Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart was first published in 1955 but my copy is from 1969 as I think you would have realised from the cover. When I was reading this book I didn’t realise that it is actually the first book that she had published, it certainly doesn’t read like a first effort.
Charity is a young widow and when she decided to go on a road trip to Provence she asked her close friend Louise to accompany her. Not long after arriving at their hotel Charity befriends David an English teenager who is staying there with his French step-mother. It transpires that David’s father Richard has been tried for murder but has been acquitted, and when Charity overhears a conversation she realises that Richard is in France and is trying to track down his son. She is sure that David is in danger, he certainly seems to be terrified of his father.
I really enjoyed this book which is a mystery, adventure, romance and travelogue all rolled into one. There are some lovely descriptions of the countryside and there’s a hair-raising high speed car journey with Charity as the expert driver, something quite advanced and new for a female character in 1955 I think.
I read this one for the Read Scotland 2017 Challenge.
I read this a few years ago and it’s still one of my favourite Mary Stewart novels. I loved the car chase and the beautiful descriptions of the French countryside – and I agree that it doesn’t feel at all like a first novel!
Helen,
I really think that if Mary Stewart had been a man her books would have been much more high profile when she first wrote them, I suspect most men wouldn’t dream of trying her books.