The Ivy Tree

As the story opens Mary Grey is enjoying her day off taking in the local tourist sights near her new home. She has recently left her native Canada to return to Northumberland where her greatgrand parents had been born. Suddenly a young man confronts her, calling her Annabel and insisting that she is his cousin who disappeared eight years earlier. Mary manages to convince him of her identity but soon finds herself embroiled in a plot to impersonate the missing Annabel in her family home, Whitescar. Gradually it becomes apparent that all is not quite as it seems, everyone there seems to have a secret, her Grandfather has not disclosed who will inherit the family farm, 'cousin' Con has not revealed the depths of his ambition, the missing Annabel left behind secrets when she fled, even the estate itself has been keeping things hidden. Eventually all is revealed with the usual Stewart flair for drama and romance. This 40+ year old book has aged well. There are some references that place it firmly in the early '60's, for example, a cell phone would have eliminated much of the tension, it is still a thoroughly enjoyable story, very reminiscent of BRAT FARAR. As usual with Stewart's work the setting and characters all come to life. The plot is cleverly handled, the clues to the mysteries are all there for the reader to follow but so subtly done that it will be a very rare reader who does not get at least a few surprises along the way including true identities of more than one character.

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.

The Ivy Tree was the first book that I had even read by Mary Stewart. Let alone I read it for my British Literature class. It was great. The suspense just about killed me at the end. I just kept on turning the pages. She describes the scene and the characters so well that I felt like I was right there. It was a great book! I definitely recommend it!

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!

Among Mary Stewart's books, and I have read most of them, this would probably be known as a "sleeper." However, having read it through three times plus scanning it several other times, I feel it is one of her best! The first time I read it I was aghast at first because Mary Stewart's heroines were always very moral women--the stuff good role models ate made of. Mary Grey doesn't seem to fit the role! After the first time I read it I had to go to England and see the area where the book was set. However, my husband wasn't as eager as I was to search out the setting and I came home disappointed. Seven years later, after having my husband read it and reading it twice more myself, we returned to England, and this time found Crag Lough by Hadrian's Wall, where the book opens. We tried to imagine which of the farms we could see from there was Whitescar and where Forrest Hall would have been. I have searched the book several times for looking for flaws, but it is perfectly executed. Like all good mysteries she does include an important clue in the very first chapter. Yet, I read the chapter four times before I found it! This book still "haunts" me even today as I gaze at the pictures we took of Crag Lough and Hadrian's Wall. Originally published in 1961, it is as exciting today as it was when it was first published, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good suspensful romantic mystery.