The Ivy Tree

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Summary: One of the best Mary Stewarts!
Review: Every year, I reread my collection of Mary Stewart paperbacks, and every year, The Ivy Tree gets me excited and nervous, with squeals of delight, and chills up my spine. This book is amazing. It never fails to enchant me, and I love all the characters in the book-- from Annabel to Mary to Adam. Mary Stewart is definitely the Queen of romantic suspense. A must read!

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Summary: Loved this book for 20 years
Review: For those of you who enjoy straight-out romance, or the Nora Roberts brand of a little suspense thrown in with a lot of romance, Mary Stewart is not the author for you. Stewart requires indepth reading, her plots are intricate, her characterizations strong. She is incomparable; her words are literature. Although descriptions abound, there is not any graphically detailed sex, so if this is not your cup of tea, read no further and look for another selection.
This particular book does not fit into any of the usual Stewart categories----the great chase as in 'Madam Will You Talk?', the closed room police procedural as in 'Wildfire at Midnight' or the Evil Relative with Nefarious Intentions as in 'Nine Coaches Waiting'----rather, it is a story of impersonation. . . and one of Stewart's best offerings in terms of just about everything: plot, tone, description, dialogue, characterization etc.
Mary Grey accepts a 'job',posing as Annabel Winslow, the long-lost cousin and heiress to Whitescar, a lucrative North England working farm---her employer, her 'cousin' Con has much to gain once Annabel's cantankerous old grandfather passes on. At first, after careful schooling by Con and his half-sister, Lisa, Mary takes to her new position smoothly, easily edging her way into life on the farm with a barrage of lies that seem to be second nature to her. No one doubts her identity until she discovers the presence of an unknown lover that may blow her cover. The real reason Annabel Winslow left Whitescar eight years earlier hits the reader with tour de force revelation which Stewart masterfully manipulates.
I won't spoil the story any further. It must be read slowly and savored like a good $100+ bottle of wine. The language is glorious,meant to be read aloud. The words paint wonderfully lush and powerful images of life in the north country. The characters likewise are finely drawn, flesh and blood human beings whose emotions thunder off the pages with the same potent electric charge of lightning that finally splits the old ivy tree in two towards the end of the story. Even the secondary characters are not to be missed. Mrs. Bates with her nosy northerner's distrust of anything 'London', Julie, the pettish young adult who is Annabel's mirror image, and Donald Seton, the stuffy, but warm-hearted Scot archaeologist with a soft spot for the greedy cat Tommy and his litter of kittens. Even the colt, Rowan, has a personality all his own; Stewart knows and loves her animals and this like all her other novels is a tribute to the creatures and places she loves best.
I have read and listened to this book over and over again. Each time, even though I know the ending, I find new techniques to ponder and wonder over. Stewart is simply fantastic; shame on anyone who prefers lesser works to her masterpieces.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite Mary Stewart novels!
Review: I have read and reread this book so many times! I already know the plot but the descriptions and dialogue are really enjoyable. The atmosphere the author creates is so indefinably romantic and enjoyable, I don't know how the author does it but I am grateful, I only wish there were even more of her books out there, if anyone is looking for more Mary Stewart check out Madame, Will You Talk, Nine Coaches Waiting, Wildfire at Midnight, Airs Above The Ground, Touch Not the Cat, and My Brother Michael, they are also incredible!

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Summary: A Question of Identity
Review: If you want to discover how perfectly plotted this book is, you must read it at least twice. You will be stunned by the clues that are there from the beginning (starting with the opening paragraphs) and sprinkled throughout the text. Over and over again, the answers are there - hiding in plain sight.

Of all the Mary Stewart mysteries (and I have loved them all), this has long been my favorite. I have always been drawn to questions of identity (from fictional characters like Josephine Tey's Bratt Farrar to Anna Anderson's claim to be Anastasia).

This is a quiet book, haunting in it's depiction of loss - a grandfather's loss of a favorite granddaughter; a woman's loss of place and name; a lover's loss - of promises, of time; a man's loss of wife and health. And a lost note, the delivery of which might have changed much of what ensued.

The echoes of the past build and build until they crash resoundingly into the present and affect all of the lives of all of those around Whitescar.

Read it through, and then re-read the first couple pages. It was all right there to begin with.


Rating:
Summary: Mary Gray or Annabel Winslow?
Review: In her usually elegant and sophistocated style, Mary Stewart weaves a suspenseful mystery that leaves the reader guessing until the very end.

On the English countryside, a young Canadian woman, Mary Grey, is resting on a ruin while on holiday when she is suddenly interrupted by a furious man. The man, Connor Winslow, recognizes Mary as his cousin and long-dead lover, Annabel Winslow. After Mary explains that there must have been a mistake, Connor tells her about Annabel who disappeared years before and makes her an offer...

Mary can arrive at Connor's home, Whitescar, and masquesde as Annabel. She will inherit Annabel's fortune,if she gives Connor the land of Whitescar.

A woman does arrive at Whitescar. Is she, Mary Grey working to inherit money that is not her own? Or is she, Annabel Windslow returned home?

Upon arriving at Whitescar, Mary delves into the mystery of Annabel. Why did the woman disappear without a word to anyone or perhaps was she forced to disappear?

With her usual genious, Stewart leds the reader down a dark but exciting path. Hints deeply embedded into the dialogue reveal the truth.



Rating:
Summary: i liked it, I've read some of her work and it's the best.
Review: This book was a really great book. It had the perfect classic plot with a great twist. The ending was cool and the charector's were well developed. Mary Stewart is a good auther and a great inspiration.

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Summary: Not the Riveting Read I Had Hoped For.
Review: When I decided to read "The Ivy Tree" by Mary Stewart, I was hoping for an engrossing mystery that would keep me captivated. Unfortunately, this book just never managed to grip me, and I found myself struggling to finish it. I'm aware that my opinion is in the minority here, so I guess it comes down to the fact that Mary Stewart's writing just isn't my cup of tea.

The story revolves around Mary Grey, a woman who has recently come to England from Canada, and who looks amazingly similar to glamorous missing heiress Annabel Winslow. "The Ivy Tree" starts out with a great first chapter as Conor, a distant relation of Annabel's who now runs the farm at Whitescar, verbally attacks Mary believing her to be Annabel. But once the misunderstanding is straightened out, Conor begins to see what an asset Mary could be.

Conor is convinced that Annabel's ailing grandfather is not planning to leave him any part of Whitescar when he dies despite all the long years that Conor has worked there. So, he hires Mary Grey to come back claiming that she's Annabel, so that she will receive most of Whitescar in the old man's will and then can give it to Conor. The only thing that could present a problem is Annabel's cousin Julie, who will almost certainly be in the will as well, but Conor is confident that she won't get in the way. After convincing a reluctant Mary to go along with his scheme, they put their plan in motion.

But things don't run as smoothly as they should. Tensions run high at Whitescar when Julie arrives for a visit. Conor begins to show a violent and unsettling side to himself that makes Mary wonder what kind of man he really is. And Mary herself is hiding a shocking secret that could put her in serious danger if anyone, especially Conor, were to find out!

The ending of "The Ivy Tree" really picks up, but for me, the majority of the book just dragged on and on without enough action to keep me genuinely interested. Though the quality of writing is good and the characters are well developed, this story just didn't hold my attention. But even though I found this book a bit hard to get through, I did still enjoy it, and I would recommend you form an opinion on "The Ivy Tree" for yourself.