Madam, want to talk about author Mary Stewart? discussion

Please feel free to start a thread on any specific book here.

I am half way through The Ivy Tree and it has me chewing finger nails down to elbows.

I just finished Touch not the Cat. It took forever to see where she was going with it but what a finish. My my my.

hahaha - reading life is good so transpose 'reading' for 'travelling' in this classic song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang -

This is livin', this is style, this is elegance by the mile
Oh the posh posh traveling life, the traveling life for me

Onto my second MS ever, Airs Above the Ground, which has started off just fine and dandy.

:O)

I've got My Brother Michael waiting on the hold shelf at the library. Apparently it's set in Greece. I love these exotic locations and how she describes them. Moon Spinners was great, and I've also requested the DVD with Hayley Mills to see how that is.

Somewhere(!) in my storage boxes I have Moonspinners and have ordered the film through an amazon marketplace seller. It is the one that I most wish to read.

:O)

Bettie wrote: "I am half way through The Ivy Tree and it has me chewing finger nails down to elbows. "

Yes, this is one of her best. It keeps you on pins and needles all the way through. How far are you?

Every time I read this,I think I need to find a recipe for Singin Hinnys, too.

Misfit wrote: "I just finished Touch not the Cat. It took forever to see where she was going with it but what a finish. My my my.

"

I know! I think that is why this is my favorite. It is different from anything else you've ever read.

Bettie wrote: "Onto my second MS ever, Airs Above the Ground, which has started off just fine and dandy.

:O)"

Its a good one! You guys are making me want to fish out my Mary Stewart books and re-read them all! its been a while, maybe I'll have to do that :)

Bettie wrote: "I am half way through The Ivy Tree and it has me chewing finger nails down to elbows. "

I just started rereading The Ivy Tree last night! Con and Mary's introduction was fantastic. I'd be more apt to run from Con or kick him where it hurts most if he said those things to me (although I guess it doesn't hurt to be a good looking angry Irishman!). I loved Stewart's descriptions of Mary's surroundings. That was one of her fortes as a writer -- to be able to paint a vivid word picture of a place for the reader. I could almost transport myself to Northumbria and lay my hands against Hadrian's wall. To end this little Stewart squee, I really enjoy the quotes and poety she uses as chapter headings. I can't remember if she did this with all her books (I do know she quoted Shakespeare's The Tempest throughout "This Rough Magic"), and in the Ivy Tree she appears to be quoting old English ballads/poetry from northern England.

About the quotes: I can't remember either, but it seems like she did do that a lot.

Annie wrote: "Bettie wrote: "I am half way through The Ivy Tree and it has me chewing finger nails down to elbows. "

Yes, this is one of her best. It keeps you on pins and needles all the way ..."

I got online and found a recipe for Singin Hinnies (remember Lisa is taking them out of the oven when Con brings (whats her name!?) home for the first time. She just about scares the life out of Lisa because she knows what they are.

Here it is, if anyone's interested.

Singing Hinnies


Author/Submitted by:
Servings: 24
Categories: Cookies / Desserts


Ingredients:
1/2 cup Currants or raisins
2 1/2 cups Flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking powder
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1/3 cup Butter
1 Egg, beaten
1 cup Sour cream
1/2 Lemon rind, grated

Directions:
Dredge the currants in 2 tablespoons flour. Sift remaining flour with dry ingredients. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix egg with 1 tablespoon water and add to flour along with sour cream, currants and lemon rind. Mix well. Divide dough into 24 balls. Flatten to 1/2-inch thick rounds. Bake on a greased cookie sheet in a 425^ oven about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden. To serve: reheat until warm, split and serve with creme fraiche (the traditional clotted cream is hard to obtain) topped with a dollop of strawberry preserves. Variation: add 1/2 cup minced crystallized ginger to the dough along with the currants. Makes 24 scones Scones, popular throughout Scotland, Ireland and northern England, are a particular teatime favorite. Scottish literature is full of references to "souple scones," and one writer goes so far as to recommend such cakes for "beauty to the skin and sweet- ness to the temper." The Singing Hinnies are an English variety that take their name from the way they are supposed to have sizzled when cooked over an open fire. FROM: Orange County Magazine, October 1990 Food & Wine RT [*:] Category 6, Topic 22 Message 12 Thu Dec 26, 1991 J.APPLEBURY [Jim & Deb:] at 01:43 EST MM by QBTOMM and Sylvia Steiger, GEnie THE.STEIGERS, CI$ 71511,2253, GT Cookbook echo moderator, net/node 004/005

Thanks, Annie! Before I read through the entire recipe (just the ingredients), I was thinking that Singin Hinnies sounded like scones...and then I saw that they WERE scones!

I've made scones a couple of times now - sometimes successfully, sometimes not so successfully. My very first batch could have been used for hockey pucks......I have gotten better :^/

I have an awesome scone recipe:

Simple Scones
Mix: 2 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/3c. sugar
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
Grate 1 stick frozen butter into flour
With fingers, press and work butter into the flour until it resembles coarse meal
Stir in 1/2 c. raisins
Whisk together: 1/2 c. sour cream
1 large egg
Stir into flour with a fork until large clumps form
Finish quickly with hands, pressing dough into side of bowl until a large ball forms
Pat into 7 - 8" circle on a lightly floured surface
Sprinkle with 1 t. sugar.
Cut into 8 pie-shaped wedges.
Place 1 " apart on parchment paper or foil lined baking sheet.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 - 17 minutes or until golden brown.

Variations:
Cranberry Orange: 1 generous t. orange zest and substitute dried cranberries for raisins
Lemon Blueberry: 1 generous t. lemon zest and sub. dried blueberries
Cherry Almond: Add 1 t. almond extract to sour cream, sub. dried cherries

The cherry almond variation is moaning good!

Jan wrote: "I have an awesome scone recipe:..."

Yummers! Thanks, Jan! The cranberry orange variation sounds best to me. I usually put cranberries or dried cherries in mine 'cause I like the zing~

Hannahr wrote: "Jan wrote: "I have an awesome scone recipe:..."

Yummers! Thanks, Jan! The cranberry orange variation sounds best to me. I usually put cranberries or dried cherries in mine 'cause I like the z..."

Yes, I do love scones.! The singin hinnies recipe I posted is baked, like scones, but I found a lot that are fried, like pancakes. I think I'm going to try both just to see which I like best.

Stop this! Both of you! You will get me eating things the doctor will not be happy to hear about :o

Misfit wrote: "Stop this! Both of you! You will get me eating things the doctor will not be happy to hear about :o"

LOL! Self-control, Misfit...self-control....

I agree, I agree Misfit, I am on diet and swimming 6km/week!!!

I just started "Nine Coaches Waiting" this evening. This is the first Mary Stewart book I'm reading. So far, I'm very impressed. The setting and the pacing and the impending sense of doom is very intriguing. I'm only about a quarter of the way through the book and I'm already so... worried. I hope nothing bad happens to poor little Philippe.

I love the way she incorporated the mists into the story, it added such a great bit of spookiness.

"Out into a patch of clear darkness, and then another cloud was on us, but this time thin, so that our yellow-dimmed lights made rainbows in it that wisped away along our wings, and we were through."

I wasn't quite sure where to post this, but I just found this article about MS:

http://pictorial.jezebel.com/i-cant-s...

I haven't even finished reading it yet myself--wanted to share. :)

Very nice, thank you!

I've been reading through the comments of the discussion about This Rough Magic and I really don't know where to jump in at. The discussions seem to be one to two years old. An I missing something? Is there a current buddy read for this book? Anyway, I'm reading This Rough Magic right now and I love it. I'm on chapter 11. The dolphin is wonderful and adds so much to the story. I can see him playfully introduce himself to Lucy. I love when they swim together. I guess enchanting is the word I want. :) Enjoying Enjoying!

Katherine wrote: "I've been reading through the comments of the discussion about This Rough Magic and I really don't know where to jump in at. The discussions seem to be one to two years old. An I missing something?..."

This is my favourite so far of MS's books, but I've loaned my copy out! So can't really discuss, but I do remember being on the edge of my seat at the finale!

☆ Ｃａｒｏｌ ☆ wrote: "Katherine wrote: "I've been reading through the comments of the discussion about This Rough Magic and I really don't know where to jump in at. The discussions seem to be one to two years old. An I ..."

:)

Katherine wrote: "I've been reading through the comments of the discussion about This Rough Magic and I really don't know where to jump in at. The discussions seem to be one to two years old. An I missing something?..."

We did do a buddy read a couple of years ago. Feel free to jump in those threads, or start one of your own in book discussions.

Peggy wrote: "I wasn't quite sure where to post this, but I just found this article about MS:

http://pictorial.jezebel.com/i-cant-s...

I haven't even finis..."

Thank you for sharing.

Peggy wrote: "I wasn't quite sure where to post this, but I just found this article about MS:

http://pictorial.jezebel.com/i-cant-s...

I haven't even finis..."

Nice! It did make me laugh, though, that the author hadn't read all all of her books!

Jan wrote: "I have an awesome scone recipe:

Simple Scones
Mix: 2 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/3c. sugar
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
Grate 1 stick frozen butter into flour
With fingers, press and work..."

love all the "singing hinnies" recipes! thanks!

Moonspinners is still my top favorite book and movie!

Michelle wrote: "Moonspinners is still my top favorite book and movie!"

Was it the first one that you read? I think Madam, Will You Talk was my first (although I'm not sure!), and it still remains my favorite.

Moonspinners was my first MS novel. I picked it up in my school library, and I was too young to really appreciate it at the time (I liked adventure novels just fine, but romance reading wasn't even on my radar yet). Eventually I found my way back to it and appreciated it much more on second read. But I don't think I read any other MS books until I was a college sophomore and had a roommate who adored her books and was collecting all of them, and shared them with me. The rest, as they say, is history.

Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "Moonspinners was my first MS novel. I picked it up in my school library, and I was too young to really appreciate it at the time (I liked adventure novels just fine, but romance reading wasn't even..."

Aren't you glad your history includes Mary Stewart?!?

So much! My life wouldn't be the same without Mary Stewart! She's had a huge influence on my reading tastes.

This Rough Magic was my first MS read, then Moonspinners - first saw it as a film and then read the book. Along with Georgette Heyer whom I started reading about the same time (13), she has been one of favourites ever since.
Is it time for another Buddy read Tadiana?

You know, I think it is! I'll drop a note in the Buddy Reads thread.

Nine coaches waiting was my first and it is also my favourite, I read it in Arabic when I was 12 years old, I found the copy in my grand parents place and later I couldn't find any of her novels in French or Arabic I had to wait till 2015 the year I started reading in English to read more of her's.

I think Nine Coaches was my second MS book, and it's still my favorite after all these years.

Sana wrote: "Nine coaches waiting was my first and it is also my favourite, I read it in Arabic when I was 12 years old, I found the copy in my grand parents place and later I couldn't find any of her novels in..."

I'm so glad that you didn't forget her!

My top two are The Ivy Tree and Wildfire At Midnight. I think Ivy Tree is technically better, but Wildfire At Midnight is just whodunit perfection - I so want to be a stunningly beautiful yet somewhat solitary model who goes for gloomy holidays alone in the Scottish mountains and is menaced by murderers.

Annabel wrote: "My top two are The Ivy Tree and Wildfire At Midnight. I think Ivy Tree is technically better, but Wildfire At Midnight is just whodunit perfection - I so want to be a stunningly beautiful yet somewhat..."

Hahahaha! I'm looking forward to our read of Wildfire! :)

Annabel wrote: "My top two are The Ivy Tree and Wildfire At Midnight. I think Ivy Tree is technically better, but Wildfire At Midnight is just whodunit perfection - I so want to be a stunningly beautiful yet somew..."

The Ivy Tree was one of my first grown-up mysteries, and it had me in shock for days! I still love to re-read it and pick up on the clues I missed that first time.
And our family loves to whisper "Gianetta... Gianetta..." whenever we're feeling spooky!

I love The Ivy Tree also. I did the same thing, Karlyne, went back and reread it to look for clues. Great book.

Bobbie wrote: "I love The Ivy Tree also. I did the same thing, Karlyne, went back and reread it to look for clues. Great book."

My favorites switch places as I re-read them, but The Ivy Tree, Wildfire at Midnight, and Madam, Will You Talk are always in my top three!

I have read all her books in the past, and I forget nearly everything, but I do recall, in the past, loving This Rough Magic, My Brother Michael, Touch Not the Cat,, and The Ivy Tree, et al.
Right now, I am still rereading a Victoria Holt and seem to have been deserted by that group.
I also read and review other genres, so my reading is slow, but thorough.

We made singin' hinnies Sunday morning (along with candied bacon, the perfect accompaniment)!

I also found Rose Cottage at my new little library where they don't throw anything away (hooray!) and read it again. I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed it, since I remembered it as being rather slow!

I never finished Rose Cottage or Stormy Petrel as they seemed so much weaker than her others. But am I wrong? I hope so! It would be lovely to have two more to read.

Annabel wrote: "I never finished Rose Cottage or Stormy Petrel as they seemed so much weaker than her others. But am I wrong? I hope so! It would be lovely to have two more to read."

I enjoyed Rose Cottage. It is not as suspenseful but still quite a lovely story, I thought, but not my favorite. As for Stormy Petrel, I finished it but I agree with you about it being much weaker than the others. I was rather disappointed in it's conclusion. Otherwise, I am a great Mary Stewart fan.