This Rough Magic

I've read a very good bood, entitled This Rough Magic... Do you know it?

Let me tell you about it :

The author :

Mary Stewart

Mary Stewart was born in September 1916, in Sunderland, United Kingdom. She is a popular novelist. Her first novel is entitled Madam, Will you talk?, published in 1955. Her fame is due to her “Merlin Trilogy” which her first volume is The Crystal Cave, writing in 1970. She also wrote many novels such as The Moon-Spinners (1962) or This Rough Magic (1964).

Characters :

The main character is Lucy Waring and she is the narrator of the story. She is an actress and she lives in London. In the story, she spends her holidays in Corfu, a paradise island in Greece. She stays with her sister, Phyllida, who live there.

Phyllida Forli is Lucy’s older sister. She married a rich man, Leonardo Forli and lives in Corfu. She has got three big houses close to each other. She lives in one of them, called Villa Forli, and rents the others. She is pregnant and she said that if the child is boy, she will name him Propero. She has got two domestics, Maria and her daughter Miranda.

Leonardo Forli is Phyllida’s husband. He is a rich Roman banker. He is not present in the story but Lucy speaks about him.

Maria is a Forli’s domestic and she works in the Villa Forli. She has got two children, the twins Miranda and Spiro. She is a Corfiote peasant.

Miranda is a Forli’s domestic too. She is Maria’s daughter and Spiro’s twin. She sees Adoni.

Spiro is a Forli’s domestic but he works in the Villa Rotha, a Forli’s house rented by Godfrey Manning. He is a good photographer. He is Maria’s son and Miranda’s twin.

Adoni is a Forli’s domestic too but he works in the Castello dei Fiori, an other Forli’s house rented by Sir Julian Gale. He is Spiro and Max’s friend. He has an affair with Miranda and he plans to marry her.

            Julian Gale is a famous English actor turned recluse. He lives in the Castello dei Fiori with his son Max, the garden is full of roses. He lost his wife and his daughter in a motor accident four years ago. He is Miranda and Spiro’s godfather and he has got a white cat, named Nitwit.

Maxwell (Max) Gale is Sir Julian Gale’s son. He is a musician and he is writing a score for a film version of The Tempest, a Shakespeare’s play.

            Godfrey Manning is a wealthy man. He is a good photographer and fisherman. He lives in the third Forli’s house, the Villa Rotha. He has got a boat-house, named Aleister.

            Markos Papadopoulos is a police inspector and he conducts an inquiry of Yanni Zouglas death. He is a minor character.

The plot:

            Lucy Waring joined her sister Phyllida Forli in Corfu, a paradise island in Greece, for a few days. The first time Lucy went to the beach, near the house, she saw a dolphin. Unfortunately, someone tried to kill it by shoot. The next day, Lucy learned by Phyllida that Spiro, her domestic, drowned when he went out with Godfrey Manning in his boat to take some photos by night. Everybody was really shocked. Later, Lucy met Sir Julian Gale and his son, Max Gale, in their house. They spoke about their own lives. The following day, Lucy found a dead body, lying on the beach. The dead man was Yanni Zouglas, a smuggler. The next day, in the evening, Lucy came down to the beach, looking for her sister’s ring. She found it but she also found the dolphin lying on the sand. Fortunately, Max was here and helped her to bring it to the sea. They succeeded and, then, Max kissed Lucy. He told her that Spiro was still alive with a broken leg and that he was in the Castello dei Forli. Spiro told her that it was Godfrey who pushed him overboard. Godfrey may be a dangerous smuggler. A few days later, Adoni, Max and Spiro’s friend, found a “proof” of Godfrey’s murderous actions in a cave near the Castello. Unfortunately, Godfrey got back the package and put it on his boat. Lucy tried to take it but he came back to his boat when she was still in it. Godfrey saw her after he started up the boat. Consequently, she invented a story. However, Godfrey didn’t believe her, so he pushed her overboard. She found herself lying on a beach of Corfu. A Corfiote family took her in their little cottage. Then, they brought her back to the Villa Forli by motorcycle. She found Inspector Papadopoulos in the Villa Rotha with Max, Adoni, Spiro, Miranda and Godfrey. The latter was angry because they accused him of her disappearance and the other murderous actions. He took Lucy hostage and then, after released Lucy, he ran to his boat. Unfortunately, the boat exploded. At the end of the story, Sir Julian Gale proposed to Lucy to marry his son. She said ‘Yes’.

My impression:

            At the beginning, I didn’t understand what Lucy was talking about. However, when actions started, I came into the story. Then, I really enjoyed reading it. There was suspense and romance, all I love! It was a very good book but I didn’t understand all.