The Ivy Tree
As usual with the author, the novel is narrated in first person by a bold and intelligent young woman, and the setting is picturesque - in this case, Northumberland.
Mary Grey, protagonist: a new arrival in England from Canada, working in the Kasbah cafe in Newcastle and renting an old run-down flat.
Her alternate identity (later confirmed to the reader) is Annabel Winslow: the well-liked but wayward favorite of her grandfather, Matthew (see below).
Although a stroke has weakened him and death is imminent, Matthew continues to control his household and enjoys keeping everyone in suspense regarding his final wishes to his heirs.
Narrator/protagonist Mary Grey, who has come from Canada to the land of her forebearers, leans against Hadrian's Wall, near a cliff, when Connor Winslow hostilely accuses her of being his long-lost (second) cousin "Annabel".
[2][3][4] Despite running off to the States 8 years earlier and cutting off ties to the family, Annabel remains heir to her grandfather’s estate.
Adam is now a widower, whose hand has been disfigured in saving his invalid wife’s life in the fire that destroyed Forrest Hall (an echo of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre).
Anticipating that Adam will be drawn to the rendezvous spot upon learning of Annabel’s return, she makes a late night visit to the ivy tree.
Through Julie’s embarrassed recollection, they learn that the Ivy tree, fatefully, still holds the letter that Annabel wrote to Adam weeks after her departure.
(The symbolism of the ivy tree, delaying their improper union until a more honorable time, again echoes the relationship of Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester.)
[5] At the climax, Annabel gives herself away to Connor when Adam is trapped in a cave-in of an old cellar, and she must ride the spirited horse to seek help.
The eminent mystery-novel critic Anthony Boucher said, "No one writes the damsel in distress tale with greater charm or urgency."
[3] Martin Edwards observes more neutrally that the "fraud in Brat Farrar is discussed and emulated in Mary Stewart's The Ivy Tree" in a section on the "Prodigal Son/Daughter" theme in the encyclopedia Whodunit?
