wonderful author is well spent, and I'm sure I'll want to come back again some day, visit with these characters and tramp these woods again.
September 23, 2016
Okay, this is literary guilty pleasure at it's best! I really liked this book, but I think it garners four stars instead of five. Thornyhold encompasses many of my favorite things - England, a black cat, magic, a house with a mysterious past, and a garden! Not quite as polished as Mary Stewart's Arthurian saga, but I still found it to be a very enchanting story!
I know I have many classics on my shelf waiting to be read, but it's summer and this book is simply delicious! And, weren't novels considered a guilty pleasure once upon a time anyway? Go ahead! Get a copy of this book and make it your summer indulgence! I know I plan to read this again next summer, maybe I'll take it to the beach!
I know I have many classics on my shelf waiting to be read, but it's summer and this book is simply delicious! And, weren't novels considered a guilty pleasure once upon a time anyway? Go ahead! Get a copy of this book and make it your summer indulgence! I know I plan to read this again next summer, maybe I'll take it to the beach!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2016
Loved it! Every single page. Brilliant!! It is magical and and offers a great escape. I could see myself reading this again...and I have done that with very few books. It has a cat and dog in the cast of characters, perfect book for me. Checked out from the library but I want my own copy for the bookshelf. It would be so cool if this could be made into a movie. Thornyhold sounds very beautiful and enchanting.
November 6, 2023
Geillis (pronounced GEH-lis) Ramsay has a moderately unhappy childhood in 1930s England, lightened by occasional visits from her mother’s cousin, for whom she was named. Geillis’s father is a clergyman in a dreary colliery town in the north, and her mother is a slightly grim transplanted New Zealander, from the days when that meant “pioneer.” The little girl is lonely and loves animals but is not allowed to keep them as pets. Only her mother’s cousin seems to “get” her, and to allow a little joy into her life. Also a little magic.
Fast-forward to our heroine’s twenties and her parents both die, a few years apart. In the aftermath of World War II, while she is wondering what she will do next (her father’s parsonage will go to the next incumbent, so she is homeless), a letter arrives from a solicitor’s office telling her that her namesake has also died, but has left her a house near the Salisbury Plain. Geillis wastes no time in going there.
Much of the story is about how she settles in, the friends she makes and the challenges she faces. There are those who welcome her arrival and those who don’t, and some mildly threatening things happen around her, keeping her in a state of uncertainty. It’s all fairly low-key, though, and wraps up tidily at the end of this not-very-long book.
The first time I read this story, when it was released in the 1980s, I was disappointed that there wasn’t more to it. This time around I enjoyed it more, perhaps because my expectations were moderate, or perhaps because I’m more attuned to low-key stories nowadays. At any rate, it’s written with Mary Stewart’s usual competence and flair for description of the natural world; it’s a pleasant outing with a soupçon of mystery. There was an instant romance, a Stewart trademark, but I enjoyed Geillis’s relationships with other characters more.
Fast-forward to our heroine’s twenties and her parents both die, a few years apart. In the aftermath of World War II, while she is wondering what she will do next (her father’s parsonage will go to the next incumbent, so she is homeless), a letter arrives from a solicitor’s office telling her that her namesake has also died, but has left her a house near the Salisbury Plain. Geillis wastes no time in going there.
Much of the story is about how she settles in, the friends she makes and the challenges she faces. There are those who welcome her arrival and those who don’t, and some mildly threatening things happen around her, keeping her in a state of uncertainty. It’s all fairly low-key, though, and wraps up tidily at the end of this not-very-long book.
The first time I read this story, when it was released in the 1980s, I was disappointed that there wasn’t more to it. This time around I enjoyed it more, perhaps because my expectations were moderate, or perhaps because I’m more attuned to low-key stories nowadays. At any rate, it’s written with Mary Stewart’s usual competence and flair for description of the natural world; it’s a pleasant outing with a soupçon of mystery. There was an instant romance, a Stewart trademark, but I enjoyed Geillis’s relationships with other characters more.
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