Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart

Forward by Sandra Brown

A governess in a French chateau 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, Léon de Valmy, is the epitome of charm, yet dynamic and arrogant, his 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 enigma, though 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.

I'm sad that this didn't resonate with me, since so many people love it so much. But for me it was a slow slog till about 60% of the way in, and even when I was engaged with the story, I found the characters troubling.

First, I acknowledge that the descriptions of the settings are amazing, and if you're totally enchanted by all that, the extremely slow plot advancement early on may not be a problem. I would have done with a bit more plot zing to carry me through.

As far as the characters, the main thing is that Linda is somehow smart, courageous, and confident, and simultaneously an insecure, silly idiot. I mean, maybe I just defined being in love when you're in your 20s? But if it is, I'm immune as a crusty 40-something. I actually really loved the passages where Linda held her own, especially as she supported and defended Philippe. But her relationship with Raoul is forked up. The "romantic" climax has her absolutely debasing herself (not to mention seriously, stupidly endangering herself), apologizing for suspecting that he was a murderer when she had very good reasons to suspect he was a murderer! (fine, attempted murderer). Reasons that wouldn't sensibly be counterbalanced by what, a few hours of time spent together and some hormones? Also, Raoul is an asshole. I want to rewrite this where he actually is in on the plot and she winds up with William Blake.

Also, I had a big problem with the “morally upright” hero of our story being incredibly nice and sympathetic to A woman who had just confessed to trying to murder a child - multiple times! Was Heloise pathetic and having a breakdown? Sure. But the appropriate reaction in my opinion is more along the lines of "That's a normal consquence of TRYING TO MURDER A CHILD - have fun with that emotional upset, you monster!"

So all that added up to a really unsatisfying ending for me. At least there was some scenery to enjoy along the way, and now I want to visit some charming villages in France in the springtime.

Mary Stweart has been one of my favourite writers for a long time. I read most of her books in the '70s, rereading them whenever I needed an escape (like I did with the books of John Buchan and Nevil Shute). Rereading ‘Nine Coaches Waiting' now, after an absence of nearly 30 years, it still hasn't lost its charm. She certainly knew how to spin a good yarn!
I listened to the audiobook version this time and was pleasantly surprised that the reader, Ellie Heydon, was fluent in French as well. One of my perpetual frustrations is that audiobook narrators do sometimes atrociously mispronounce foreign words. It can completely spoil the pleasure of listening to an audiobook. Think I will listen to more of her books, now that Hodder & Stoughton has decided to produce them as audiobooks as well.