Preview of Thornyhold Summary:

Mary Stewart uses an almost fairytale-like setting and theme to illustrate the various elements of magic. There is the magic of beauty that Gilly discovers in the old house and gardens, a setting that is reminiscent of the castle of Sleeping Beauty with its surrounding hedge of thorn bushes, and as in Sleeping Beauty, there is also evil magic of the uninvited bad fairy. Here she is Mrs. Trapp, a neighbor, who dabbles in darker secrets, opiates and dream-inducing states. But her evil is not taken too seriously and has an almost comic side. Mrs. Trapp is a witch, but a fairly inept one who cannot always predict the outcome of her "spells," and in the end becomes a victim of her own sorcery. Gilly, on the other hand, seems to have some real powers that she does not understand, and her mysterious cousin Geillis was known to...