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This Rough Magic

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This Rough Magic

By: Mary Stewart
Narrated by: Helen Johns
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About this listen

The pioneer of romantic suspense, Mary Stewart leads her listeners on a thrilling journey to a Mediterranean island paradise in this tale of mystery, murder and intrigue, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Barbara Pym.

Lucy Waring, a young, out-of-work actress from London, leaps at the chance to visit her sister for a summer on the island paradise of Corfu, and what's more, a famous but reclusive actor is staying in a villa nearby. But Lucy's hopes for rest and romance are shattered when a body washes up on the beach and she finds herself swept up in a chilling chain of events.

I shuddered, and drank my coffee, leaning back in my chair to gaze out across pine tops furry with gold towards the sparkling sea, and surrendering myself to the dreamlike feeling that marks the start of a holiday....

©1964 Mary Stewart (P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd Crime Thrillers Romance Romantic Suspense Suspense Thriller & Suspense Thriller Fiction Exciting Celebrity Island Ancient Greece Ancient History

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All stars
Most relevant  
I love Mary Stewart’s novels and this is excellently read, particularly the different voices and brought it all to life.

Great dramatisation

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A beautiful reading of a charming story, very nostalgic! The characters were wonderfully distinct in this reading and the atmosphere was gorgeously illustrated. I’d recommend it!

Lovely performance

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A wonderful story telling of redemption and renewal of a widower once seeking solace in a bottle who finds the courage to stay true to his art. The two love stories are sympathetically told and the Island comes alive on the pages. Mary Stewart is a wonderful story-teller I wish more of her books were available to listen to.

Prospero's Isle

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I enjoyed this book. The Corfu atmosphere is captured very well. As usual, the books have an old fashioned period appeal, with manners and class recalling black and white films, but the heroine takes a very active part in the adventure. This book had more peril than My Brother Michael.
The references to The Tempest added to the enjoyment.
The narrator was fine, but I listened on 1.20x speed to keep the pace more clipped.

excellent fun

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Perfect timing. This summer I've been on a Mary Stewart jag, re-reading my favourites, all her stand alone novels from Madam, Will You Talk to Touch Not the Cat. They all stand the test of time, and I've loved revisiting them. My only regret was that none of them had ever been recorded in Audible. There were a few of the later, rather lighter, books but even narrators like Jenny Agutter can't make up for the fact they are abridged.
Then, by chance, I checked again - and there was one of my all time favourites, This Rough Magic, together with Wildfire at Midnight - and it seems Madam, Will You Talk is to follow so hopefully Hodder and Stoughton have commissioned the lot and they will all be new, unabridged recordings. Brilliant...
This is one of her 3 Ionioan based books, often linked with The Moonspinners (set on Crete) and My Brother Michael (set in Delphi) for that reason, but they all stand as separate and it doesn't really matter what order you read them in. The setting isn't that long ago but might seem it to some, no mobile phones or instant e-anything.
It's long been one of my favourites as the characters are all so well drawn, from Lucy herself to Phil, Max and Sir Julian Gale, Godfrey Manning and I've always had a soft spot for the lovely, but surprisingly tough, Adonis. It brings Corfu to life as well but sadly I'm sure if I went to some of the quiet fishing villages described, they'd be very different today. Great story ... has everything from tension and mystery to humour to romance as all Mary Stewart's books do, and is still gripping after several re-reads over many years, but no spoilers.
The links to The Tempest are interesting but it isn't necessary to know Shakespeare to enjoy the book. If you do know and love the play it certainly adds another dimension, and the 'this rough magic' speech, in the hands of the right actor, could reduce anyone to tears. (|My vote would go to Roger Allum at The Globe).
I wasn't entirely sure about Helen John's voice at first, she seemed a bit wavery at the outset but it soon grew on me and I really enjoyed having this old favourite read out loud.
Now moving on to Wildfire at Midnight on Skye, and so looking forward to the rest as they are published...

Serendipity... as ever was

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A favourite book that is done total justice in this beautifully read version. Characters are well delivered, with perfectly judged subtlety, and challenging accents are handled superbly with no jarring as can so often happen in other narrations. My third listen, and one I will go back to.

Classic Mary Stewart, well read.

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Very well written....old fashioned narrative but enjoyable.
First read this when I was just 16...now 70!
Author excellent.
Narration very good ....until the pronunciation of the most common Greek surname in fiction. PAPADOPOULOS! Totally hilarious....

Good

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I genuinely enjoyed this story from beginning to end. Not an author I have come across before but now I feel “where have I been!”

I was transported to Corfu and a very intimate and secret world I felt privileged to step into.

To categorise this story is difficult because one minute you are in a romance, then a drama then woosh and you are knee deep into an exciting thriller! It wasn’t what I was expecting from it (an a to b crime story) and I’m delighted it wasn’t.

I can’t recommend it highly enough.

A magical thrilling journey with a little love thrown in!

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The author was recommended to me as having a similar style to Dick Francis'. I can't really agree with that as the pacing was much slower, particularly in the first half, and the plot was pretty simple - after the first two hours it's pretty obvious who the villain is, there are no real surprises anywhere down the road, and most of the characters where a bit two-dimensional and quite predictable. However, I still enjoyed listening to it as the protagonist was rather likable, her love for the beauty of the Ionian sea shone through, and the pace picked up some after the first two hours. The characterisation of Corfu and the Greeks was on the touristy-clichéd side, but as the protagonist is a visiting actress, that was fine by me. Especially some of the later action sequences were well written and rather suspenseful. Overall, I liked listening to it while driving, but I wouldn't listen for a second time.

Enjoyable, but rather slow paced and predictable

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Another favourite revisited. Thoroughly enjoyable, and will happily listen again. So pleased more of these enchanting and exciting Mary Stewart stories are becoming available from audible. Would love more Emilia Fox narrations too.

Delightful!

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