Airs Above the Ground in Around the World in 80 Books

Feb 20, 2023 Linda Martin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2023, animals, fiction, adventure, romance, classics, audiobook, mysteries, suspense, geo-austria

Vanessa March must have been the worst literary babysitter ever... because she and Tim got into so much trouble together! His mother would have exploded if she'd known, but she didn't. She was too involved in her plans to remarry, and was forced to let Tim go plan his step up into adult life himself.

The best thing about Vanessa March was her career. I was so impressed when I realized she was a veterinary surgeon. What a wonderful and (for this story) convenient career. I love that she was so co Vanessa March must have been the worst literary babysitter ever... because she and Tim got into so much trouble together! His mother would have exploded if she'd known, but she didn't. She was too involved in her plans to remarry, and was forced to let Tim go plan his step up into adult life himself.

The best thing about Vanessa March was her career. I was so impressed when I realized she was a veterinary surgeon. What a wonderful and (for this story) convenient career. I love that she was so confident and capable in helping out with a big animal.

And what was that big animal? A horse, of course! This book is part mystery, part travel adventure, and partly a glorification of the beautiful Lipizzaner dancing stallions.This book will send you to YouTube to watch videos of well-trained white horses dancing together! The title, "Airs Above the Ground" is also a title of an impressive dance move in which the stallions stand on their two hind feet with their forefeet high in the air. Great fun, right?

Vanessa March also had a healthy, love-filled marriage with Lewis. Her husband is one of the characters in this book but I can't tell you exactly what he did as his careers were a bit convoluted and secretive. All those out-of-town trips... what was /that/ about? Suffice it to say, he carried a gun. Nevertheless, he and Vanessa got along fantastically except... well, there was that incident.

On top of all this, the novel contains a circus and some dialogue with circus performers. What fun. A great bonus. A circus. Dancing horses. A castle. Oh, did I forget to mention the castle?

All these elements were put together in a Mary Stewart novel complete with mentions of cigarettes and alcohol and fast cars, and all the mind-bogglingly beautiful descriptions of Austrian countryside - in other words, everything you'd expect in a 1960's Mary Stewart novel. If I were you I'd go get a copy today. What are you waiting for?

I listened to the Audible audiobook version. Very enjoyable. The book practically reads itself, in print or via audio. A page-turner.

I read this with others at the Mary Stewart Group here at Goodreads. ...more

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