Mary Stewart Novels - Settings Quiz

Answer: Delphi, Greece

Camilla Haven has recently broken up with her boyfriend and taken the opportunity to go on a solo holiday to Greece. While idling in a cafe, she suddenly finds herself offered the chance to go to Delphi. On the way she meets an English teacher, Simon Lester, who had travelled to Greece to learn more about his brother Michael who had died there during World War II. Stewart's pen describes Delphi and its beauty so vividly that one can imagine the place without ever having been there.

Answer: Austria

"Airs Above the Ground" begins with Vanessa March finding out her husband is in Austria when he had said he would be in Stockholm. Uneasy about his secretiveness where his work is concerned, she jumps at an offer to travel to Vienna as a chaperon to her friend's young son.

The two soon become thick friends and find themselves caught in a whirlwind adventure through the Austrian Alps. From hair-raising car chases on the mountains to the beauty of watching the Lipizzaner horses in motion, Stewart's writing brings the book to life.

Answer: Lebanon

"The Gabriel Hounds" is the only Mary Stewart novel to be set outside Europe. Christy Mansel unexpectedly meets her cousin Charles in Damascus. Together the two spontaneously decide to go visit their Great Aunt Harriet who had left England years ago and made her home in Lebanon. Alone in lands that are alien to them and at the house of a relative they don't really know, have the cousins taken on more than they can manage? Stewart's descriptions of the bazaars and souks of the region, the crumbling estate where Great Aunt Harriet lives and the landscape of the surroundings paint a vivid picture of these places that are exotic for the English cousins.

Answer: Pyrenees, France

"Thunder on the Right" is set in the French Pyrenees. Jennifer Silver arrives to spend time with her cousin only to be met with the shocking news of the cousin's sudden death in a road accident. When she travels to the convent where her cousin breathed her last, she ends up with more questions than answers.

The beauty of the Pyrenees is well described and the chase sequence in the climax is vintage Mary Stewart writing.

Answer: Lac Leman, France

"Nine Coaches Waiting" is often described as being in the tradition of gothic novels like Daphne Du Maurier's "Rebecca" and Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre". Linda Martin is an orphan who is hired as a nanny for a young boy Philippe. Philippe is the heir to a huge estate and having lost his own parents lives with his father's younger brother and his wife. Most of the action takes place at the family estate, the Château Valmy.

The chateau is located near the shores of Lac Leman between the French city of Thonon-les-Bains and the Swiss city of Geneva.

Answer: Corfu, Greece

"This Rough Magic" is set on the island of Corfu in Greece. It has all the elements of a classic Mary Stewart novel - suspense, romance and striking descriptions of the surroundings. Lucy Waring is in Corfu on a holiday, spending time with her sister who lives there. An aspiring actress, she is thrilled to run into theater thespian Sir Julian Gale on the island.

The book has multiple references to the Shakespearean play "The Tempest", even borrowing the title from there.

Answer: Provence, France

"Madam, Will You Talk?" was the first novel published by Mary Stewart. Her trademark suspense writing with its twists and turns is in fine form even in this early work. Charity Selborne is taking a much needed holiday in Provence with her friend Louise and finds herself drawn towards a young boy staying at the same hotel with his stepmother.

She learns that his father is in prison for having committed a serious crime, but when she finds reason to believe the boy may be in danger, it doesn't take long for her to plunge headlong into adventure.

Answer: Northumberland, England

"The Ivy Tree" begins with Mary Grey enjoying a day off from her job to roam around the countryside. While sitting by Hadrian's Wall, she suddenly finds someone call out to her as Annabel. The person turns out to be Connor Winslow, the nephew of a nearby farm owner.

His own cousin Annabel had left the house several years ago and Mary bears a striking resemblance to the missing girl. Connor manages to enlist Mary's help to inherit the entire farm. However, will they be able to fool everyone into thinking Mary is Annabel?

Answer: Crete, Greece

"The Moon-Spinners" takes readers to another Greek setting, this time the island of Crete. Nicola Ferris has a job with the British Embassy in Athens giving her ample opportunity to wander around the beautiful country. Taking off to the island of Crete, she decides to explore some of it on her own while waiting for her cousin to join her. What was supposed to be a carefree hike ends up with her discovering an injured fellow countryman and a situation well beyond her depth.

Answer: Isle of Skye

Gianetta Brooke is a model and when she looks for a break from her busy life, a quiet holiday on the Isle of Skye seems like the perfect option. That is until she realises that the tiny hotel she is staying at is also the place where her ex-husband has been booked in. Things take a dangerous turn when a hotel guest ends up dead and another disappears.

The plot of "Wildfire at Midnight" centres on the mountains of the isle and it is fitting that the first successful Everest summit by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay occurs during the timeline of the novel.