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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9781556526183
ISBN: 1556526180
Label: Chicago Review Press
Manufacturer: Chicago Review Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: May 01, 2006
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Studio: Chicago Review Press
Features:- ISBN13: 9781556526183
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
A governess in a French château encounters an apparent plot against her young charge's life in this unforgettably haunting and beautifully written suspense novel. When lovely Linda Martin first arrives at Château Valmy as an English governess to the nine-year-old Count Philippe de Valmy, the opulence and history surrounding her seems like a wondrous, ecstatic dream. But a palpable terror is crouching in the shadows. Philippe's uncle, Leon de Valmy, is the epitome of charm, yet dynamic and arrogantâhis paralysis little hindrance as he moves noiselessly in his wheelchair from room to room. Only his son Raoul, a handsome, sardonic man who drives himself and his car with equally reckless abandon, seems able to stand up to him. To Linda, Raoul is an enigmaâthough irresistibly attracted to him, she senses some dark twist in his nature. When an accident deep in the woods nearly kills Linda's innocent charge, she begins to wonder if someone has deadly plans for the young count.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
I guess mysteries have always been a part of my life. Ever since my mom handed me that first Nancy Drew--The Hidden Staircase--that thirst for the clues, the search, the not knowing has stuck with me. That, combined with the fact that they are very nostalgic for me, and you get to read about a lot of them. Mary Stewart is my very favorite when it comes to romantic suspense and her many mysteries are serial re-reads for me. In the best of times and the worst of times, she comes through with an unrivaled spirit of adventure, panache, and wanderlust. I will forever have my mom to thank for finding her first Mary Stewart in a small town library when she was in high school, painstakingly collecting lovely used copies over the years, and reading them over and over again so that one day I would grow up and want to do the same. If you ask my mom which one is her favorite she'll probably tell you Airs Above the Ground. It takes place in her beloved Austrian Alps and features a dangerous fire, a missing husband, and a legendary horse. It's definitely the one I saw her re-reading most often. If you ask me, I get "that look" on my face and dither around about the virtues of this one and that one. Which is exactly what I did trying to decide which one to post on today. I ended up with NINE COACHES WAITING because it may be the most potent combination of every element I love about Ms. Stewart's novels. It's certainly one of the ones I re-read most often.
Belinda Martin (Linda for short--or for pretty, as her mother used to say) lands in Paris on a cold, gray, and rainy day. She is on her way to her brand new post as a governess to the young Count Philippe de Valmy. Having lost both his parents in a tragic accident, the nine-year-old little boy lives with his aunt and uncle in the vast and ornate Château Valmy in the French countryside. Léon de Valmy, Philippe's uncle, runs the estate on behalf of his underage nephew until he comes of age and arranged for a proper English governess for his charge. When Linda arrives at the imposing manor, she is at once enchanted by its beauty and history, but is also immediately struck by the sense of menace and doom surrounding the land and its inhabitants. Léon is a charismatic force of nature and quite charming with it, and when Linda meets his reckless and rakishly handsome son Raoul, she understands a bit more about the Valmy heritage and what makes this family tick. As she becomes closer to Philippe and Raoul, Linda draws ever nearer to putting her finger on the source of the threat. But the layers of danger and darkness run deeper than any of them guessed and she may not be able to trust those she wants to, no matter how innocent or attractive they may seem. Soon it is up to the shy young governess to beat the clock in order to save Philippe's life as well as her own.
This is the kind of heady, romantic, foreboding tale that wraps you up in its elegant wings and carries you off for parts unknown. Linda is immediately sympathetic, with her loneliness wrapped around her like a threadbare cloak, her fierce protectiveness of Philippe, and the way she verbally spars with Léon de Valmy and manages to emerge unscathed. She is what this darkly glorious place needs and there are wonderful little touches here and there of the Jane Eyre and Rebecca about this novel. And the entire story winds on in that delicious vein. The exquisite suspense lingers to the very last and the relationships between the characters are real, romantic, and wholly delightful. Every time I read it I fall in love all over again with lovely Linda, dangerous Raoul, adorable Philippe, and beautiful, haunting Valmy. And I get chills at the same parts every time single time. NINE COACHES WAITING showcases a master storyteller at her very best. Highly recommended.
Rating:  -
On the back cover of the book, the publisher categorizes it as "Romance/Suspense/Literature"; after reading it I have to agree it is indeed all three, and that Mary Stewart has melded all of these together in a way that few writers can.
This is romance in the "old style", which is the way I like best; no graphic sex scenes, in fact no graphic details at all. And yet Stewart manages to conjure all the emotions that come with falling in love. Every time Raoul appeared my heart started racing! No modern writer can top that, no matter how titillating they try to be.
And thanks to Mary Stewart's remarkable use of language, this book is "literature" as well. Her style of writing is so evocative and lyrical that it is almost poetic. Her characters' manner of speaking is slightly dated, but is still remarkably readable, especially considering that this book was written over 50 years ago.
The "suspense" is the weakest element of this book, which is why I am giving it 4 stars rather than 5. The identity and motive of the culprits are obvious right from the start, the plot is unoriginal, and there are no surprises along the way. Stewart includes many small elements and issues that could have been developed further to make the plot more intriguing and engrossing, and indeed, in every case I was led to believe they were going to become significant parts of the story. But Stewart just leaves them and moves on without ever mentioning them again, which made me wonder why she even included these little tidbits at all? Although Stewart does try to throw out a red herring about 3/4 of the way through and get the reader off on a different track, it is weak and not very convincing. The plot and outcome are just as the reader predicted by the end of chapter 2 or 3.
Nevertheless, Stewart does create some gripping passages that will keep you turning the pages and unable to put the book down. Linda's flight with Philippe was one of the best parts of the book, and Stewart managed to sustain the suspense and tension not just for a paragraph or a page, but for several chapters.
All in all this is a very enjoyable read. A sympathetic heroine in an exotic and romantic locale, with a handsome heartthrob and a smidgeon of suspense thrown in -- what's not to like?! I look forward to reading more of Mary Stewart's work. Probably not her Merlin books, since I'm not into Arthurian stuff, but I will definitely give more of her romantic suspense works a try.
Rating: -
This would be a wonderful three part-er for Masterpiece Theater, eh? The reason i think so is because the descriptions are so delightful. The reader does not skip ahead to "get on with the story". How lucky you are if you have not yet read this book.
Rating: -
I am an English teacher and avid reader. I love Mary Stewart's romantic novels and this is the best one. Moody French setting, charm of a big country house and money, the rakish dark handsome man that the heroine falls helplessly in love with and then he has to convince her that yes, it is her that he loves. The love story is paramount over the mystery, which is what I prefer. When I embark on a re-read of this book, I cannot. put. it. down. I love 'Nine Coaches Waiting.'
Rating: -
This is the first Mary Stewart novel I've read and I will surely be reading more.
Stewart is slow and thoughtful in her pacing and by the time she pulls the line taught the reader is hooked like a fish, well this reader was anyway. I couldn't put the book down and had to stay up waaaayyy past my bedtime to finish it.
I wasn't sure I was going to like this book at first. The beginning was a little bit on the slow side, I had been busy with other things and not able to devote as much time as I would have liked to reading. So, the first hundred and fifty pages took me longer to read than usual. But I thought the writing was good and the imagery of the landscape lush and vivid, the interactions and dialog believable and the characters were interesting and complex. I really didn't know who or what to believe until the very last page. And even then I wasn't completely sure.
This is another one of those books that gave me the feeling that I 'almost' knew what was going to happen. There was something familiar about it that I can't quite articulate. I felt the same way about 'Rebecca' and 'My Cousin Rachel' by Daphne DuMaurier and 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte, they all have a similar flavor to them and I loved them all. Maybe you would say they are "Gothic" but I'm not exactly sure what people mean when they say that about a book.
Mary Stewart starts each chapter with an absolutely perfect quote from various classic works of literature. Each one gives you insight into what is happening in the story. One of my favorites was;
'I am two fools, I know,
For loving, and for saying so.'
JOHN DONNE: The Triple Fool
I loved this, I really couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this book and I can't wait to sink my teeth into another juicy story by Mary Stewart!
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