TBR Challenge: Mary Stewart - Airs Above the Ground

Lovely Vanessa March, two years married and very much in love, did not think it was a strange for her husband to take a business trip to Stockholm. What was strange was the silence that followed. She never thought to look for her missing husband in Vienna -- until she saw him in a newsreel shot there at the scene of a deadly fire. Then she caught a glimpse of him in a newsreel shot of a crowd near a mysterious circus fire and knew it was more than strange. It was downright sinister.
Vanessa is propelled to Vienna by the shocking discovery. In her charge is young Timothy Lacy, who also has urgent problems to solve. But her hunt for answers only leads to more sinister questions in a mysterious world of white stallions of Vienna. But what promises to be no more than a delicate personal mission turns out to involve the security forces of three countries, two dead men, a circus and its colourful personnel. And what waits for Vanessa in the shadows is more terrifying than anything she has ever encountered.

Comment: October is here and with it, another TBR Challenge post. The theme for this month is Gothic which, to be honest, isn't one I would pick on my own. Nothing against it, but it's not a type of story I tend to find suits me completely. So, I browsed my bookshelves, trying to see if I could fit anything and this book caught my attention - I had read something already by the author - and after checking GR, I saw many readers labeled it Gothic, along with romantic suspense and mystery. Voilá, I thought.

In this book we meet young Vanessa Marsh, while she sits with a family friend at Harrods and said friend, after a long conversation, finally ends up asking her to travel with her son Timothy to Vienna. Vanessa is surprised by this request but the friend explains she saw Vanessa's husband on the newsreel and would she not travel there to meet him and, as a favor, Timothy could go too, to join his father? This was delivered with a little malice but Vanessa is intrigued and after finding the newsreel, she does confirm to herself it is her husband...the problem is that he sent her a telegram from Sweden, therefore how could he be in Vienna? Vanessa decides to use the presence of Timothy as an excuse in case she discovers nothing, but she does plan her travel to Vienna....

I'll start right away by confessing this book has been for years in the pile because it's set in Vienna. This is my dream destination to travel before I die and had I got the company (I'm too shy to go alone) I would have gone there already. I'm not obsessed with all things Vienna, but I always have my antennae up, lol, when the city is mentioned and thus, this book's presence in the shelf.

I had read the author's work before, two short stories actually and I found that shorter size perfect for the type of story the author had created. Since the books date to the 1960s, some certain prose style is to be expected but I was still a little surprised by how... slow paced several parts of this book seemed to be. The writing style is very specific, as I've experienced with the other book I read, this one also took me some time to get used to - mostly because the wording/language are a little dated and English isn't my mother tongue, but the key moments took quite a while to be reached...

The plot is both clever and easy to follow, as the protagonists go from one situation to another. I'd say the big flaw for me here is the pace. What worked so well in the short stories seemed to fail for me in this full length story. It took time to set up things, to present them in a way that would mean it was believable for the characters to act a certain way, but I found that between key situations, time was passing by, there were many descriptions of actions and steps taken and I must bow my head and confess I was bored during some of these moments.

I know this is a talented author but there were times I just wish things would happen. When they did, they followed the pattern I came to expect from this author's work (a lot settling on convenience and people's social behavior in the 60s) and not much on believability of motive. With this I mean that the reason why the villain was doing his, well, evil deeds, was to expect but the way he went about it... obviously only in a time without easy communication mechanisms, such as a cell phone or a computer. Still, things were found somehow, even for the "good guys".

Vanessa is the main character. I liked several of her attitudes and I think she was quite brave to want to find out exactly what her husband was hiding from her. If there is one thing the author clearly does well is to allow the reader to guess things, to read between the lines...although I must say there is one scene here that in a movie would be perfect but reading through it was impossible for the result to be as amazing as I think the author wanted it to be. Nevertheless, for an attentive reader, the big mystery isn't such a surprise.

I did like all the Vienna references, the inclusion of the Spanish Riding School horses and how they are trained and special and even scenes with veterinary work and other animal related content was interesting to read about. I think the construction of the story and the eye for so much detail did help making this a special story.

The Gothic element isn't as strong as I would imagine, thinking this can be a label given to the book. There's suspense and some scarier moments, especially experienced by the heroine, but when I think of gothic I think more of darker and moody scenes than what we have here but I suppose this can be subjective.

The book ends positively, as one can imagine from this author but I still think some things were left too much into the whole "read between the lines". Fine, this is how things are and perhaps there's a bit of social context here playing a part too, not that I mind it in general, but I do think there was a lot of paragraphs dedicated to describing things which could have been dealt with more quickly and then when some important things - in my POV - should have been more detailed, they weren't.

This aside, I still enjoyed a big part of this book. I'll certainly try another one one day, to keep comparing, and I won't forget the Vienna descriptions but as for the fictional aspects, perhaps this wasn't a full win for me.

Grade: 6/10

Mary Stewart - The Wind Off the Small Isles and The Lost One

Mary Stewart’s new story is lit with the special magic of people and of place that are the hallmarks of a famous author’s best work. In a series of deft brushtrokes she brings her heroine, Perdita—a beautiful twenty-three year old—to vivid life. A secretary to the redoutable children’s novelist, Cora Gresham, Perdita’s job carries her to the Canary Islands in search of local colour for a new masterpiece, and a peaceful house in which to write it.
But the house is already occupied—once by the past, and the haunting memory of what happened there a century ago; and now by its present owners—very much alive—a famous playwright and his research assistant, Michael. In the fierce beauty of the volcanic landscape, in the persons of Perdita and Michael, past and present meet, violently. The weird, semi-deserted island of Lanzarote is the scene for the collision which reshapes the lives of the young lovers, as it did a hundred years ago.

Comment: I purchased this book after seeing a bargain in one of the sites where I usually buy books. I already had a book by this author in my TBR list but since this was at a good price, I ordered it. I confess I didn't investigate well and was surprised it was such a small book but now that I have read it, I couldn't imagine it differently.

In this book we have two novellas by author Mary Stewart.  The common detail between the two is that the protagonist is the same in both novellas but apart from that there doesn't seem to exist any other connection and I couldn't "see" how much time must have existed between the events of one novella to the other but that didn't seem to matter much.

In the first novella, the protagonist Perdita West - who works as a secretary to a writer - sees herself on the isle of Lanzarote with her employer, so she can find some inspiration. However, Perdita is the one discovering quite a surprise.

In the second novella, Perdita is driving with her mother in the next seat and their car has some issues and breaks down. They are in a quite isolated area but they seem to glimpse a light and when they close to it they find a house and think they get help. The house, however, seems to be empty until they finally meet the family inside but there isn't much sympathy from the occupants...

This was the first book I've tried by this author. She is a recognized name among the romance readers and it seems her style and stories have many fans. I was quite curious to discover more about her type of books and starting with this shorter novellas seemed to be a good idea, especially because her prose is beautiful and a pleasure to read.

The author has a talent to write in a way that even a small sentence feels richer and more complete than many other full length books. The writing style is appealing and feels complex as if every little detail had the upmost importance possible for our understanding. At the same time, this means it can be difficult to follow some things we if don't pay attention to everything. I got the feeling this author uses all the words in an necessary manner, and nothing is there just to fill up space, all sentences have a purpose.

There are two stories in this volume and Perdita, the protagonist, is the common thread. I have not investigated to see when each was published so I could understand the timeline of both stories regarding Perdita's life. I also think this is only a minor detail but it would be interesting to know, that's all.

Both stories seem to have a suspense feel to them, and I think the author has conveyed this "urgency" feel that something would happen if one kept reading. I liked this aspect and thinking about it, it's probably the element that allows the stories to hold our interest the most.

The first novella is set on the Spanish island of Lanzarote and focuses on a tale about two lovers who eloped and the girl was from a rich family but they have never heard from her again. Perdita manages to discover what happened while we, the reader, follow along while fearing Perdita might be stuck in an underwater cave.

The second story is set in England and shows Perdita and her mother looking for help in a house after their car broke down. At first, the house seems empty but when they realize it was not, the atmosphere is tensed and weird. 

I thought both stories were intriguing, I preferred the whimsical idea of the first one but the second gave me the creeps for a while and I can't imagine going alone in the dark to a foreign house not knowing if I could find help. Nevertheless, both offer intrigue, adventure and a certain secretive feel that can be quite captivating.

As a first attempt, I must say I like the writing style, I liked the characterization... but it shows this author was writing decades ago. This is not a critic per se, only an observation. I do think the stories aren't easy to focus on initially but after a while it becomes easier especially if one gets used to the prose. I'll definitely read more by her in the future.

Grade: 8/10