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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This went on my list after my sis-in-law asked for it for Christmas. Delightful and unique setting, beautiful landscapes, and not just a run-of-the-mill storyline. I quite enjoyed it.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I enjoyed the first Mary Stewart book I read (Thunder on the Right) but personally struggled to get into the flow of this one.
preparation for my trip to Greece!
Definitely recommended if you're traveling to Greece and are looking for a good yarn. Nothing earth-shattering, but absorbing.
Definitely recommended if you're traveling to Greece and are looking for a good yarn. Nothing earth-shattering, but absorbing.
Nicola Ferris, a young Englishwoman on holiday from her job at the British embassy in Athens, goes for a walk in the White Mountains of Crete, and stumbles onto a badly wounded young Englishman, Mark Langley, and his Greek guide. Mark’s injury? He had been shot and left for dead by an unknown assailant. The two men are badly frightened and worried, revealing in a hurried conversation they don’t expect Nicola to understand, because it’s in Greek, that a third member of their party is missing, possibly dead.
This is the start of The Moonspinners, one of my favourites of Mary Stewart’s romantic suspense novels. Published in 1962, it is set in then-contemporary Greece. Disney released a movie version in 1964, starring Hayley Mills, based loosely on the book. Very loosely. I saw it on TV long after I read the book. I can’t say whether the movie was any good on its own merits—I didn’t like it, because in my opinion it diminished the qualities of the main characters. In the book, they are independent, resourceful people, doing their best under difficult circumstances. Characters, in other words, I can enjoy reading about.
In the book, Nicola’s conscience won’t let her abandon the two men, despite her own fears. The men don’t want another victim caught up in their troubles; they persuade her to leave them and go on with her holiday, unwittingly sending her straight into the proverbial lion’s den. Naturally, she is instrumental in unravelling the mystery of who shot Mark and why.
One of the pleasures of this story is watching the macho hero having to reassess his opinion of Nicola, more than once, after she proves her worth through intelligence, pluck, and determination, without ever getting strident over being dismissed as a girl.
The story is a bit dated, but not badly so. It’s a light, fun read, easily digested over a weekend; just the kind of thing to cheer a person up after a tough work week.
This review was first published in This Need to Read
This is the start of The Moonspinners, one of my favourites of Mary Stewart’s romantic suspense novels. Published in 1962, it is set in then-contemporary Greece. Disney released a movie version in 1964, starring Hayley Mills, based loosely on the book. Very loosely. I saw it on TV long after I read the book. I can’t say whether the movie was any good on its own merits—I didn’t like it, because in my opinion it diminished the qualities of the main characters. In the book, they are independent, resourceful people, doing their best under difficult circumstances. Characters, in other words, I can enjoy reading about.
In the book, Nicola’s conscience won’t let her abandon the two men, despite her own fears. The men don’t want another victim caught up in their troubles; they persuade her to leave them and go on with her holiday, unwittingly sending her straight into the proverbial lion’s den. Naturally, she is instrumental in unravelling the mystery of who shot Mark and why.
One of the pleasures of this story is watching the macho hero having to reassess his opinion of Nicola, more than once, after she proves her worth through intelligence, pluck, and determination, without ever getting strident over being dismissed as a girl.
The story is a bit dated, but not badly so. It’s a light, fun read, easily digested over a weekend; just the kind of thing to cheer a person up after a tough work week.
This review was first published in This Need to Read
In this Mary Stewart thriller, the exotic location is Crete (before mass tourism); the young heroine works at the British embassy in Athens, and is taking a holiday with the older cousin who brought her up - at least in her teens - when she comes across a man in the middle of the countryside who has been shot.
In many ways, The Moon-Spinners is too much a rewrite of [b:My Brother Michael|336409|My Brother Michael|Mary Stewart|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173849254s/336409.jpg|2758206] to be really successful; it ends up being one of Stewart's most lacklustre novels. The Greek background is gorgeous, but she has written the same story too often for it to work this time. This is the last time she sticks so closely to the formula, and it was probably about time she moved on.
3.5 stars
I ran out of reading material while on holiday so dragged this one out of a dusty old box. It's well written (language) and fairly entertaining, but I struggled with some of the decisions the main character made. They just seemed overly brave/stupid to me. Also I thought a great plot twist would have been if it turned out she was actually helping out the baddies, because she seemed to take the story she was told at face-value even after being held at knife point once she realised that the injured party was British and quite good looking....
The descriptions of the area (Crete) are rather nice and the story stirred some nostalgic Nancy Drew and "Island of Adventure" type memories.
I ran out of reading material while on holiday so dragged this one out of a dusty old box. It's well written (language) and fairly entertaining, but I struggled with some of the decisions the main character made. They just seemed overly brave/stupid to me. Also I thought a great plot twist would have been if it turned out she was actually helping out the baddies, because she seemed to take the story she was told at face-value even after being held at knife point once she realised that the injured party was British and quite good looking....
The descriptions of the area (Crete) are rather nice and the story stirred some nostalgic Nancy Drew and "Island of Adventure" type memories.
3.5 stars -- Fun mystery/thriller. Reminiscent of Josephine Tey: nice language but no deep symbolism or multi-level meaning, just a well-written, good story. This book is a nice break from the standard hard-boiled mysteries typical today. Nicola is British and works in Athens, but is taking a break from the big city during the Easter holiday. However, in a remote part of Crete she and her sister end up in an exciting mystery that has ties all the way back to London.
I read Mary Stewart's The Moonspinners for the Greece stop on my Around the World challenge. I was interested in the story, which is set specifically on Crete, immediately. However, it did not capture my attention quite as much as her other books; I kept waiting for something to happen which would hook me until the end of the novel, but such a thing never quite came. This is the first of Stewart's books which I have read that feels overly dramatic; normally, she balances the drama and suspense rather well, but it was markedly overblown at times here. The relationships within the novel feel too sudden, and are not developed as I would expect. I also found the plot a little predictable; there were none of the surprises here which I have come to expect from Stewart's fiction. Whilst The Moonspinners is entertaining enough, I would have to say that it is probably my least favourite of the author's novels.