Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Not so rough

I've been slugging through The Mysteries of Udolpho, which is taking me a long time. It's just slow going at first. Things are looking up, though. The main character, Emily, is finally an orphan! That means gothic suspense, creepy castles and lusty men ahoy (at least I hope; it's more likely that I'll be forced to skim through more of her poetry about Nature).

But in the meantime I wanted something light and wonderful. I turned to Mary Stewart's This Rough Magic, which fit the bill perfectly.



What a fun cover! Mine was the paperback version from HarperCollins, which I'm a bit disgusted with, because it's already falling apart. I'm not that rough of a reader, either.

Anyway, there's a great connection to Shakespeare's The Tempest. I love the romance between Lucy and Max, too! Stewart always blends great heroines, mystery, romance and just great writing and description. I discovered her last year and went through most of her books in a few months. Now I'm on to re-reading them!

Rating: 9.5/10

2 comments:

Jennie said...

Eeeee! This is my favorite Stewart, and maybe my favorite book of all time. Well maybe second favorite. It is light and fun, but also just beautifully written. It's made me really want to go to Greece. Some day. :)

rachel said...

I love Stewart's descriptions of other countries! Whether it's just England or a foreign country--like Greece or Egypt (wasn't "The Gabriel Hounds" set in Egypt? or at least in the desert)--they seem alive and interesting.