Touch Not The Cat [Paperback]

Mary Stewart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1976

BOOK

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett Crest Publications; paperback / softback edition (1976)
• ISBN-10: 0449232018
• ISBN-13: 978-0449232019
• ASIN: B000H1HS5W
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,559,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars mystery and romance with a psychic touch, December 30, 2003

By 

Jeanne Tassotto (Trapped in the Midwest) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Touch Not the Cat (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an old friend I turn to when I want to get away for awhile. The story(ies) are well written, the characters are believable and the setting is done so well it would be tempting to try and locate 'Ashley Court' on a trip to England. In other words this is yet another wonderfully done Mary Stewart.

The story centers around Bryony Ashley, her family and the family estate and psychic link they share. The story moves swifty, beginning with the death-by-suspicious-circumstances of Bryony's father which forces her return to Ashley Court, the family home. Her cousins, the townspeople and tenants of the Court all enter into the story. Past family scandals surface interlaced with "Romeo and Juliet' references enter into the Bryony's life as she struggles to sort out her family's past issues, present dilemmas,
and future. The psychic link is not overdone, it appears just enough to add interest to the story. The mystery has just enough twists to keep the reader interested and surpised. The action is intense and the romance is sweet.

This vintage (1976) book has aged well. I have recommended it to both high school students and my mother with no complaints from anyone.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Possessed as in 'Possession', October 14, 2002

By 

Diana F. Von Behren "reneofc" (Kenner, LA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Touch Not the Cat (Paperback)

Like the recent movie/book sensation 'Possession' by A.S. Byatt,'Touch Not the Cat'(written in 1975) combines a literary mystery with excerpts from the past, poetry, Shakespeare, history and the gift of mind transferrence to deliver a wonderfully fulfilling tale that is a joy to read.
Stewart employs her usual fantastic sense of place in describing Ashley estate and its environs down to the last daffodil. It is her main character, narrator Byrony Ashley who is both possessed and possessor. From childhood, she and an unknown Ashley cousin have had the ability to communicate with their minds at great length, at great distances. Byrony's need to know the identity of this mind interloper/lover drives most of the novel's plot. As in the Byatt book, 'Touch Not the Cat' employs different levels to tell the story of parallel lovers, past and present; as we discover the state of affairs between the two Victorian lovers, we are illumined as to how it helps Byrony identify her soulmate and simultaneously solve a present mystery involving the state of the Ashley property after Byrony's father is killed in an automobile accident.
Stewart cleverly uses Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet to facilitate the present day lovers' evolving discoveries involving themselves, the estate and the past. Her effervascent interplay and dialogue between the two main characters borders on perfect; her portayal of love's discovery and fulfillment causes the reader to nod and laugh with satisfaction. The tantillizing aspects of ESP add just the right degree of the supernatural to a well-constructed tale that has just about everything else.
Stewart fans will be thrilled that this particular heroine not only gets her man, but allows the reader to be privy to their marital bliss.
Recommended highly especially in audio book form read delightfully by Davina Porter.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique, December 9, 2003

By 

shacary "Shacary" (Illinois United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Touch Not the Cat (Hardcover)

this is one of my favorite stories by Mary Stewart. It has a unique approach to "love" from a psychic standpoint. I dont want to spoil the story for anyone, but I will say, this is One of the best reads!!! Many current authors seem to be "ascribing" to this formula, I mean who wouldnt want a " true love" even on the metaphysical realm???