Customer Reviews

This Rough Magic

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As in other Mary Stewart classics, the action of "This Rough Magic" takes place in a mere matter of days. Lucy Waring, a twenty-something actress steps off the London stage and onto the idyllic Ionian island of Corfu. In a the course of a morning swim, paradise transforms to a place of sinister doings: someone shoots at a tamed dolphin, a young Greek drowns off the coast of Albania, and a smuggler washes up dead in a nearby cove. Stewart uses all her formidable skill, crafting a strong story that is both literary and fast moving. Told from Lucy's point-of-view, the reader's is kept as taut as a wire as the tension mounts not only while Lucy attempts to determine the identity of the wrongdoer and the reason for his misdemeanors but as she inadvertently puts herself in harm's way.

Playfully, Stewart pulls out all the stops, introducing one of her most cleverly contrived secondary characters, Sir Julian Gale, a Lawrence Olivier facsimile whose theory that the island setting of Shakespeare's "Tempest" and Corfu are one and the same adds much charm and ambiance to an already gloriously depicted exotic locale. Cleverer still, she employs the idea of the deus ex machina in a most enjoyable sequence, where the 'god' is a young Greek male and the 'machine', his improbable motorcycle.

As always, the Stewart heroine impeccably relates each event as it occurs with an astonishing literacy--the language employed borders on poetry; the reader actually smells every flower, is blinded by the lush colors of the foilage and stung by the salt of the Ionian Sea. In kind, Stewart characterizes her Greeks with an affectionate curiosity and love of the stranger; their traditions and rituals are reported with much respect and admiration.

As noted in some of my other reviews of Stewart's work, this author's masterly use of plot, character, language and style puts her in a genre all her own. She is quite definitely incomparable. 'This Rough Magic" is one of my favorite Stewart selections: one of a trio of novels set in Greece and the Greek Isles that uses the strained politics of the late 50s and early 60s as a backdrop to catapult a rather normal UK female protagonist into an abnormal situation where the British sense of responsibility is shown to positive advantage.

Recommended with the wish that all the Stewart suspense tales are reissued in trade paperback with Reader's Questions.

An out of work actress staying in Corfu with her rich pregnant sister becomes embroiled in a dangerous mystery after encountering a famous reclusive actor and his passionate son. Throw in a few murders and our heroine is out to determine the who and why. One of Ms Stewart's best novels, it is totally absorbing describing a country and lifestyle in such vivid detail, and impressing her characters with warmth, understanding and plenty of realism.

This Rough Magic is one of those perfect books-it draws you on with suspense, involves you deeply with jewel-cut prose, and unlike most Stewart novels, is quite funny in spots. I love this book for its lightheartedness and its tragedy and its lovely romance, if that makes any sense. This is perfect romantic suspense, great for constant rereading.

Mary Stewart is a great writer with spectacular talent! I have heard that this is not even yet her best yet and am quite excited to read more of her books. This is a fabulous story and I encourage you to read it!

This has become the book that I compare all others to. I was litterally glued to it even after I finished it. I then read all of her other books from the same general time period. I was not disappointed in the least. This was definitely her peak time of writing. The only flaw I can find is that all other books are now ruined for me since none have ever come equal to it since. Mary Stewart, thank you for for sharing your talent with those of us fortunate enough to get a copy of this book.

I loved this book. It was given to me by my mother when I was 14. I had just discovered reading and would read any book I could get my hands on. I read this book in 3 days! After I began reading, I just couldn't stop. I love Mary Stewart and have read every one of her books!

The title is taken from Shakespeare's play `The Tempest', and lays the groundwork for an intelligently entertaining blend of 16th century drama and modern day mystery.

The setting is Corfu , a tiny Greek island rumored to be the playwright's inspiration for the famous play, and the protagonist is Lucy Waring, an actress between jobs who comes to stay with her pregnant sister Phyllida while the latter's husband is traveling. The luxurious setting - a cluster of cliffside villas surrounded by the azure seas of the Greek islands - is the first hook, and a well-orchestrated suspense tale takes the reader on a fun ride through history, Greek culture and a bit of obscure, largely forgotten politics. When a young Greek boy from the island is thought be lost at sea and a local smuggler's corpse is washed up on the pristine beach, Lucy realizes that a few things don't quite jive and decides to find out a little more on her own.

Mary Stewart is best known for her award-winning Arthurian series that began with The Crystal Cave, but the dozens of mysteries and suspense novels she wrote are of much more appeal to me personally. I was thrilled when an imprint of Harper Collins decided to reprint most of them and have really enjoyed reading through them again, as well as discovering some I hadn't known about.

If you appreciate an 'old fashioned' tale free of graphic intimacy and violence, if you appreciate vivid description, romance and intrigue this is for you. I read all but one of Mary Stewart's books in my early twenty's through late thirties. Now, nearing seventy, I am rereading them and cherishing the stories I read in my young years. I have divested myself of hundreds of books. Mary Stewart's remain a constant. Though I prefer some over others "This Rough Magic" is a favorite. It tells of a young woman needing employment with limited accomplishments. She becomes governess and, of course, falls in love with one of the family members who own an estate. "Jane Eyre" is actually used in comparison within the story. Fun reading...

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I have read it over and over. I highly recommend it!!

Mary Stewart's This Rough Magic, published in 1962, tells the story of Lucy Waring, an out-of-work actress. Killing time after her last show abruptly closed, she decides to visit her pregnant sister on the beautiful island of Corfu. She soon learns that the island is swarming with mysterious characters - including a legendary actor, his composer son, a toff-stroke-photographer, a friendly dolphin and a host of naive natives.

Although I knew this was going to be a mystery (bloodshed - huzzah!), I approached the book with trepidation. As much as I like John Fowles, I'm certainly not up to re-reading The Magus during rush hour. Similarly, the cover hinted toward some sort of neo-Gothic monstrosity - dispossessed noblemen and philosopher-heiresses dash around quoting poetry and invariably becoming trapped in the bell-tower.

My worries grew - and I'm sorry to confess this, as it only reflects badly on me - when I discovered it was written in the first person. Not only, I worried, would I have to read about the insecurities of some vapid philosopher/poetry-quoter, I was actually being assigned to empathize with her. (Kind of like I've being doing with the post so far - get it?)

The book quickly put all my fears to rest. By the end of the first chapter, I was very happy seeing the world through Lucy Waring's eyes. I think the ultimate bonding occurred when she confessed that she really wasn't a very good actress - at that point I knew that this wasn't going to feature some sort of plot-swept, wind-swept Gothic heroine, but actually a very good yarn, with a very, enjoyable, human narrator.

As a thriller, the danger is small-scale and intimate, but no less suspenseful for it. Although a vague Communist threat is presented, explained and promptly ignored, Lucy and her friends' efforts to fight the forces of evil are much more personal. The murders, even of strangers, are acutely felt, and Lucy's reaction to them (no fainting, just steely resolve) helps make them more real.

There are a few notable concessions to genre conventions. All the members of the opposite sex on the island are, of course, very attractive. Corfu is swarming with handsome young men, all of whom find Lucy irresistible.

Also, as with any good internationally-placed thriller, the natives have very little to do with anything. The Greek people come across as generous and naive, but not very bright. Most of them are possessed with typical peasant mojo - they're able to repair a car, but not drive one. And, of course, they're completely incapable of solving a crime (or even noticing one). Thank god for the British, eh?

These concessions to conventions are balanced out by a few deliberate attempts at subversion as well. One exceptional moment has Lucy captured by the enemy. Although fiercely intelligent, she acts the stupid little ingenue in order to wiggle her way out of the situation (all the while looking for a serviceable weapon). It is especially entertaining given the immense vanity of the villain - who strikes me as a pretty good imitation of the typical Sixties pulp hero. As much as I like Shell Scott and Chester Drum (and James Bond, for that matter), it does raise the question, 'How many of those women would rather just be hitting you over the head right now?'.

After some commutes filled with truly horrific fiction, I was starting to dread the morning train. This Rough Magic, however, arrived just in time to restored my faith in cheap fiction. Fortunately, it isn't my place (or my goal) to do a deep and insightful analysis of gender roles. Instead, I'm just happy that I finally got a decent book to read on the tube.