Madam, want to talk about author Mary Stewart? discussion

Discussion for chapters 9 thru 12. Please comment on anything from these chapters, but remember to hide spoilers within a spoiler tag. Please note which chapter a spoiler is from so other readers will know if it is safe to "peek" or not. You do not have to wait until reading all of the chapters to comment, but please restrict your posts to content from chapters 1 thru 12. Enjoy!

Note: I am dividing the read into 5 sections, each 4 chapters long. I may adjust as we go, so check the chapter numbers for each section! :)

End of chapter 11

Nicola sure has guts, (view spoiler)[ slinking off to the shed again in the middle of the night, even after her first encounter this evening with Stratos. I imagine after finding the blood her concern for Mark's welfare will really increase. Are we really to believe Mark was in there? (hide spoiler)]

And Jeannette, as you mentioned earlier, how on earth is this (view spoiler)[ relationship between Nicola and Mark going to develop with him in hiding and her not being able to go to him for fear she might lead the bad guys to him (hide spoiler)]!

End of chapter 10: What would be the motivation (view spoiler)[for keeping Colin alive all this time? Mark won't give up until he finds him, so is it a trap to kill Mark dead this time? (hide spoiler)]

I also wanted to say that I really love the addition of Nicola's cousin, Frances.

Diane Lynn wrote: "End of chapter 11

Nicola sure has guts, [spoilers removed]

And Jeannette, as you mentioned earlier, how on earth is this [spoilers removed]!"

I'll have to comment on this one later. :)

Jeannette wrote: "End of chapter 10: What would be the motivation [spoilers removed]"

Good question. Earlier the bad guys had said (view spoiler)[ to keep him alive because they didn't want another body to deal with. But it seems to me that they now have a live body to deal with, which would be more difficult because you have to feed him and keep him quiet. So there must be some reason, if he is still alive, like a trap that you suggest. (hide spoiler)]

That's what I'm thinking. How telling of the time this book was written that she is so concerned about a 15yo boy. It seems that in our modern-day fiction, he'd be the hero, don't you think?

Diane Lynn wrote: "End of chapter 11

Nicola sure has guts, [spoilers removed]!"

Yikes! (view spoiler)[He's looking in the same places she is. (hide spoiler)]

End of chapter 12, I can't believe (view spoiler)[that they killed Colin. What a horrible conclusion to come to! (hide spoiler)]

Jeannette wrote: "I also wanted to say that I really love the addition of Nicola's cousin, Frances."

Francis makes this book! What a great character. :)

Jeannette wrote: "End of chapter 12, I can't believe [spoilers removed]"

Naively or not, I don't want to believe it ... I'm hoping for a twist.

Ashley wrote: "Jeannette wrote: "End of chapter 12, I can't believe [spoilers removed]"

Naively or not, I don't want to believe it ... I'm hoping for a twist."

I feel the same, Ashley!

Chapter 12 certainly ends on a ghastly note!

After reading a message like that, I had to stay awake last night long enough to get to the end of Chapter 12 and see for myself, Tadiana. And yep, you're not kidding!!

I have read this book a zillion times, but I still can't take some of the parts at one gulp! I tend to put the book down, go find a cup of coffee, come back, read another page or two, go vacuum the living room, come back, read another couple of pages, etc. She packs such heartbreak in these pages!

Chapter 10 -- This (from Frances, of course) made me laugh:

"I knew this would happen someday. No, don't glare at me, I'm only teasing. Well, go on. You've spent the night with a detestable engineer called Mark. It makes a rousing start. Tell all."

And this in Chapter 12:

"That's at least the fourth time you've called him my Mark."

"Well, isn't he?"

"No."

Frances grinned. "I'll try to remember."

Such a telling conversation; it's so obvious that Frances and Nicola have a wonderful relationship!

I thought you might enjoy this video of a real expert in Nepal plying wool thread with a drop spindle. She doesn't even have to think about it. Amazing! I could really understand how Nicola would be mesmerized by Sophia's spinning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUodk...

This second video is of a woman in Romania. She's using a distaff and is spinning carded wool. This is the first round of spinning. Plying is a second step that spins two threads together to strengthen them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShSIO...

Karlyne wrote: "Such a telling conversation; it's so obvious that Frances and Nicola have a wonderful relationship!"

I love that conversation, too. Frances is a delight--level headed, practical, with a great sense of humor and she knows Nicola so well.

Oh, gee, I am in Chapter 12 and reading above, I have to finish it tonight. I don't remember anything ghastly but it has been a long time since I read it. I just got to the scene I remembered so well and it wasn't as scary as I remember it being. I am finding that I really did not remember this book very well at all, so I am enjoying it like a book I haven't read before, well, almost. I do think I remember the ending.

Hi Bobbie, Welcome! Nothing ghastly so far (and I've heard the rest is pretty clean). It's been at least 30 years since I've read it too and I'm amused at how my viewpoint has changed over the decades.

Hana wrote: "I thought you might enjoy this video of a real expert in Nepal plying wool thread with a drop spindle. She doesn't even have to think about it. Amazing! I could really understand how Nicola would b..."

"Drop spinning": amazing ingenuity!

Hana wrote: "This second video is of a woman in Romania. She's using a distaff and is spinning carded wool. This is the first round of spinning. Plying is a second step that spins two threads together to streng..."

I've only ever seen spinning done with a wheel! I find it amazing that we are so in the dark about so much of what used to go on (and still does in some places) in order to be clothed. If all of the machines ground to a halt, what would we do? I do know of a few sheep farmers who spin, but not many! And then, once you've got the yarn (hours and hours and hours) and have dyed it (hours and hours and hours), can you imagine knitting all of your own clothes? Simply amazing!

Karlyne wrote: "If all of the machines ground to a halt, what would we do?..." I've thought of that more than a few times! I could grow my own food and probably figure out how to milk a cow but I'd be clueless about all the other survival skills.

Hana wrote: "Karlyne wrote: "If all of the machines ground to a halt, what would we do?..." I've thought of that more than a few times! I could grow my own food and probably figure out how to milk a cow but I'd..."

I used to think about this, mostly after reading The Day of the Triffids and other books by John Wyndham. I think we'd be in trouble, mainly because society would break down. But even if I were safe in the countryside I doubt I'd be able to feed myself.

I would be pretty well off, comparatively, if society broke down, I think: my husband is a hunter, we have a large vegetable garden, and we live in a smaller town near open country. It would be rough, but I think we'd make it. :)

Funny that you mentioned Day of the Triffids, HJ! I was thinking about that after I posted my comment. Good for you, Tadiana! (aka Katniss Everdeen and Gale :D)

Another coincidence....Day Of The Triffids is one I brought back with me on this last trip. Haven't read it in years and it winked at me when I was moving things around on the shelf. ;-))

Here the older people can still walk out in the countryside and recognize which 'weeds' are good to eat and know how to fix them, and some still know how to make clothes from the leaves of the maguey. But the younger people are not interested such things, so it won't be long before that knowledge is lost. If society truly broke down, the whole cycle of experimenting and discovery would have to start all over again.

Debbie where is 'here' and what is a maguey?

I'm sorry, Susan. I was talking in shorthand again, leaving out details! I live in central Mexico, a couple of hours southeast of Mexico City. And a maguey is like an aloe vera. Here is a wiki article about them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_a...

A friend of ours gave us a little one a couple of years ago and it is already two feet across!

Thanks Debbie - it is really great to know where folk are!! I have only visited Mexico when cruising with my husband. It sounds very exotic!
We visited Tulum many years ago - (absolutely fantastic!) and Acapulco 5 years ago (not fantastic I'm afraid, but the museum was great!) and we also went to Cabo San Lucas where we saw Whales!!
The Maguey looks amazing - we have nothing like that here in Scotland!

Tadiana ✩ Night Owl☽ wrote: "I would be pretty well off, comparatively, if society broke down, I think: my husband is a hunter, we have a large vegetable garden, and we live in a smaller town near open country. It would be rou..."

It sounds obvious to point out, but rural dwellers just have more resources available to them. I've even thought about water; can you imagine what would happen to New York City if the water ran out or was poisoned and there was no way to truck anymore in? But we have a pure river and creeks within walking distance and almost everyone around here has a garden and pantry and hunts and fishes. It would be lean times, but we'd probably survive, too!

Loving the flora descriptions

Like everyone else, I'm enjoying Frances. I like this description especially: "The only things she cannot stand are cruelty and pretentiousness. I adore her." Says plenty about both her and narrating Nicola!

But my, what a girl Nicola is! Swimming in mid-April! (Chapter 12)

And what a writer Mary Stewart is! She conveys that wonderful sense of refreshment after a sleepless night so well. I can feel the sting of cold water, can feel the salt drying on my skin in the sun. Light on the water, brilliant flashes of tiny fish, undulating sea anemones; the pale, pale aquamarine of the Mediterranean Sea.

Elizabeth wrote: "But my, what a girl Nicola is! Swimming in mid-April! (Chapter 12)

And what a writer Mary Stewart is! She conveys that wonderful sense of refreshment after a sleepless night so well. I can feel th..."

Yes - always so evocative and authentic!

Spoilers thread for Chapters 9 to 12.