Thornyhold

Thornyhold
by Mary Stewart


Blurb:

The rambling house called Thornyhold is like something out of a fairy tale. Left to Gilly Ramsey by the cousin whose occasional visits brightened her childhood, the cottage, set deep in a wild wood, has come just in time to save her from a bleak future. With its reputation for magic and its resident black cat, Thornyhold offers Gilly more than just a new home. It offers her a chance to start over.

My Reaction (with SPOILERS):
The Mary Stewart novels I'd read previously were her older "travel mysteries". Those followed a formula very similar to this one, but with a couple of exceptions. Mainly, there was much less drama, suspense, and action in this tale, and the setting is England instead of a more exotic locale.

I quite enjoyed aspects of this story. I liked Cousin Geillis, the suggestions of magic were fun, and I have a soft spot for novels in which a character inherits or purchases a property. I love living vicariously through the exploration-- the discovery-- the fixing up and putting-things-right. (In fact, I would've enjoyed the book much better if it had gone into greater detail on these points.)

There are also a couple of word pictures of the beauty of the night that I absolutely loved. I could almost feel the autumn evening-- something I'm already longing for as we slip into steamy June. Stewart's amazing ability to capture and express the essence of a setting is as strong as ever in Thornyhold.

Unfortunately, this book suffers from an extreme case of instalove. My tolerance for instalove has eroded with the passage of time, and I've reached the point where it can very nearly ruin a book for me.

Authors (though in this case, she's no longer with us), please listen. Not every book has to contain romance as a central plot. It's okay to merely hint at things that might eventually come to pass. If you can't spare the time, effort, or pages to fully flesh out a realistic romance that develops at a pleasing pace, I'd much rather if you didn't inflict upon your readers a breakneck-speed love story. These too-fast romances are flavorless and dull. It's like meeting two strangers, watching them flirt briefly and then declare undying love with barely a breath in between-- and then being expected to grin foolishly (and maybe even wipe away a tear or two) at the romance and emotion of what you've just witnessed. I can't care.

Anyway, this was very fast even for instalove. I didn't like the romance element of this story at all, honestly.

Then there's young William. He wasn't as bad as the child characters in "this type of book" sometimes are, but he was still rather bland and... meh. If you turned him over, you'd probably find "Wholesome English Youth" stamped somewhere. Just too much of a type... If we'd had more time with him, I might have felt I knew him a bit better. That's a big part of most of my problems with this book: It needs more pages and a more nuanced, involved mystery.

As it is, the mystery is very transparent, and I found it frustrating that Gilly is so slow to see the obvious-- and refuses to stand up to her overbearing neighbor (Agnes). And then, when it finally all comes to a head, she won't even tell her new love about it, because her rival/enemy is also a woman and there's a "code" (or something?). I guess I'm mean, but you'd better believe I would've told him every last gruesome detail! It's no more than she deserves!

The ending's too sugary-sweet. Where's the spice?! Where's the vinegar?! I didn't need to see Agnes suffer agonies-- perfectly happy to have her merely hoist with her own petard-- but Gilly barely even stands up for herself and is far too noble. Very unsatisfying. Blah.

After enjoying the first half or more of the book so much, I found the conclusion disappointing and lackluster.