Rating: 
Summary: Packs a surprise I didn't see coming - but should have
Review: I picked up this book in the sci-fi section, but the only thing vaguely sci-fi about it is the use of telepathy. The setting is a perfectly normal England of the 1970s. The book starts slowly - in fact, all of the action is slow - and the author tends to fill the plot with an almost burdensome amount of details. If you can get through all that, it helps out later. The main drive through the book is Bryony's search for her telepathic lover (she doesn't know who he is) and the repercussions of her father's death. Some of the characters are nicely drawn. Others are sketchy, suffering from that evil villain cast syndrome. Stewart does a nice job creating an atmosephere where you sympathize with the main character (Bryony) and feel her uncertainty about who to trust. When one of the great mysteries of the book is finally revealed, you will find yourself surprised and relieved. It snuck up on me - I had to go back and reread key parts of the book. Sure enough - the clues had been there the whole time, and I hadn't even noticed. The subtle way this mystery is implanted makes the book worth reading. I found the ending average, and not particularly original, but the overall product is well worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: Packs a surprise I didn't see coming - but should have
Review: I picked up this book in the sci-fi section, but the only thing vaguely sci-fi about it is the use of telepathy. The setting is a perfectly normal England of the 1970s. The book starts slowly - in fact, all of the action is slow - and the author tends to fill the plot with an almost burdensome amount of details. If you can get through all that, it helps out later. The main drive through the book is Bryony's search for her telepathic lover (she doesn't know who he is) and the repercussions of her father's death. Some of the characters are nicely drawn. Others are sketchy, suffering from that evil villain cast syndrome. Stewart does a nice job creating an atmosephere where you sympathize with the main character (Bryony) and feel her uncertainty about who to trust. When one of the great mysteries of the book is finally revealed, you will find yourself surprised and relieved. It snuck up on me - I had to go back and reread key parts of the book. Sure enough - the clues had been there the whole time, and I hadn't even noticed. The subtle way this mystery is implanted makes the book worth reading. I found the ending average, and not particularly original, but the overall product is well worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: Good Mary Stewart yarn
Review: I read this book on holiday (Thanksgiving) at an Aunt's home and between tending to her black lab and waiting for a phone call from an estranged spouse (he's back now) I saw this book on her bookshelf. The story was a neat idea of how ESP between "soul" mates from the Great Beyond become reunited and because of their unique communication skills they solve a mystery that has plagued their Clan or Family Tree for years. The whole idea was quite fascinating to me and recently I bought this in their out-of-print section to commemorate a similar reunion between me and my husband.
Rating: 
Summary: Possessed as in 'Possession'
Review: Like the recent movie/book sensation 'Possession' by A.S. Byatt,'Touch Not the Cat'(written in 1975) combines a literary mystery with excerpts from the past, poetry, Shakespeare, history and the gift of mind transferrence to deliver a wonderfully fulfilling tale that is a joy to read.
Stewart employs her usual fantastic sense of place in describing Ashley estate and its environs down to the last daffodil. It is her main character, narrator Byrony Ashley who is both possessed and possessor. From childhood, she and an unknown Ashley cousin have had the ability to communicate with their minds at great length, at great distances. Byrony's need to know the identity of this mind interloper/lover drives most of the novel's plot. As in the Byatt book, 'Touch Not the Cat' employs different levels to tell the story of parallel lovers, past and present; as we discover the state of affairs between the two Victorian lovers, we are illumined as to how it helps Byrony identify her soulmate and simultaneously solve a present mystery involving the state of the Ashley property after Byrony's father is killed in an automobile accident.
Stewart cleverly uses Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet to facilitate the present day lovers' evolving discoveries involving themselves, the estate and the past. Her effervascent interplay and dialogue between the two main characters borders on perfect; her portayal of love's discovery and fulfillment causes the reader to nod and laugh with satisfaction. The tantillizing aspects of ESP add just the right degree of the supernatural to a well-constructed tale that has just about everything else.
Stewart fans will be thrilled that this particular heroine not only gets her man, but allows the reader to be privy to their marital bliss.
Recommended highly especially in audio book form read delightfully by Davina Porter.
Rating:
Summary: Possessed as in 'Possession'
Review: Like the recent movie/book sensation 'Possession' by A.S. Byatt,'Touch Not the Cat'(written in 1975) combines a literary mystery with excerpts from the past, poetry, Shakespeare, history and the gift of mind transferrence to deliver a wonderfully fulfilling tale that is a joy to read.
Stewart employs her usual fantastic sense of place in describing Ashley estate and its environs down to the last daffodil. It is her main character, narrator Byrony Ashley who is both possessed and possessor. From childhood, she and an unknown Ashley cousin have had the ability to communicate with their minds at great length, at great distances. Byrony's need to know the identity of this mind interloper/lover drives most of the novel's plot. As in the Byatt book, 'Touch Not the Cat' employs different levels to tell the story of parallel lovers, past and present; as we discover the state of affairs between the two Victorian lovers, we are illumined as to how it helps Byrony identify her soulmate and simultaneously solve a present mystery involving the state of the Ashley property after Byrony's father is killed in an automobile accident.
Stewart cleverly uses Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet to facilitate the present day lovers' evolving discoveries involving themselves, the estate and the past. Her effervascent interplay and dialogue between the two main characters borders on perfect; her portayal of love's discovery and fulfillment causes the reader to nod and laugh with satisfaction. The tantillizing aspects of ESP add just the right degree of the supernatural to a well-constructed tale that has just about everything else.
Stewart fans will be thrilled that this particular heroine not only gets her man, but allows the reader to be privy to their marital bliss.
Recommended highly especially in audio book form read delightfully by Davina Porter.
Rating:
Summary: Romance with depth and a twist
Review: Mary Stewart has always delivered a book of outstanding quality, but this is one of my favorites. She really grabs you and makes you care about the characters. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Loved This Book!
Review: Mary Stewart has the very rare gift of combining witty, razor-sharp humor with intense suspense. Add that to excellent writing, charming characters that never seem insipid or unrealistic even when they're likeable, and a matter-of-fact treatment of extra-sensory abilities, and you can't lose with this book. Mary Stewart is one of my favorite authors in the world (up there with Dorothy Dunnett and Henry James) and I never read one of her books without feeling touched yet optimistic. "Touch Not the Cat" is true to form: suspenseful, witty (I laughed out loud sometimes), very romantic without being tawdry, and impossible to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Mary Stewart's finest work
Review: This is a wonderful love story and mystery wrapped up in one. You can feel the electricity between the two main characters. Very original, great details, nice plot surprises. What a shame it's out of print!
Rating:
Summary: mystery and romance with a psychic touch
Review: This is an old friend I turn to when I want to get away for awhile. The story(ies) are well written, the characters are believable and the setting is done so well it would be tempting to try and locate 'Ashley Court' on a trip to England. In other words this is yet another wonderfully done Mary Stewart. The story centers around Bryony Ashley, her family and the family estate and psychic link they share. The story moves swifty, beginning with the death-by-suspicious-circumstances of Bryony's father which forces her return to Ashley Court, the family home. Her cousins, the townspeople and tenants of the Court all enter into the story. Past family scandals surface interlaced with "Romeo and Juliet' references enter into the Bryony's life as she struggles to sort out her family's past issues, present dilemmas,
and future. The psychic link is not overdone, it appears just enough to add interest to the story. The mystery has just enough twists to keep the reader interested and surpised. The action is intense and the romance is sweet. This vintage (1976) book has aged well. I have recommended it to both high school students and my mother with no complaints from anyone.
Rating:
Summary: mystery and romance with a psychic touch
Review: This is an old friend I turn to when I want to get away for awhile. The story(ies) are well written, the characters are believable and the setting is done so well it would be tempting to try and locate 'Ashley Court' on a trip to England. In other words this is yet another wonderfully done Mary Stewart. The story centers around Bryony Ashley, her family and the family estate and psychic link they share. The story moves swifty, beginning with the death-by-suspicious-circumstances of Bryony's father which forces her return to Ashley Court, the family home. Her cousins, the townspeople and tenants of the Court all enter into the story. Past family scandals surface interlaced with "Romeo and Juliet' references enter into the Bryony's life as she struggles to sort out her family's past issues, present dilemmas,
and future. The psychic link is not overdone, it appears just enough to add interest to the story. The mystery has just enough twists to keep the reader interested and surpised. The action is intense and the romance is sweet. This vintage (1976) book has aged well. I have recommended it to both high school students and my mother with no complaints from anyone.
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