Omnibus: Rose Cottage/Stormy Petrel/Thornyhold

by Mary Stewart

Kate travels to her childhood home, Rose Cottage, before it is sold, curious as to the changes she may find. In "Stormy Petrel" writer Rose Fenemore trys to find peace in an isolated cottage in the Hebrides. Gilly gets more than she bargains for when she inherits Thornyhold from her cousin.

Genres: Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Lady Mary Stewart, born Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow, was a popular English novelist, and taught at the school of John Norquay elementary for 30 to 35 years.

She was one of the most widely read fiction writers of our time. The author of twenty novels, a volume of poetry, and three books for young readers, she was admired for both her contemporary stories of romantic suspense and her historical novels. Born in England, she lived for many years in Scotland, spending time between Edinburgh and the West Highlands.

Her unofficial fan site can be found at http://marystewartnovels.blogspot.com/.

Reviews

[J. Merwin]

Too bad some of Mary Stewart's books are not in print by themselves anymore. I am thrilled to be reading Thornyhold again. Read it when I was a teenager, as with all of her Merlin books etc. I was brainstorming with our town librarian about which 'romantic or suspenseful or time-traveling books might be good for a Valentine's Day book club read. Thornyhold popped right up in my mind but I could'nt remember the title, could only remember with fondness, the atmospheric, magical quality and the cover of the book...it stuck with me all these years. I wasnt even sure who wrote it...we spouted out names, Victoria Holt, Catherine Cookson, names of worthy if out of fashion women writers like that. Stuck in my craw and on a mission I had to call back shouting MARY STEWART into the phone! God bless library lending services...it flew to me all the way from the next little town and low and behold, the cover just as I remembered. The book had seen better days, split down the middle but as I have a gallon of book binders glue I fixed it up.
For anyone who loves a mysterious relatives, old country houses, gardens, herbs, knot gardens, 'still rooms', and a little witchery, this is the book for you.

[Sue]

Three books in one: Rose Cottage, Stormy Petrel, and Thornyhold. They are all fairly short, light novels set in the middle of the 20th century. Each one has a touch of suspense, an extremely low-key romance, and some great characterisation. They are all about specific houses, too.

In 'Rose Cottage', Kate is asked by her grandmother to find some items left in a cottage - and discovers that they have been taken. Mysteries abound, not helped by some talkative elderly ladies.

In 'Stormy Petrel', Rose, who is a lecturer in Cambridge, goes on holiday to a remote cottage in the Hebrides to do some writing. She is startled when two young me appear - separately - on her doorstep during a storm, and is caught up in various tensions.

In 'Thornyhold', the only one I had previously read (although I had totally forgotten it), Geillis inherits a house from her godmother, and it seems as if some of her neighbours think that she is a witch.

In all three books, the writing - in first person each time - is good, the stories fast-paced, the main characters sympathetic. The tensions comes from not knowing who can be trusted, but the resolutions are all hopeful.

Recommended.

[Sarah]

I honestly bought this set just for thornyhold but loved all three stories. They are so well written I feel like I have been to the places in the stories and wish I lived at thornyhold