Madam, Will You Talk? [Hardcover]

Mary Stewart (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Fawcett World Library (1961)
• ASIN: B000U51TC8
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,112,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mart Stewart, one of the most popular novelists writing today, was born in Sunderland, County Durham, England. After boarding-school, she recieved a B.A. with first class honors in English Language and Literature from Durham University and went on for her M.A. Later she returned to her own University as a Lecturer in English. She married in 1945. Her husband is Sir Frederick Stewart, who is Chairman of the Geology Department at Edinburgh University, and a Fellow of the Royal Society.Mary Stewart's career as a novelist began in 1954 with the publication of Madam, Will You Talk? Since then she has published fifteen successful novels, including The Last Enchantment, the third book of the magical trilogy about the legendary enchanter Merlin and young Arthur. Her books for young readers, The Little Broomstick (1971) and Ludo and the Star Horse (1974), quickly met with the same success as her other novels. In 1968, she was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. In 1971, the Scottish Chapter of the International PEN Association awarded her the Frederick Niven prize for the The Crystal Cave. In 1974, the Scottish Arts Council Award went to Ludo and the Star Horse.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Madam Still Talks the Talk, June 6, 2002

By 

Diana F. Von Behren "reneofc" (Kenner, LA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Madam Will You Talk (Mass Market Paperback)

As I have always wondered why the BBC has not produced any of Ms. Stewart's wonderful novels as mini-series for public television, I cannot help but imagine how media rich such a production would be. Case in point, Ms. Stewart's first work of suspense fiction: "Madam Will You Talk?" Her heroine, Charity Shelbourne is instantly likeable--a WW2 war widow who lovingly carries a framed photo of Johnny, her fallen RAF pilot in her suitcase,gladly expends time from her own holiday to entertain a lonely 14-year-old boy and honestly is confident enough about her own looks to admit when another woman is breathtakingly beautiful. True to her name and her noble instincts, Charity plunges unwittingly yet rather intelligently into a post war intrigue involving the estranged boy, his agressively tenacious father and the boy's lovely yet frightened stepmother using all the wit and willpower that made the British so heroically stoic through WW2. The characters play against the lush backdrop of the walled hilltop villages of Avignon and Nimes and eventually the cosmopolitan splendour/squallor of Marseilles which we see, smell and hear from the passenger side of Charity's car in a chase sequence more harrowingly memorable than that in the film "The French Connection". Ms . Stewart delivers not only a nicely summed up tale of greed and murder, but neatly fills Charity's emotional void and our own as she allows Charity to utilize Johnny's devil-may-care driving tips, rebel savvy and masculine assuredity through each twist of the plot on her way to finding her way in the world without him while opening her heart to someone else. She is a woman all women want to be: vulnerable yet indispensible. The essential ingredients are all there for a most wonderful episodic film about a wily 20th century woman--get those cameras rolling! Highly recommended, especially in the unabridged audio format.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a literary romance, March 12, 2002

By 

explorerdog (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Madam Will You Talk (Mass Market Paperback)

I first read Mary Stewart as a teenager with her Merlin series, and it left such an impression on me that when I recently saw at a library book sale that she had other books I immediately picked them all up. Stewart is a master writer (and I didn't know she published in the 50's) who informs you as she writes, with eloquent references to geography, literature, and art. The story is about an attractive heroine who is thrown into close quarters with a man who may or may not be a murderer, who wants her to divulge the location of his young son. Like a play with a cast of characters, she is staying at a hotel that has a variety of people for whom you do not know what their real motives are. If you want a suspenseful romantic novel, you could not do better than Mary Stewart.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Once and Forever Queen of Romantic Suspense, April 4, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Madam, Will You Talk? (Mass Market Paperback)

Nobody does it better. Nobody ever will. Even in this, Stewart's first novel, her prose is so compelling that you overlook some of the new-author awkwardness. Some scenes go on too long, and her fascination with cars/driving/car chases (a staple in each of her books) can get a bit tiresome. But you only notice that on your third or fourth reread. It's a shame that romance novels aren't permitted to be intelligent nowadays; authors are expected to write at a junior-high school comprehension level. No such rules in Stewart's day, and that's why she'll never be bested.