Fans of D. E. Stevenson discussion

My favorite is The Four Graces. I don't know how many times I've read it, and the characters are as real in my memory as old friends.

I haven't read 'The Four Graces' yet. My favorite so far is 'The Young Clementina'. I guess my second favorite is 'Listening Valley'.

I love Listening Valley too! She mentions the characters from that book in one of the other books....Anna and Her Daughters, maybe? I love it when she does that. I like to know what else happened in their lives after the book ended.

Another favorite is Miss Buncle's Book. Have you read that?

There are characters in'Listening Valley' that also appear in'Celia's House' (another good one). No, I haven't read 'Miss Bundle's Book'.

I have read 'The Two Mrs Abbots', which is a continuation of 'Miss Buncle's Book', but I haven't found a copy of 'Miss Buncke's Book' yet.

Sorry about the bad spelling - I wish I could turn auto spell off. Haven't found a way to do that yet.

Miss Buncle's book is great. I've now got an audio version. Just manage to find Katherine's Marriage which is really good.

I think Miss Buncle's Book is in a class by itself. Out of the others I have read so far I would say The House on the Cliff.

It's difficult to pinpoint a favorite because I love so many. Having recently read Katherine Wentworth and The Marriage of Katherine I suppose I could say my current favorite is:

I've been reading some of the D.E. Stevenson books still available in my library system. Just finished Smouldering Fire which I loved! And I've just begun The English Air.

The D.E. Stevenson website has some great information on it. http://destevenson.org/

There's a great list that shows which books have links to other of her books. To find it click on "Books" and then on "World of DES."

I just finished listening to "Charlotte Fairlie on Audible.com. It was very good. Several of the D.E. Stevenson books are available there. Some are also available on Kindle.

I've now read both "Miss Buncle's Book" and "Miss Buncle Married". I loved them both.

Patti wrote: "I've now read both "Miss Buncle's Book" and "Miss Buncle Married". I loved them both."

Patti, the next two in the Miss Buncle series will be published by Sourcebooks Landmark this year, The Two Mrs. Abbotts on Jan 7, 2014 and The Four Graces in July.


I'm so thrilled to see these wonderful books back in print!

It started out 'The English Air', then became 'Miss Buncle's Book'. But of course I still love 'The English Air'. Found out that it has just been republished! Came out today, or just recently. I bought my used copy long ago, but know they can be tough to get hold of nowadays. So glad it will be more available now.

Miss Buncle Married, is being discussed right now in the Yahoo D. E. Stevenson discussion group. : ) I only just stumbled across this group today. There are probably 150 to 200 members in the Yahoo group. Just a guess. But it's a great place too, if anyone here wants to join in there as well. Can't say how excited I am that more and more people are discovering her. I've probably read all her books several times and a lot of my favorites, more than 6 or 8 times each. My adult daughter and I have one of them as a read aloud, going all the time. : )

Hi Julie, I always love it when I run across another D.E. Stevenson fan. I've been collecting her books for years and dearly love re-reading them.

I haven't read many D.E. Stevenson books, yet. Miss Buncle's Book is my current favorite. I'm looking forward to reading Young Clementina and Listening Valley soon.
I love the covers of the Sourcebooks editions, and hope they continue to add more of her titles. I am especially curious to read The Empty World, as it is her one foray into Science Fiction, but have not yet found an affordable copy.

My favorite is often the one I read last. Blue Sapphire would be the one. Next week it may be different.

Blue Sapphire was the first D. E. Stevenson that I read. I was probably 14 or 15. It was the only one they had in the high school library. I totally agree that the favorite is usually the most recently read.

I have come to value all my DE Stevenson books as treasures in my personal library, and only need a few more to complete that valued collection. Why do I value her writing so much? It’s because, far from being banal romances, each book also serves as a very clever commentary on the signs of her times.
In D. E. Stevenson’s novels, perceptive views of various periods in British life are told through stories featuring characters who seem simple at first, but who grow and expand incrementally through the pages. To be sure, there are always couples who “fall in love;” however, they do so by recognizing affinities between themselves, which the reader, too, understands, having followed the characters’ inner maturation through the book.
For example, DE Stevenson’s The English Air, written in 1939 and first published in 1940, is not really a romance at all, but an absorbing description of how the beginning of WW II was experienced by a small-town English family and their German visitor.
Enlarged enjoyment of DES’s writing is found in her descriptive imagery that brings the British countryside to life, so that even readers from different environments may experience a clear sense of place and time.
Having to endure living in this confounding contemporary period (2020), I’m rereading D.E Stevensons’ books to steep my mind in her reassuringly warm view of human values.

Bea wrote: "I have come to value all my DE Stevenson books as treasures in my personal library..."

Bea, I do also. And like you have been revisiting Stevenson's books. I like how you put it, "to steep my mind in her reassuringly warm view of human values."

Me too. I live in the U.K. Above a South west harbour and when I read Sarah Morris remembers I actually stopped and looked out of the window into the harbour when she described the preparations for the invasion. D E Stevenson's characters become very real. I also love the humour. Does anyone know how auto biographical Miss Buncle is?

I kind of love them all. They've been so soothing during the past four years of misery and upheaval. I've read all the Miss Buncle books. I liked The House on the Cliff as well. And Vittoria Cottage, Music in the Hills, Bel Lamington/Fletcher's End...all good.

Bea, I love your description of D,E, Stevenson's writing. Tessiebear, I believe I read somewhere that the Mrs. Tim books are more autobiographical. I need to double check that. I've loved all her books but of course, some more than others. When I first started reading her books, I had access to only a few that were my mom's. I've read Listening Valley, Shoulder the Sky and Mrs. Tim Christie multiple times and they are favorites of mine.
Pamela, I also loved The House on the Cliff. I'm like you in that I love all the ones I've read. They are my comfort reads. Young Mrs. Savage is one that I haven't read in a few years but I remember loving it.

Wow, Michele, I hadn't heard of Young Mrs. Savage. Not on Kindle (oddly it is on audio). The hardcover is going for over $1k! I may reread the Miss Buncle books; it's been years.

PS: I just read Spring Magic and it was charming.

Vittoria Cottage, Music in the Hills, and then Winter and Rough Weather are good to read as a series.

Pamela wrote: "Wow, Michele, I hadn't heard of Young Mrs. Savage. Not on Kindle (oddly it is on audio). The hardcover is going for over $1k!..."

Yikes, that's a lot!

Her books certainly do seem to be pricey, particularly ones that haven't been reissued. I'm grateful I became a fan years ago and slowly collected most of them over the years. It's great there's been such an interest in re-releasing many of them, wish all of them were available that way.

I fell in love with Stevenson through the Miss Buncle books. I've never read the Mrs. Tim books, but loved the Drumberly trilogy and The Four Graces. The Empty World (her only attempt at dystopian fiction) was quite a surprise when I discovered it last year. I've been pleased that many of her titles have become available cheaply for Kindle. That's how I read Five Windows, another favorite.

Hope wrote: "I fell in love with Stevenson through the Miss Buncle books. I've never read the Mrs. Tim books, but loved the Drumberly trilogy and The Four Graces. The Empty World (her only attempt at dystopian ..."

Miss Buncle was the first one I read, and I read a paperback edition to shreds. But as a navy daughter and Air Force wife, I have a lot of reasons to feel very connected to Mrs Tim, and they are probably most often reads through the years.

But my favorites to listen to when I'm blue are Spring Magic and Four Graces.

I'll put Spring Magic on my TBR list!

I love the Miss Buncle series. I've never read Five Windows. I remember loving Spring Magic but it has been a long time since I read it.

My mom passed away 3 years ago and not only read every D.E. Stevenson book but she also owned every book. I recently cleaned out my parent's house and found all the books! My mom also went to Scotland years ago and met the author's granddaughter.

What a treasure trove you have, Karen!

I actually have never read any of her books. I will read a few and give some to friends as a remembrance to my mom. The rest I'm donating.