The House of the Deer

Gerald and Elizabeth #2

by D.E. Stevenson

At short notice Gerald Burleigh Brown is asked to take a deer-stalking holiday in place of his brother-in-law. The old hunting lodge where Gerald stays is miles from the nearest village and surrounded by the forest with its high rocky hills.
Apart from getting to know the other people in the house party, Gerald gradually begins to understand and make friends with the local inhabitants. Gerald's days are spent stalking the "hummel", a huge hornless stag which proves particularly elusive. Then suddenly an outburst of violence changes the whole nature of his holiday. In trying to protect the girl he has grown to love Gerald runs into considerable personal danger...

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, British Literature, Audiobook, Mystery, Classics

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Dorothy Emily Stevenson was a best-selling Scottish author. She published more than 40 romantic novels over a period of more than 40 years. Her father was a cousin of Robert Louis Stevenson.

D.E. Stevenson had an enormously successful writing career: between 1923 and 1970, four million copies of her books were sold in Britain and three million in the States. Like E.F. Benson, Ann Bridge, O. Douglas or Dorothy L. Sayers (to name but a few) her books are funny, intensely readable, engaging and dependable.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounding up. The last bit suddenly becomes The Thirty Nine Steps which is hilariously not what I expect from DES ever. But it somehow made this so much fun and more interesting than the mere deer stalking at the beginning which was, frankly, boring. But there are so many great characters and they are in fine form at the end, from MacTaggart to Phil to Mac to Sandy. I do so like Gerald too. He loves Jane Austen, so how can he go wrong? There is a clever reference to Bunter and some other Golden Age detective novel characters earlier in the novel so DES must have liked her detective stories. But this is much more Buchan than Sayers—more of a thriller—and that seems to fit as they are fellow Scotsmen/women. I enjoyed the Highland setting and Walter and Bess are great. I wish we knew that Margaret made her entrance safely into the world but I guess we get enough clues. Mac is hilarious. He might be my favorite.

[Claude · Rating 2 out of 5]

1 1/2 stars.
I was not crazy about Gerald and Elizabeth, and only read The House of the Deer because it was a sequel and hoping it would be better. Well, The thing is, I am not interested in stalking deers, whatsoever, and if I want a mystery novel, I won’t choose one by D. E. Stevenson. So I finished this because ... well, not because I was fascinated, that is for sure. I certainly won’t recommend it.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The House of the Deer” is the sequel to “Gerald and Elizabeth", which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Gerald’s sister Bess, the famous actress, is now married to the shipyard owner, Walter McCallum. Hired by his new brother-in-law to help with security, Gerald begins to regain his confidence and we follow his adventures in this story set in Scotland. Gerald joins a house party in the north, hosted by the MacAslan family, to stalk deer. Lots in here about hunting and conservation that I hadn't known!

"A certain number of deer must be killed every year to prevent the herd from increasing.'

'But why don't they want their herd to increase?' asked Gerald in bewilderment.

'Because there's only a limited supply of food for them... In Scotland the forests have no roads or tracks; there are mountain and moors and bogs. As a matter of fact MacAslan said he was going to try feeding the stags this year as an experiment..."

One member of the party is particularly offensive and jeers at Gerald’s story of shooting lions in Africa but he eventually gets his comeuppance (DE Stevenson always satisfactorily ties up all the loose ends in her stories!)

“...Oliver leaned forward and burst out: ‘Mac, listen to me! There’s something wrong about that fellow!’

‘Something wrong? Do you mean he’s not well?’

“No, I don’t mean that at all. I mean there’s something fishy about him. He isn’t straight.”

This book was not sophisticated or especially clever, but it was enjoyable nonetheless! I was anxious to follow Gerald’s story and find out if his name is ever cleared from the first book. I really appreciated Gerald’s character in this story as the author contrasts him with the indulged and selfish Oliver Stoddart, a friend of the MacAslan family.

The author gives us a window into Oliver’s private thoughts: “Phil was a sensible girl and would realise her good fortune in having attracted such an eligible suitor as Oliver Stoddart.”

Gerald has no pretensions. How many of us would bluff our way through a talent or skill that we were lacking in? but not Gerald Burleigh Brown.

“I’ve never shot deer,’ said Gerald. ‘I know nothing about stalking but Sir Walter said you would be able to teach me. You’ll find me very ignorant, I’m afraid’....

“I’ve never done any stalking,’ Gerald added. ‘I expect you’ve realized that I know nothing about it.’

Mac had. He said rather anxiously, ‘Sir Walter said you could shoot?’

'I’ve shot lions,’ admitted Gerald. ‘But that’s different, of course.’

Besides the intrigue of the story, there is the scenery of Scotland and, as always in Stevenson’s books, a satisfying romance.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ahhhhh I agree with the other reviewers. This one just goes funny towards the end. it's fun and normal to begin with and then just bolts....

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the sequel to Gerald and Elizabeth and I admit, that was not my favourite D. E. Stevenson but I figured I'd read its sequel anyway to see what happened to Gerald. I liked this one even less than Gerald and Elizabeth. The love story(/ies) did absolutely nothing for me. Have I ever mentioned that I hate love at first sight in books? My brain just shuts down when someone sees a beautiful person and instantly knows they have lost their heart forever. I can only roll my eyes and think "Really? Would you have felt that way if the person was ugly?"
So that, my friends, is the quixotic reason for why I am giving this book only 2 stars. (Well, actually the whole book was not that great either and I'm not really interested in deer-stalking...)

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stevenson never writes the most suspenseful suspense. And Gerald wasn't the most exciting character, although he seemed a pleasant enough guy and since he was in a previous story it was nice to get more resolution on his life. I appreciated his nuanced objection to shooting deer. I found the degree of loathing expressed by some characters for "imperfect" stags kind of disturbing, but I don't know enough about deer to tell whether it had any grounds.

The female characters were never filled out enough for me to care. I did enjoy the passage where Phil has her internal debate over which is the best Jane Austen to get for a recuperating person.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read as audiobook.

[Gina House · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. This is the very first D.E. Stevenson that I didn't really like. Out of the 27 D.E. Stevenson books I've read so far, this is my absolute least favorite. I'm so sad!

Unless you love detailed descriptions about hunting and killing deer, this is NOT the book for you. It was 85% about Gerald hunting in Scotland while visiting a manor house, 10% a light romance and 5% cozy descriptions. And that's being generous on my part.

Of course, the writing is her usual wonderful style and that's the only reason why I kept reading it. It's also hard for me to DNF a book by one of my top favorite authors.

But, oh, how I disliked this book! I rounded it up to a 2 star because the ending was lovely. But, I feel like it took forever to reach the last 2 chapters of the book (so I could find out what happened). It was so painful. I despise books about killing animals for sport (even though it is justified by reasons in the book) and I was surprised at how much of the book concentrated entirely on that subject. I was actually wondering at times if it was written by D.E. Stevenson!

I won't be reading this book again and this is the first time I'm writing to suggest not reading a D.E. Stevenson book :(

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feb 9, 16
More "I love you frightfully" lines.
Three stars for good Scotland descriptions. Otherwise, as lackluster as the prequel. Not terrible, just not terribly wonderful either. Like her earlier novels so much more.

[Dianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit more action-packed than most of D.E. Stevenson's books, but that's not an unwelcome addition. The ending was a bit too easy and less satisfying than some, but I still enjoyed the book.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was OK...just didn't really grab me. Reader was fine.

Ohhhh...there was one thing I wanted to note. When someone is injured, the doctor prescribes Jane Austen. The gal considering this decides the scene with Luisa at Lyme mightn't be quite the thing for the patient, so she skips her favorite, Persuasion, and gives him Northanger Abbey. That was a fun little passage!

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gentle easy read, reminiscent of how I feel when reading Jane Austen.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those of us who wanted "more about Gerald" from Gerald and Elizabeth and "more about MacAslan from "Smouldering Fire" we have "The House of the Deer".

Romance stils reigns at Ard na Feidh and all the couples are sorted out properly by the end of the story.

[Jennifer Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find that, in general, I enjoy Stevenson’s earlier books more than her later ones. (One exception is The Blue Sapphire, which is a later novel that I quite liked.) This one, from 1970, is one of her latest, and it is not one of her best. It is the sequel to Gerald and Elizabeth, which was a better book, though still not in the top tier of Stevenson’s work. I found the ending of this book to be very strange and unbelievable, and rather unsatisfactory, especially if you’ve read Stevenson’s Katherine Wentworth series (some of the characters overlap).

The Kindle version also had many typos, which obviously isn’t Stevenson’s fault, but it didn’t help the experience.

If you’re new to D.E. Stevenson, I recommend you start with Miss Buncle’s Book, or Vittoria Cottage (and its sequels), or Amberwell (and its sequels). I also loved Smouldering Fire.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The House of the Deer” follows “Gerald and Elizabeth”, and there is even a very minor connection to “Katherine Wentworth” and “The Marriage of Katherine/Katherine Marries.”

Sir Walter MacCallum, owner of MacCallam’s Ship Building Yard in Glasgow, is married to former Australian mining engineer, Gerald Burleigh-Brown’s sister former actress Elizabeth/Beth. When there are a number of large scale burglaries and heists, Sir Walter fears for the security of his company and sends his brother-in-law and employee in his place to the MacAslans shooting party in the Scottish Highlands meant to cull the deer herds. Gerald knows nothing of deer hunting, but is convinced to to go because Sur Walter wants it. There he meets The MacAslan’s young son Mac, and daughter, attractive and capable Phil, her companion Donny, and aloof Malcolm MacGregor who has been the stalker for the family forever. Snooty, overbearing Oliver Stoddard pays his way on the hunting party and is most disagreeable. Young Colin MacTaggart supports his widowed mum and two younger brothers but cannot get MacGregor’s approval. There are a few strangers and strange happenings that get everyone involved with the Glasgow robberies.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love D.E. Stevenson, but this one gets only 4 stars. Just not the same as her many other titles.

More than enough emphasis on deer hunting, for one thing. I enjoy learning about subjects that I'm unfamiliar with, and a good writer will teach you without your full awareness: you read all about something new, like football, mountain climbing, or pickling cabbage, and it's so interesting that you don't realize you've just read several chapters on this topic.

Stevenson tries, and in most cases, succeeds at this. But this book, eh, not so much. Characters are predictable, one-dimensional, and you just don't care much about them.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has a very slow and bumpy start, including a lot of “set up” dialogue that feels a bit stilted. But once we get to rural Scotland, it picks up considerably. An ultimately satisfying sequel to Gerald and Elizabeth, the book also as has a gentle secondary thread that reunites readers with Donny Eastwood from Charlotte Fairlie. MacAslan’s children are also here, although the son gets most of the dialogue. Daughter Phil is a major character yet mostly off-stage, sadly.

Not one of my top 10 favorite DES novels, but still a good read in her very solid second tier.

[Elizabeth Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sequel to Gerald and Elizabeth, which is my second least favorite Stevenson novel (the worst being The Empty World, her regrettable attempt at sci-fi). However, I read it because it involves the MacAslan clan, which are solid recurring characters.

Gerald, Our Man in Africa, now Scotland, is still wooden and predictable, but the real hero of the story is the Scottish landscape, which Stevenson describes with her usual loving attention to detail.

Don’t read if you can’t stomach deer hunting. 4 stars because I just can’t bring myself to care about Perfect Gerald.

[Leticia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this without realizing it was a sequel to Gerald and Elizabeth (and also others in very minor ways, it was a real unexpected nexus), one of my least favourite DES books. But I suppose good to get it out the way! And good that there aren't two separate heroes called "Gerald", the world has no need of that.

The story itself is a bit adventure and a bit romance, but mainly about deer hunting. And deer hunting is boring, and DES’ adventure writing is a little childish, and the romance is love-at-first-sight, so overall not one of my favourites.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of all over the place in the plot department. Thankfully I went into with low expectations, so I liked it well enough. ☺️

The House of the Deer ties up some character storylines from 5 other DES novels (that I’m sure of). In chronological order they are:
Smoldering Fire
Charlotte Fairlie
Katherine Wentworth
Katherine’s Marriage
Gerald and Elizabeth (Gerald is the main character of House of the Deer).

[Eleanor]

What an exceedingly peculiar book. Imagine an extremely sub-par Mary Stewart novel (in other words, something that was clearly conceptualised as romantic suspense) that spends the first third to a quarter of its page count talking about deer stalking and herd management. I actually liked those bits—there's a grounded ecological awareness in them that's quite fascinating—but they're yoked to a bafflingly old-fashioned plot involving a Gang (!) of Naughty Thieving Men and an insipid insta-love romance. We can thank our lucky stars there's no attempt to render a Scots accent for the locals, though. Absolutely perfect for a very lowkey New Year's Eve on the sofa with a coughing, feverish boyfriend, but hard to recommend in any other context, really.

[Carol Bakker · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars with a dollop of generosity

Ha! I read this book while my husband was elk hunting. Some of the terminology [stag/hind vs. buck/doe] is different. I had to look up a hummel, a stag without horns. There is a great video on YouTube with the roar included!

I like to imagine DES telling herself, "It's time to branch out into another genre. I think I could write a mystery. Yes, I think I should."

[Glynis · Rating 5 out of 5]

D. E. Stevenson’s novels are really helping me to switch off after a busy day at work. They transport me to a different time and I love the Highland setting. I especially like how characters from her other novels crop up, so you get a sense of continuity. I’m looking forward to reading more and seeing if Gerald, Bess and co. feature in other novels.

[Tuesdayschild · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspire of the narrator on the audiobook I liked this story so much more than the first book in the series, Gerald and Elizabeth, which tottered in at just two stars for me. The House of the Deer has an, almost, mystery tone to it and D.E. Stevenson has chosen, yet again, to have her central character as an outdoorsy, physically active, young man: hunting and shooting deer is definitely included in the story but is handled carefully - there are no gratuitous 'shooting' explanations.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. :) I loved that Phil got a happy ending. I remember enjoying her character before. I liked this continuation of Gerald's story. I didn't care for Gerald & Elizabeth as much as some of her other books. I loved being in the highlands again. :)

[Virginia B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um, well, this started out, sort of, as a story about deer-stalking in the highlands, and turned into an awkward cops-and robbers tale. A continuation of Gerald and Elizabeth, which I wasn’t too interested in either.

[EmilyMorales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and intetesting mystery romance new cultural facts

Well written good storyline suspenseful surprise at end enjoyed reading. Learned about a different culture in scotland and africa and deer management and culling

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

The next book my D.E. Stevenson fan group will be reading and discussing together is "The House of the Deer," a sequel to "Gerald and Elizabeth," which we read together late last year. (If you'd like to join us, you can apply for membership at https://groups.io/g/DEStevenson )

Published in 1970, this is the last novel Stevenson wrote before she died in 1973. Like many of her books, it's been out of print for years, but a new Kindle version recently became available -- yay! (Very happily, just about all of DES's books are now available again in new editions, either in print or e-versions or both. Many are available in audiobook formats too.)

"The House of the Deer" picks up not long after "Gerald and Elizabeth" left off. Elizabeth (Bess) is now happily married to her longtime admirer, shipbuilder Sir Walter MacCallum, and living in Glasgow. Gerald has a flat nearby and is now employed as Sir Walter's private secretary and chief of security -- a responsibility he is happy to hand over to Walter's trusted private investigator, Joseph Parker, when a series of bold robberies of local businesses puts the city on edge.

Parker's arrival is also timely because Gerald is about to head off for a holiday. Walter has been invited by his friend MacAslan to go hunting and help cull the deer population on his property in the Scottish highlands. Preoccupied with the robberies and other work matters, Walter asks Gerald to go in his place. Gerald agrees, even though he knows nothing about deer or hunting (although he's shot lions in Africa! -- a story he tells later in the book).

MacAslan (whom we've met before in "Smouldering Fire" and "Katherine's Marriage") himself is absent, but we meet his young adult children, son Gregor ("Mac") and daughter Philomela (Phil) -- and Gerald falls instantly and ridiculously in love with her. (We've met Phil previously too, in "Katherine's Marriage" -- by the end of that one, I thought she was headed for a romance with Katherine's stepson Simon -- who gets a mention here. She's now in her early 20s.). Dione (Donny) Eastbrook, a supporting character from "Charlotte Fairlie" (the novel we just finished reading and discussing), is also present, also now in her 20s.

This wasn't one of my favourite DES novels. For one thing, it revolves around deer stalking and hunting, something that's never interested me. Hunting was not something that we did in my immediate family, growing up (although my dad did go fishing, and I have many relatives on both sides of my family who hunt). There's also some discussion about "breeding" and culling the herd of the less-desirable animals that I found distasteful (particularly when the most "desirable" ones are basically those whose heads look the best stuffed and mounted on a wall...!). I also found it slightly ridiculous how swiftly Gerald fell head over heels in love with Phil, professing his feelings when they'd barely known each other a week. No wonder Phil puts him off (at least initially...!). The ending feels a bit forced and rushed.

Although this is one of the weaker DES books I've read to date, on the positive side, it is redeemed somewhat by her usual lovely descriptions of the Scottish highlands (always makes me want to visit there myself!), and likeable characters I'd love to get to know in real life.

3 stars on Goodreads (probably more like 2.5, but rounded up because I generally love DES). I will count this one as a re-read once we've finished going through it and discussing it as a group.

*** *** ***

After re-reading as a group, June 25/22:

"The House of the Deer" picks up not long after "Gerald & Elizabeth" left off. Gerald is now the right-hand man of his brother-in-law, Sir Walter MacCallum. There have been a series of bold payroll robberies in the Glasgow area recently, and Walter is trying to prevent his large shipbuilding company from becoming the next victim. When he receives an invitation from his old friend, MacAslan, to go deer hunting at his lodge in the Scottish highlands, he decides he must decline -- but also that Gerald (who's due for a holiday) should go in his place. Gerald doesn't know much about stalking deer, but he learns (and we learn along with him). He also develops a friendship with MacAslan's son, Mac -- and falls head over heels in love with his daughter/Mac's sister, Phil.

As I said in my original review (above), this is probably one of DES's lesser novels, and not one of my favourites to date. For one thing, I'm not into hunting; for another, there are elements of the plot that seem rather clunky and preposterous. One of our members, who has done some research on Stevenson & her books, explained to us that this book (or parts of it, anyway) originated in a Glasgow newspaper serial Stevenson wrote back in the 1930s -- which might explain why parts of it (especially near the end) read like a 1930s gangster movie, lol.

Still, it was nice to renew acquaintances with Gerald, Walter and Elizabeth, as well as MacAslan, Phil, and her friend Donny, all of whom have figured in previous DES novels. And, as always, there are some lovely descriptions of the Scottish highlands.

My original review of 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3, stands.

[Seawitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too much stag stalking for me.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another lovely DE Stevenson! This one had mystery, love, charm, and…deer. I love “living” in Scotland for a few hours.