Review: ConscienceSarah on 'Touch Not the Cat'

Here we have our first review by ConscienceSarah! Enjoy :)

Title: Touch Not the Cat

Author: Mary Stewart 

ISBN-10: 1444715038 

ISBN-13: 978-1444715033

Preferred age rating: 15

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Review:
Touch Not the Cat (by Mary Stewart) first published in 1976

When I first started reading this book, I checked back to the author and other books she'd written because I recognised her name and her beautifully descriptive style of writing that shows particularly when she's describing places. I discovered she'd also written The Merlin Trilogy (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills & The Last Enchantment) which I read the summer before last and thoroughly enjoyed.

First impressions/Stewart's writing style:
The first chapter of Touch Not the Cat opens with a quote from Romeo and Juliet: 'It is my soul that calls upon my name'. This encompasses many of the key themes introduced in the first chapter (love and death for instance) which also feature in Romeo and Juliet. The quote itself echoes the relationship between the two main characters from the first chapter: Bryony Ashley and unidentified character, who Bryony assumes is one of her second cousins, and with whom she has a telepathic connection. The quote also reflects the repeated calling of Bryony's name throughout the first chapter.

Stewart uses lots of description to build up a picture of Bryony's life and history. The long, informative passages progress through Bryony's own life or the history of her family before arriving at the day where the story starts with some reference to the imminent death of Bryony's father. Then the process starts again. The passages in the rest of the book are more chronological with fewer historical stories cropping up.

The first chapter is largely written in the first person from Bryony's point of view. However the last paragraph is in the third person and presents the thoughts and feelings of a man at Ashley Court in 1835 who is, again, unidentified, setting up the mystery to be unravelled...

A great read if you love mystery and/or romance.

WARNING: The rest of this post contains SPOILERS!



Before I continue this review I have a confession to make. I wanted to know how long the book would be and how many chapters it contained and, as my copy had no contents, the only way I could do this was by flicking through the book. This inadvertantly caused me to discover the identity of Bryony's secret lover when I was only a little way through the book. Although this spoiled some of the mystery for me, I could still enjoy the book because there was more than one answer to discover! I also found some of the characters very interesting, particularly Nicholas Ashley (or Wicked Nick as he is sometimes called) who's story runs parallel to Bryony's through the flashbacks to 1835. At the beginning, he seems like a really evil person just out for as many girls as he can get, but throughout the novel we see that he actually had a troubled past and he really loved one of his 'girlfriends'. This character also seems to run parallel with James (one of Bryony's cousins) who originally seems to be using Bryony to gain her money but later, his care for her is revealed.

The character of Francis is another memorable one because he doesn't physically appear until the last chapter. Here he finds everywhere covered in water and when he asks what has happened he is basically told, "Well your brother killed your Dad's cousin and tried to murder us (flooding everywhere in the process) and we want to pass the ownership of Ashley Court to you. We've found some money to help you clean it up and we'll help you for a bit and then we're going to New Zealand, okay?" I SALTS (sniggered a little then stopped) when I read this!

However, you can't fault Stewart's superb ways of expressing emotion and presenting tension in a scene. You also can't fail to spot the clues that lead you to an answer when you read the book for the second time (or the first time if you've already spoilt it for yourself like me!)

Keep reading,
ConscienceSarah

Well there you have it! Have you read 'Touch Not the Cat', or are planning to? Leave your comments below :)