The Moon-Spinners by Mary Stewart

Title: The Moon-Spinners
Author: Mary Stewart
Publication: William Morrow, hardcover, 1962
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Setting: 20th century Crete

Description: Nicola Ferris has been working as a secretary at the British Embassy in Athens, working on her Greek and trying to explore the country whenever possible. She has planned a trip to Crete to meet up with her cousin Frances and gets a ride part of the way and arrives a day early, needing to walk across country to the town of Agios Georgios. On the way, she falls into adventure, when she encounters an Englishman, Mark, who has been badly wounded, and his Greek guide, Lambis. They are wary of her but eventually reveal they were attacked by strangers and they tell Nicola it is too dangerous to be around them, to begin her Easter holiday and forget she met them. While she recognizes this is sensible advice, she is a bit miffed but heads to the town where her cousin should be arriving from a cruise with friends. But Agios Georgios is not going to provide the simple peace she promised Frances, although there is abundant beautiful countryside . . .

My Impression: One of the appealing things about Mary Stewart’s books is the feeling the adventures she describes could happen to anyone, including the reader. Her heroines are everywoman, if perhaps a bit braver or more curious than the average bear. Nicola is a prime example of this character: she is an orphan, so self-reliant, and took a job in Greece to fulfill her wanderlust. Her cousin Frances is on a cruise with friends and they have planned to meet in a small coastal village in Crete to relax, explore, and enjoy the flora and fauna, as Frances is a botanist. However, as Nicola approaches the path that leads to Agios Georgios, she is distracted:

It was the egret, flying out of the lemon grove, that started it. I won’t pretend I saw it straight away as the conventional herald of adventure, the white stag of the fairytale, which, bounding from the enchanted thicket, entices the prince away from his followers, and loses him in the forest where danger threatens with the dusk. But, when the big white bird flew suddenly up among the glossy leaves and the lemon flowers, I followed it.

Stewart’s descriptions of the natural world are frequent and add dimension to her work but I also love these Robert Frost decision-making moments. In My Brother Michael, the heroine is writing a postcard, “Nothing ever happens to me,” a moment before everything starts happening (I have tried this without encountering adventure at all, alas).

When intrepid Nicola encounters two men in trouble she doesn’t hesitate to help, although it means spending the night with a complete stranger (wounded but attractive). She is a bit miffed to be told the next day to run along and forget she ever met them when she feels wholeheartedly involved but they are trying to protect her from the unknown danger they unintentionally have brought on themselves (and yes, they are somewhat sexist but it’s 1962). Fortunately, this is not the end of Nicola’s involvement. Her explorations in the village are entertaining and sometimes frightening, while Cousin Frances serves as confidante and maintains a calm demeanor as Nicola worries.  

There is a movie starring Hayley Mills that apparently bears little resemblance to the book although it is set in Crete and features an English heroine and a mysterious Englishman (although Mills had made The Parent Trap only three years earlier, she was barely 18 by the time The Moon-Spinners was released, which is a little younger than Nicola in the book).  My library system has a copy so I have put it on hold and will watch out of curiosity.  Don't worry, my expectations are low.

This was the first Stewart I read, so perhaps destined to become a favorite. We were having a family vacation in Bermuda when I was 11. Although we stayed at a nice hotel on the water, it was November and chilly, so we didn’t spend as much time on the beach as planned. On the day I remember, we went to Hamilton, which is the capital, and found a bookstore! That was the first time I encountered the Chalet School books by Elinor Brent-Dyer – there were dozens and it took me quite a while to figure out which ones to buy (book 1 and two others). We also bought Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper, The House in Cornwall by Noel Streatfeild (I have been looking for this but cannot find it), a book called Saturday and the Irish Aunt, and The Moon-Spinners. We also visited a library and I started reading Wintle’s Wonders, which my library at home did not own, even as Dancing Shoes, the American title insisted upon by Random House. I very reluctantly put it back on the shelf and begrudged the years it took to find a copy in the U.S.

Source: Personal copy. I read this for the 1962 Club in October but ran out of time to review it. It’s also my twenty-ninth book for Carol’s Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge.

Off the Blog: In honor of the 139th Harvard-Yale game, courtesy of Yale’s Beinecke Library, here is the menu from the lunch served to (presumably Yale) alumni in 1910 before the game, pre-tailgating.

Mock turtle consists of calf's head or beef; sherry, brandy, or wine; and seasonings. It became more popular in the US than real turtle soup, which was a symbol of wealth.