It was with sadness but no surprise that I read Mary Stewart’s obituary in the Guardian yesterday, after all she was 97. I think I’ve read most of her books over the years but it is her Merlin trilogy which I enjoyed most, years later she added another two books to the series.
I read the Merlin ones as they were first published, having to wait for the next one to be written and I remember that I had always meant to write to her as in one of the books she had mentioned King Arthur being at Dumbarton Castle, I wanted to ask her if she had entirely made that up or she had seen it written in an old document or book. But I never did get around to writing that letter, and having read her obituary I think maybe she wouldn’t have appreciated letters from readers, as she was such a private person.
We probably do have to thank a disastrous ectopic pregnancy and subsequent peritonitis which meant that she couldn’t have any children for her being able to write at all. Apparently she had wanted four children and if she had then any thoughts of having a writing career would probably have gone out the window for a good number of years anyway.
You can read some tributes from authors which appeared in yesterday’s Guardian here.
Although Mary Stewart was born in the north of England she did marry a Scot and lived most of her life in Scotland, so she definitely qualifies as a Scottish author for the Read Scotland 2014 challenge.
Though I’d read & love her Merlin books, you & Anbolyn really introduced me to her other books, and I am so grateful. I still have a shelf of her books to read – including the later Arthur books. I was wondering about children, I didn’t realize she was unable to have any.
Lisa,
No I didn’trealise that she hadn’t had any children until I read her obituary, it must have been a terrible disappointment to her, but I suppose her books became her children.
I saw she’d died too – as you say not really a surprise, but sad. I’ve read two of her books this year – loved the first one The Last Enchantment (no.3 in the Merlin trilogy) and also like The Wicked Day, which is a sequel to the trilogy. I’d hesitated to include them in the Read Scotland 2014 challenge, because, although I knew she lived in Scotland, the books I’d read are about 5th century Britain and not specifically Scottish. But I think I’ll count them in the Challenge as after all she did live most of her adult life in Scotland.
Margaret,
Yes she definitely qualifies for the challenge and I think her books are recognisably Scottish, she was born just over the Border and I don’t see much of a difference between the people in the north east and Scots. There was so much coming and going between the two areas for work, we both have grandparents who were born in the north east of England.
I had not heard this, Katrina. Thanks for the link to the tributes.
TracyK,
I’m glad you found it interesting.
Thanks, Katrina, for letting us know of Mary Stewart’s passing. I’m not sure I would have known without your post. Imagine, 97! I suppose it would be lame of me to wish she’d had a longer life (!). But I do feel sadness when favorite authors and artists of all sorts die. I agree her first three Merlin books were my favorites also, though I was always partial to Nine Coaches Waiting, which I recently purchased and hope to reread one day soon. The details of her life are so interesting. I’ll now be looking up her obituaries all over.
Judith
Judith,
I hope she was one of those sprightly 97 year olds, although one lady I knew said to me on her 90th birthday – no woman wants to be 90. It’s so long since I read Nine Coaches Waiting that I can’t really remember it, I should do a re-read.
Absolutely! Many people have told me that it is among their Mary Stewart Faves.
Judith
Very sad about her not being able to have children – I’m sure that was a great tragedy for her. Perhaps that’s why many of her books have children in them – especially little boys.
Anbolyn,
I think you’re probably right about that, if you can’t have kids it’s probably best to make them up, and those ones don’t keep you awake at night! Sayers did something similar and invented her perfect man in Lord Peter Wimsey.
I know so little of Sayers–how interesting that Wimsey was her ideal of the male species. Fascinating.
Judith
Judith,
She obviously had a thing about rich, silly ass aristocrats who turn out to be smarty pants! I must admit to having a soft spot for Wimsey too.