| Title | : | The Wind off the Small Isles |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0340042923 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780340042922 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 96 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1968 |
But the house is already occupied—once by the past, and the haunting memory of what happened there a century ago; and now by its present owners—very much alive—a famous playwright and his research assistant, Michael. In the fierce beauty of the volcanic landscape, in the persons of Perdita and Michael, past and present meet, violently. The weird, semi-deserted island of Lanzarote is the scene for the collision which reshapes the lives of the young lovers, as it did a hundred years ago.
The Wind off the Small Isles Reviews
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November 2019 buddy read with the Mary Stewart group!
Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands
3.75 stars. If you're a fan of Mary Stewart's classic romantic suspense novels, this obscure novella has been like the Holy Grail: out of print, hard to find and wildly overpriced. For a few years we fans in the Mary Stewart GR group were passing around PDF copies of the pages in a 1960's Good Housekeeping magazine, where this story was originally published. But now it's FINALLY been republished at a fairly reasonable price. (Note: GR only links to the hardback copy, but there's a $4.99 Kindle version if you dig deeper. Purportedly the Kindle copy also includes an obscure Mary Stewart short story, "The Lost One." Maybe I need to go buy it ...)
This is an appealing, bittersweet tale with Stewart's typical attractive and intrepid young woman protagonist, a detailed description of an exotic locale -- this time we're in the Canary Islands -- and the sudden appearance of a handsome stranger. The story begins with a pair of secret lovers planning to run away together in 1875, in a night with volcanic ashes blowing in the wind, and then jumps to the present day -- which is 1967, heh.
Twenty-three year old Perdita, who describes her job with a popular author as "personal assistant, chauffeur, dog, devil and dairymaid, and whatever you call the person who is sent out in front to draw the fire," travels with the author, Mrs. Gresham, to the volcanic island of Lanzarote to research it as the setting for a new novel. There, in the first of several highly improbable coincidences, they run into the author's son Mike, who's the assistant to a well-known playwright who tells the story of the mystery of the runaway lovers from long ago. I liked the way the mystery from the past affected, and was reflected in, the current events.
This is hovering between 3 1/2 and 4 stars for me. "The Wind Off the Small Isles" is enjoyable but could have used more fleshing out. It feels a bit abrupt - most of the story takes place in just two days - and the romance is necessarily rushed. :)
At one point Perdita comments about her author-employer:Mrs. Gresham, who is nothing if not clear-sighted, once called herself “the clown with the normal clown’s urge to play Hamlet,” but this didn’t seem to me to fill the bill. I called it her “Sullivan act”, a finished master of light music breaking his heart to be Verdi.
I wonder if Mary Stewart was obliquely expressing her own feelings about her writing of beloved, but light, romantic suspense novels. Soon after this she published the first of her Arthurian fantasy novels,
The Crystal Cave. She wrote a few more romantic suspense novels afterwards, most notably
Thornyhold, but her glory days in that genre were behind her.
This novella will resonate most with those who already love Mary Stewart's writing, and the price - though not too bad - isn't as low as I think it should be for an old, fairly short novella. If you're not already a fan, I suggest starting with
Nine Coaches Waiting,
Madam, Will You Talk? or
This Rough Magic. -
This little novella is classic Mary Stewart in a nutshell version. Originally published in 1968, it was re-released in 2016 and I am so glad I found it.
All the essentials of Mary Stewart’s magic are here: beautiful descriptive writing, strong characters and the development of their relationships, suspenseful moments, and predominantly, her amazing storytelling skills.
This story reminded me of what attracted me to Mary Stewart’s writing so long ago, and why it still stands tall among the strongest storytelling novels we have available.
I enjoyed this novella whose location is one of the Canary Islands, and I will be seeking out more new-to-me Mary Stewart novels for future enjoyment. -
I picked this book up at a book fair (back when it was hard to find) and I'm glad to have finally read it.
Perdita and her employer, (writer Cora Gresham's) adventures in Lanzarote may start slowly, but the story really picks up from when Michael enters the story. This will seem a bit of a contradiction in terms as Michael doesn't have much in the way of personality. But Perdita is a resourceful, brave heroine and Stewart writes so vividly about Lanzerote.
The book cover by Laurence Irving on my edition may look unattractive at first, but it grew on me as the story progressed and All Became Clear. Let's just say it is very appropriate for the book.
The charming illustrations inside are also by Irving.
Recommended for the Stewart completists.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess... -
For a long time admirer of author Mary Stewart, knowing that this short tale was out there, somewhere, out of my reach for decades has been agony. It was like the Holy Grail for this Stewart fan.
Oh sure, I could have snagged a copy via Amazon for anywhere between $33-$400 dollars. I love ya, Mary, but not that much! So, when chance brought together two of my GR friends: one for seeing on eBay the magazine issue this short was published in, and the other for purchasing it and making it available to all of us who wanted to read it...well, I ask you, is Goodreads a great place, or what?
As to the story, it had everything I've always loved about a Mary Stewart book, albeit in a truncated format. There's descriptive prose that puts the reader right there in the scene (this time, the Canary Islands). There's romance (at hyper speed, no less. Mary likes the insta-lovin' for sure). And finally there's danger and suspense: . All in all, beautifully written, entertaining, and short (but satisfying).
Thanks to the eagle eye of Susan, and to the generosity of Diane for making this long anticipated reading experience finally happen. Ladies, it was worth it! -
This was a delightful novella that is billed as a long lost Mary Stewart book. I used to read Mary Stewart books a long time ago and really enjoyed them, so I was excited to read this one. It is short and sweet, but that's about all I can really say about it. If you plan to read it, do not read the synopsis, as the whole story is completely outlined. In true Mary Stewart fashion, there are beautiful descriptions of the island that Perdita and her boss, Cora Gresham are on. The cover of the book is so beautiful. The book has motivated me to go back and read some of Mary's full length books that I have yet to read.
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Second reading with the Mary Stewart group February 2016. Still love it and wish it was longer!
I found this to be a little gem of a story. Mary Stewart does a great job (as usual) of describing her characters and the location. The location this time is the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. This is not your typical island paradise due to volcanic activity and some of those old lava tubes play into the story. This little book has romance, suspense (actually one scene I found scary and almost terrifying), and of course, wonderful prose. It also has an interesting historical tie in due to some journals found on the cochineal farm. Last but not least there is a cave and a mention of Julian Gale, both of which reminded me of
This Rough Magic. Can't say anymore, don't want to give anything away!
Thanks to an eagle eyed member of the Mary Stewart group who spotted this magazine! And this was a wonderful group read with the MS group. -
Loved this beautiful little story and indebted to Tadiana Night Owl for making it possible for me to read it. **Review to Follow**
While reading this story, I found myself wishing it were a full-length novel and that I could know more about the two lovers who open the tale in 1879, the father and the little sister who is left behind. There was insufficient time to make me feel any real empathy with Perdita West or her male flirtation, Michael Gresham.
What Mary Stewart did masterfully (as indeed she always does) was make me believe I was walking on the lava covered ground of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, feeling the black sand between my toes. She made me feel the anxiety of being trapped inside the underwater cave with Perdita and the shock and import of her discovery there.
As a short-story it is a superb little piece. It aches to be fleshed out, however, (but not because it isn't constructed beautifully just as it sits but because one can sense how much more story there is that might have been told but wasn't.) Upon completion what I felt most keenly was the desire to have had more.
Again, my sincere appreciation at having been allowed to read this out-of-print and very difficult to obtain work of one of my favorite writers. -
This short novella (just under 100 pages) is set in 1968. Perdita West is secretary to author Cora Gresham, and they've come to Lanzarote Island, (part of the Canary Islands chain) to pick up some inspiration for Gresham's latest book. Since it's such a short story, I don't want to give any further details, but like any Stewart book there's a heroine in peril, a bit of insta-love, plus a twist on a pair of lovers who ran away from the island in 1879. The island setting was superb, as always Stewart makes you feel like you're right there. I hadn't heard of Lanzarote before, but I'd love to go and see this little gem of volcanic wasteland. Great picture gallery at the Wiki page here.
This book is very hard to find and very expensive, but a huge thanks to the members of the Mary Stewart group for hunting down a copy in an old issue of Goodhousekeeping Magazine and scanning it for us. Loved the artwork:
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Mary Stewart Group Read Feb 2016
2.5 Stars
This is a classic example of "I wish this was a full length novel".
The story starts with a couple eloping in 1875 on the brink of a volcanic episode, then the story abruptly switches to 1968 (this had me confused at first, I was reading from an old magazine and thought maybe I'd flipped to another story by mistake) and we meet our modern day h/h. The idea is a clever one, we wonder as the story progresses if history will end up repeating itself.
There's lots of excitement in the last third of the novella, involving sea caves, volcanic tunnels, and mysteries from the past that most readers will eat right up.
I think this worked as a story in a women's magazine but overall it left this chunkster fanatic wanting more. More depth to the characters, more background, more... just more.
Also, the fact that the bulk of this story took place over the course of one day (?) made the romance especially far fetched. I know it was mirroring the insta-love of the 1875 elopement but it felt a little, ok, a lot forced in the modern day scenario.
But still, I'm glad I read this hidden gem and the magazine itself was very cool in itself with the retro advertisements (Adhesive wood paneling anyone?) -
2 1/2
So glad I was able to read this rather 'lost' Mary Stewart book through the Mary Stewart group!
Mary Stewart knows how to bring the scenery to life, and here in the Canary isles, on a dry island with a volcano spouting ash, she had a lot to play with, but only so many words since this was for a magazine.
That's my main problem with the story. The beginning in 1879 was interesting and felt realistic, the story that followed in 1968 wasn't quite so exciting or realistic to me.
The insta-love that Mary Stewart is know for is here in full force and while I can usually swallow it, and did for the 1879 portion, I didn't really feel it between the narrator and the hero.
I feel like the middle third of this book wasted time that could have been spent on the exciting discovery in the crumbling basaltic ash caves. And I think that exciting bit could have been fleshed out with a villain or something. Anyway, don't hate me Mary Stewart fans! I think if she had made it into a full length novel it would have been just as good as her others for me.
That said, the last third was just as exciting as Mary Sewart could make it in the space and I really liked her descriptions, as always.
Thank you Tadiana for sending this to me and thank you to everyone else who made this book available! :) -
Highly enjoyable on a rainy afternoon. This is classic Mary Stewart with all of the beautiful (can I go there soon) descriptions of places I have never been but I can feel like I can see it and live it.
The setting is Lanzarote, Canary Islands. 1879 then 1968
Prelude: January 20, 1879 "She knelt on the windowsill, looking out over the sea. The night was clear, with a faint moon rising, but the stars seemed dim and far away."
"Anxiously she peered into the darkness. Yes, the wind blew still. On the wall of the goat pen near the cliff's edge she could see the bougainvillea tossing and above the roof the palm leaves shuffled and clicked like playing cards."
"The island was every bit as wild and barren as I had imagined. The roads stretched, pitted and dusty, between ridges of basaltic lava."
It is a short story and I can see why some MS fans wish it were longer, however, it makes sense that it is short since it was published in a Good Housekeeping Magazine in 1968 and I am certain readers who were not fans before became MS fans afterwards. I would have liked to have seen some of the characters developed a little more, esp. Michael, (crush material right off) but I still loved the story and the setting. I liked Perdita and thought she was funny and a strong character. If I had read this at the same time period it came out I think I would have given it 5 stars for the setting, mystery, and romance. My older self is a little more critical.
Highly recommended for those that like a short story with a really good mystery. If you like a setting on an island, with a skin diving adventure....grab and hour in a little reading nook, outside, or at your favorite coffee shop and enjoy. I daresay you will be completely satisfied.
One final note: I read this as a buddy read with the Mary Stewart group. It seems this book is out of print and hard to find and not affordable from the few sources it can be found. Some of the very nice women in the MS group had awhile back found a copy of the Good Housekeeping magazine it was published in and bought it on EBAY. That copy (scanned and shared with me) was the one I read. I am very thankful to Tadiana for sending it to me.
Between 3 and 4 stars but because its Mary Stewart I'm giving it 4. :)
Reread Nov 2019 with Mary Stewart group. I enjoyed it even more this time. The setting. The mystery. The insta 💕 love so common in Stewart novels. An easy pure comfort read after so many dark thrillers this last year. This time I enjoyed the audiobook from audio. Such a great narrator too. I’d listen I again. I highly recommend it! -
A new-to-me Mary Stewart! Alas that it’s only a novella. Still, it’s characteristic of her work in the fine and detailed sense of place, in the sudden sweet relationship between the male and female characters, and in the atmospheric setting. Most of it would really have benefitted from a longer book: I really wanted to see more of this post-cataclysmic scene in Lanzarote, the lava beds and lack of trees… it’s not how I imagine the place, and it’s a fascinating glimpse of a whole different time — a time when tourism on Lanzarote was barely beginning, because volcanic activity had scoured the island.
The relationship, too… I can suspend my disbelief somewhat, but it would’ve been so much better to have a full novel of this, a full novel to explore the story and the development of the relationship. Just two brief encounters seemed very little.
I’d have also liked to see more of Perdita’s relationship with her employer; a female writer who may in some ways have echoed Mary Stewart herself, a strong relationship between two women… alas that the intended third story about Perdita, a full-length book, was never written.
Still, for a bit of atmosphere and setting — wow.
Originally posted here. -
Short but wonderful novella by Mary Stewart. As always the setting is beautiful, with a small romance and a mystery.
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These two stories are short, tasty treats for somebody who's read all of Stewart's romantic-suspense novels and wishes there were more. In "The Wind Off the Small Isles," the trademark element of her writing that stands out most is how the vividly-described exotic locale is a character in the story in its own right—in this case, possibly a better-developed character than any of the people in the story. But I liked "The Lost One" even better—it's a compact, crisp little story with some breathlessly suspenseful scenes as well as a couple unexpectedly hilarious bits.
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A novella set in Lanzarote where I am currently on holiday. This was such a short story that by the time the author had set the scene there was no time for a relationship to develop between the characters. I feeI as though I've missed out a few chapters as the ending seemed so abrupt! There were a couple of unbelievable coincidences too! I did however love the descriptions of the landscape and the snippets of island history.
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Just completed reading this for the second time with the Mary Stewart group read, Nov 2019. It was very absorbing and I believe I enjoyed it just as much this time as the first even though I remembered it quite well. I am a big fan of Mary Stewart. I am moving the second reading to the Kindle volume which includes The Lost One.
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This reading was possible due to Diane's kindness in sharing this book with us.
It's amazing how a brand new copy of this book may cost US$480.23, what madness!! -
Thanks to Tadiana for making it possible to read this!
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The Wind Off the Small Isles is a little gem for fans of Mary Stewart. Set on Lanzarote, in the Canary Isles, it shows all of Stewart’s skill in description and characterization.The plot is relatively simple, as befits a novelette. My only disappointment is that it isn’t longer.
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The Wind Off the Small Isles provided my first taster of Mary Stewart's work, and boy, do I want more. The hardback edition is, firstly, one of the most beautiful books which I have ever seen. The sense of place here, Lanzarote in both the 19th and 20th centuries, has been beautifully evoked; one can almost feel the heat of the place coming off the page. Her descriptions are beautiful, and the prologue pulled me in immediately. Perdita was a very realistic protagonist, and the entirety of the novella was well paced; there was a great sense of urgency to it at the appropriate times. The dialogue was original, and not at all run-of-the-mill. I didn't quite love The Wind Off the Small Isles, but I am incredibly excited to begin my run of Stewart's novels.
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Perdita is travelling around Lanzarote with her employer, a successful writer of children's books, who is scouting the island looking for material for one of her pirate stories. At the end of a dusty, rutted track they find so much more: an irresistible house, a chance encounter, a ghostly ship, danger and terror, a happy ending. The plot is fairly simple but there is an older story that occasionally surfaces and interweaves with the modern one and, as it turns out, a few red herrings. I started reading it again as soon as I had finished it, and was immediately struck by the many subtle hints and references to the older story that are so casually scattered that they only become meaningful on a second reading. That is the charm of a Mary Stewart book. You can speed through it for the story and the atmosphere, or you can take your time and come back when your return will be amply recompensed by these charming touches.
The heroine is typical Stewart: young, beautiful, capable, independent, athletic but, ultimately, very happy to find a man she can lean on and fall in love with. The supporting cast is small but well drawn and through their conversation, Stewart offers fascinating insights into the creative writing process. The romance aspect is minimal and more understated than usual, but realistic enough for anyone who believes in love at first sight.
Although it appeared as a short story in Redbook Magazine, this was never published as a book in the US or in paperback form anywhere, so the only available edition is the original hard-cover, a slim volume in sombre grey cloth and barely stretching to 96 pages. The novel is charming but really pared down and one can almost see the places where it could have been developed and fleshed out. Lady Stewart's next published work was the first of what later became the Arthurian series, and she wrote in an essay that she considers this as a “coda” to her previous novels and a “bridge” to “The Crystal Cave”. It is exquisite but I, for one, was left wishing for more!
I would probably recommend it to confirmed Mary Stewart aficionados and completists like myself. If you are new to this author, you may want to start with something like “Nine Coaches Waiting”, “Touch Not The Cat”, “The Ivy Tree”, her strong début novel “Madam, Will You Talk?” or the fabulous “This Rough Magic”. -
Lovely short story; not quite a novella. A must-read for die-hard Mary Stewart fans, and to that end I provide this link for those unwilling/unable to shell out the inordinate sums being charged for printed copies of this book.
https://www.onlinereadfreebooks.com/e...
Stewart's unmatched descriptive writing ability is on full display; her evocations of place are the usual sensual feast for which she's so well known, and her characterizations are pure pleasure. Interesting starting premise, even if it does prove a bit thin in the plot department, and she manages to deliver both the mystery and the romance for which her works are known, cleverly tying them together using the geo-history of her setting. -
Just what I needed --A Mary Stewart feel good fix! Thank you Tadiana for sending these files to me. I got a kick out of reading this from a Good Housekeeping magazine in the late 1960s. I enjoyed the ads as well as the story!
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This nouvella was perfect for a quick summer read. Written in 1968 it is very dated, but still enjoyable. It was certainly contrived, but that didn’t really affect the enjoyment of the book.
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I was fortunate to see this in a used bookstore last week, as I had never heard of it before - surprising for a longtime reader of Mary Stewart's novels. This is a short, tightly written novel with only a few characters taking place over as many days. The descriptions of the dramatically bleak Canary Island of Lanzarote, where the charaters come together, are superb. There is a mystery about a pair of young lovers who eloped 100 years before, never to be seen again. There is romance, sudden violence and terror for the modern day lovers before the story can be resolved. The story is brief but satisfying, and as well-written as Stewart's longer novels. (I love it that the characters in her novels are so - literate.)
There is also mention of the actor Sir Julian Gale, who was a major player in Stewart's earlier novel This Rough Magic. I enjoyed hearing about him again. -
How did I manage to get my hands on this impossible-to-find-unless-you-have-loads of-money-to-toss-about book? Interlibrary Loan to the rescue! This was a smashing, classic Mary Stewart tale that is so short that it almost give you whiplash. As always, I learned a great deal about the setting of the book, there was suitable mis-adventure, mystery, danger,romance and rescue. I wish that Mary Stewart's estate could make this available online!
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A charming novella. Feels incomplete, as novellas always do for me, but still delightful to read Stewart's lyrical descriptions, and enjoy a "new" Stewart after rereading her other books so many times. So glad it finally got reprinted!!
*edit: after a 2022 reread, I noticed the nod to Julian Gale from This Rough Magic. 😍 -
First of all, the edition I read had a MUCH better cover, full of bright birds, butterflies & tropical flowers, imposed over a background of black basalt cliffs and sandy beach edging an aqua ocean! It fully represented the story that lay inside like a pearl in a treasure chest!
This charming tale is presented as a novella, and certainly all the necessary elements are here to make it one, but because Mary Stewart is an incomparable writer of full, rich, highly developed books, this offering seems incomplete. Rather than a true novella, meant to stand on its own, to me it read more like the plot outline for a more evolved and complex story. Be that as it may, this little gem holds its own in that it has all the famous hallmarks of a genuine Mary Stewart presentation, i.e. chapter headings taken from a renowned literary source (in this case," The Eve of St. Agnes," by John Keats,) the setting: glamorous, slightly tinged with danger; the cast: rough-hewn, stern man vs pretty but foolhardy younger woman; the background: real historical and/or natural aspects blended with the modern-day action. And let's not forget the Mary Stewart School of Romance: some hints that love is in the air, but you better up your "reading between the lines" game, or you might miss it entirely! Does it sound formulaic? Well, like any good product, it stays true to the winning ingredients, but nobody mixes up these basics like Mary Stewart, who makes you think you are reading ground-breaking stuff because it is always fresh and intriguing!
The sketchy little plot goes like this: about a hundred years ago, on the actively volcanic island of Lanzarote, a young couple elopes during an eruption and disappears into legend. Fast forward to the present day (minus cell phones!) and enter the aforesaid stern man & foolhardy woman, both of whom are acting as dogsbody to their respective employer/authors. (Go ahead, look that one up in your British-American English dictionary!) They make a date to go skin diving; he can't make it, she goes alone and becomes caught in an underwater cave! How she escapes (not a spoiler as the book is written from her POV, in the first person,) and what is discovered, form the remainder of the story. That's it. Short & sweet. I must add my admiration of Mary Stewart's family who chose to re-issue this delightful novella, rather than go the distressingly popular route of handing it over to another writer to "finish," aka: ruin.
