Rose Cottage (by Mary Stewart)

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I first came across Mary Stewart’s novels in my library at my secondary school, many decades ago. I was pleased when I found some of them, years later, in charity shops; and in more recent years I have been able to acquire re-printed versions of those I didn’t have already. One of these is ‘Rose Cottage’.

I did in fact have it as part of an omnibus edition with three of Stewart’s novels, but it was quite an unwieldy tome, which I read in 2011. Since I also had one of the books in this omnibus separately, and was given one of the others, I added ‘Rose Cottage’ to my wishlist in a new edition, and was delighted to be given it for Christmas.

I had entirely forgotten the story; although set in 1947, it wasn’t published until 1997 when the author was in her early eighties. I gather it was her last published novel, but her skill in writing and characterisation shines through, as in her earlier books. And it’s a very enjoyable story. Some of Stewart’s novels have a bit too much violence for my tastes; there’s none in this, other than brief mention of a tragic road accident which affected the main characters significantly - but it all happens off-stage, so to speak.

Kathy is the main protagonist of this story, a young woman in her mid-twenties. We learn in the first chapter that she’s been staying with her grandmother in Scotland, after her grandmother has been ill. Kathy’s had a difficult life: her mother abandoned her when she was small, and she never knew a father. Her grandparents brought her up, and she’s very fond of her grandmother. Then Kathy married an airman, although the marriage was very short as he died in the war. He’s left her reasonably well-off but she’s still grieving.

Kathy’s grandmother asks her to travel to their former home, Rose Cottage. There’s still some of their furniture there, and a hidden safe with some important documents, and a few nostalgic mementoes of their life. Kathy has quite mixed memories of Rose Cottage, which she and her grandmother shared with her great-aunt, who was very puritanical and quite harsh.

So she travels down, and embarks on quite a nostalgic journey, meeting people she hasn’t seen for several years, exploring places she recalls from her childhood. Inevitably she can’t find everything her grandmother wanted her to send to Scotland… and she hears rumours in the village of prowlers a few days earlier. The tension is very mild; Kathy is puzzled more than frightened.

The people feel real, even the slightly caricatured three old biddies (who are probably not all that old): the sweet, unworldly one who loves to garden; her more practical sister, and their neighbour who has dreams and visions. There’s a gentle low-key humour in their twitterings, but their care and concern shines through.

Perhaps the plot is a tad far-fetched - but it’s a good story, well-told, with descriptive passages that weren’t tedious, and conversations that felt entirely natural. I liked Kathy very much; I’m not quite sure why it was necessary for her to have been married and widowed for the story, except that it enables her to be reasonably self-sufficient. She does have a job, but can easily take leave.

There’s only the faintest hint of a possible romance - even less than in most of Mary Stewart’s ‘romantic thrillers’, but perhaps it was realistic, leaving the way open for developments in the future.

All in all, I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it to anyone who likes mid-20th-century character-based stories with a touch of intrigue. It’s not a long book - less than 250 pages in my paperback edition - and I finished it in just a few days.

Definitely recommended.

Review copyright 2021 Sue's Book Reviews