Scan barcode
A review by booking_along
The Wind off the Small Isles by Mary Stewart
5.0
This was utterly delightful!
Such beautiful descriptions of nature, while also focusing on a little action, drama and adventure all rolled into just a few pages.
Of course that can't be a lot of actual development or introduction or anything deep in those stories, they are both around 50 pages long! how could there be?
But there is enough to be entertained and delighted!
The wind off the small isles shares a nice story starting out with a couple from the isles in 1879 and than jumps to 1968 to learn what happened with them. What i personally loved about this was how Stewart managed to set the atmosphere of the cave, of the darkness and the beautiful descriptions of the isles! She made me want to go to Lanzarote just so be able to experience that strange nature as well! Which is an achievement, let me tell you, after really playing nicely on my fear of cave-ins!
It was a beautiful little story, not necessary unexpected where it was going but beautifully told non the less with really nice characters and way of telling what was happening!
And The lost one is a completely different little story with the same main character Perdita - which yes that name did make me think of 101 dalmations, anyone else?!- anyways.... different setting, no longer on a isles between africa and spain as in the first story, instead it is set in the middle of Scotland, driving along in a car at night when the car stops with engine troubles in the middle of nowhere on a country road... yeah that is not at all a huge nightmare scenario for any women at all. Or maybe that is just another childhood thing of mine? Possible...
Maybe i just love this little book so much because stewart actually managed two really pin not one but two things that i always was quiet a bit afraid of without even actually making that the main focus on the story, but still focusing enough on it that it really got do me. NOW that is a talent in my eyes!
I am getting side tracks like nobodies business in this review! Sorry!
The second story is about Perdita and her mother driving along a country road, getting car trouble and making their way along a dark country road to a farm house not to far away from their car, and from there on the story evolves into a lot and it was beautiful!
As i said, i am not sure if this book just managed to pin small points that just work for me.
Or if it was the really nice writing, actually making me feel as if i was there as well, experiencing with Perdita because Stewart knew how to describe a scene to suck the reader in!
Maybe i was just in the right mood to real those types of short stories?
NO Idea!
I loved it.
And i twas defiantly the perfect introduction to this author for me to make me understand why so many of my favourite book tubers have been OBSESSED with this author this entire year!
I am defiantly reading more of her writing and i already know that i will be rereading this book in the near future!
I also loved the introduction which was written by Stewarts niece, who knew her "aunty Mary" clearly very well and who is better to introduce a story or how happy they are to see them reprinted than someone that actually knew the person that wrote it?
Also there where no spoilers to the actual stories in the introduction which is way to rare for any type of classics be it modern or "old" since apparently it is perfectly fine to spoil an entire book/story in the intrudctinoary section BEFORE you read the book when its considered a classic.
Ramble!
sorry!
In this book that thankfully wasn't the case and it was a really nicely written introduction as well.
I LOVED this book, highly recommend it.
Be prepared for different but beautiful writing, that is utterly delightful but also gets to you IF you are willing to let yourself be carried away for a short story.
If you want build up, character building and anything of that nature... try something else by Stewart i guess?
Such beautiful descriptions of nature, while also focusing on a little action, drama and adventure all rolled into just a few pages.
Of course that can't be a lot of actual development or introduction or anything deep in those stories, they are both around 50 pages long! how could there be?
But there is enough to be entertained and delighted!
The wind off the small isles shares a nice story starting out with a couple from the isles in 1879 and than jumps to 1968 to learn what happened with them. What i personally loved about this was how Stewart managed to set the atmosphere of the cave, of the darkness and the beautiful descriptions of the isles! She made me want to go to Lanzarote just so be able to experience that strange nature as well! Which is an achievement, let me tell you, after really playing nicely on my fear of cave-ins!
It was a beautiful little story, not necessary unexpected where it was going but beautifully told non the less with really nice characters and way of telling what was happening!
And The lost one is a completely different little story with the same main character Perdita - which yes that name did make me think of 101 dalmations, anyone else?!- anyways.... different setting, no longer on a isles between africa and spain as in the first story, instead it is set in the middle of Scotland, driving along in a car at night when the car stops with engine troubles in the middle of nowhere on a country road... yeah that is not at all a huge nightmare scenario for any women at all. Or maybe that is just another childhood thing of mine? Possible...
Maybe i just love this little book so much because stewart actually managed two really pin not one but two things that i always was quiet a bit afraid of without even actually making that the main focus on the story, but still focusing enough on it that it really got do me. NOW that is a talent in my eyes!
I am getting side tracks like nobodies business in this review! Sorry!
The second story is about Perdita and her mother driving along a country road, getting car trouble and making their way along a dark country road to a farm house not to far away from their car, and from there on the story evolves into a lot and it was beautiful!
As i said, i am not sure if this book just managed to pin small points that just work for me.
Or if it was the really nice writing, actually making me feel as if i was there as well, experiencing with Perdita because Stewart knew how to describe a scene to suck the reader in!
Maybe i was just in the right mood to real those types of short stories?
NO Idea!
I loved it.
And i twas defiantly the perfect introduction to this author for me to make me understand why so many of my favourite book tubers have been OBSESSED with this author this entire year!
I am defiantly reading more of her writing and i already know that i will be rereading this book in the near future!
I also loved the introduction which was written by Stewarts niece, who knew her "aunty Mary" clearly very well and who is better to introduce a story or how happy they are to see them reprinted than someone that actually knew the person that wrote it?
Also there where no spoilers to the actual stories in the introduction which is way to rare for any type of classics be it modern or "old" since apparently it is perfectly fine to spoil an entire book/story in the intrudctinoary section BEFORE you read the book when its considered a classic.
Ramble!
sorry!
In this book that thankfully wasn't the case and it was a really nicely written introduction as well.
I LOVED this book, highly recommend it.
Be prepared for different but beautiful writing, that is utterly delightful but also gets to you IF you are willing to let yourself be carried away for a short story.
If you want build up, character building and anything of that nature... try something else by Stewart i guess?