The Moon-Spinners

By: Mary Stewart

Narrated by: Daphne Kouma

Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

The pioneer of romantic suspense Mary Stewart transports listeners to the idyllic hills of midcentury Crete in this tale of peril and intrigue that will keep fans of Agatha Christie and Barbara Pym on the edges of their seats.

While on a walking holiday through the beautiful, deserted hills of Crete, Nicola Ferris stumbles across a critically injured Englishman, guarded by a fierce Greek. Nicola cannot abandon them and so sets off on a perilous search for their lost companion - all the while being pursued by someone who wants to make sure none of them leave the island....

When the big white bird flew suddenly up among the glossy leaves and the lemon flowers, and wheeled into the mountain, I followed it.

©1962 Mary Stewart (P)2019 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critic reviews

"Mary Stewart is magic." (New York Times)

"One of the great British storytellers of the 20th century." (Independent)

"A comfortable chair and a Mary Stewart: total heaven. I'd rather read her than most other authors." (Harriet Evans)

Marvelous story, excellent voice actress!

Story (5 stars)

I've read this book multiple times over the years, but decided that it would be fun to listen, if the narrator was good. I listened to the sample and was excited to give it a try!

Mary Stewart weaves an intense and romantic narrative. Her descriptions carry you to Greece and paint a vivid picture of the place and people during that time (the book was written in 1962, I believe).

As is usual for Mary Stewart, the character's traits in this book are detailed and deeply drawn. She doesn't lay out a character's full personality all at first, but unfurls it slowly as the book progresses. It's what makes her books so believable and enjoyable. It is also what makes one uncertain of, besides the protagonists, who are the bad guys and who are the good--it is a mystery, after all!

The romance, in true Mary Stewart style is clean and much is left to the imagination. At the same time, there is no doubt that the protagonists are well-suited and will be happy together. Many of the romantic moments have danger attached and yet our hero and heroine are able to escape for a bit to learn more about one another. It's truly magical how the story is woven together!

Narrator: (5 stars)
I only give 5 stars to narrators who can do accents or who are exceptional actors. Daphne Kouma does authentic-sounding British, Greek, Danish, and American accents. Plus her acting is amazing!

As a shout-out to other reviewers, she did make a couple of errors in pronunciation. Those errors didn't take away the enjoyment of the book for me at all. Here's what I noticed: the most notable mispronunciation was the word "Levite". One listener mentioned that she pronounced "caique" three different ways. I'll be interested to see, when I re-listen, if she pronounces the word differently depending on who is saying it. Does she pronounce it in British-accented Greek when Nicola says it, as compared to unaccented Greek when Lambis says it? If so, then that is voice acting at its most excellent! The only other error I noticed was a mispronunciation of the name Nicola as Nicolai one time.

I LOVED the mood and the excellent voice acting that Ms. Kouma brings to this book! She gets quiet and whispers when the characters whisper, she gets louder when the characters cry out. She has given Nicola the most delightful laugh I've ever heard. She's not afraid to add a 'sucked in breath', a sigh, a chuckle, a laugh, a frustrated groan, etc. It adds such a depth to her voices.

I will be listening to this book again, soon. I missed the feeling the book created when I was finished. I'll also be searching out other books acted by Ms. Kouma!

*poor, **ok, ***good, ****very good, *****something special

The Moon-Spinners

Really good read. I recommend it especially to those of us who are tired of profanity and unnecessary sexuality.

Moon-Spinners

The book is well written and the narrator does an excellent job. Her voice and characterization create variety and interest adding enjoyment to the “reading”.

A good listen!

Another Mary Stewart favorite. It's terrific that I can listen to it, because I can then do chores at the same time; can't do it with a book in my hands! :-)
Good job in the reading and recording. Thanks!

If You Appreciate the Golden Age...

...of mystery fiction, you really must read Mary Stewart. I've loved her work for years. Her heroines are gutsy, resourceful, intelligent and brave. Her mysteries - well-plotted, fast-paced, and extremely enjoyable - are a departure from her Arthurian legend series (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, etc.) though those are equally well-written.

Despite the fact that most of her work was written in the 50s and 60s, you won't find it particularly jarring or dated. Her female characters perform better than a lot of current day female leads, and her male characters are clever and appealing. Her books are set in interesting locations, and her ability to set a scene and tone are admirable. I only wish that these worlds were not so overrun with holiday-makers and tourists as they've become - I suspect that the Crete, and particularly Corfu (the setting for This Rough Magic) about which she writes would be unrecognizable to modern visitors. But Stewart is an excellent guide to a less crowded time, and I heartily recommend her books. I have always felt that she's deeply underrated - for sheer likeability of characters, I much prefer her to Agatha Christie and most other Golden Age mystery writers. I think only Du Maurier shows a similar adeptness of character development and mise-en-scene. You likely won't be disappointed.

One of my favorite Mary Stewarts

I love Mary Stewart. I’ve read this one probably a dozen times over the decades. Thought I’d try it on Audible, and I was not disappointed! This narrator is absolutely fabulous, I adored her. I’m going to see what else she has narrated so I can hear her again!

Mystery and Adventure!

I had seen the Disney version From the 1960s Hayley Mills film, so I wanted to hear the original story. I loved it! There were definitely some differences, but I really enjoyed the story! The narrator did a wonderful job playing all the characters. If you enjoy a bit of mystery and suspense, you will enjoy this book. It’s definitely more intense than the Disney movie, but still very light hearted and even humorous in places. I love Mary Stewart’s descriptions, you feel like you’re really there in the scene with the characters. I won’t spoil the ending, but it very is exciting!

Frustrating volume variations

Disclaimer: I have hearing loss, but with well-fitting earbuds I usually do fairly well. This book is frustrating in that I was constantly fiddling with the volume as the narrator's voice dropped away into a whisper and then increased again to near-shouting. I think she does a wonderful job of dramatizing the story, and the character voices were all good, but the volume thing drove me crazy. There are some small problems with pronunciation. I don't know how caique should be pronounced, but the narrator uses at least three different ones throughout the story.

I am a long-time fan of Mary Stewart's romantic mysteries, and I was so thrilled to see them published on Kindle and then on Audible. The quality of the narration and recording has been disappointingly uneven, unfortunately.

Classic!

First read this when I was a kid, after seeing the Hayley Mills movie. I enjoyed the book lots more.

The subtle differences in attitudes about women, the simplicity of an "unspoiled" rural population and other notions don't really bark out at you, and the rapidly moving plot is well put together.

I've always enjoyed a good Mary Stewart. My favorite is Airs Above the Ground, which could have been written for the horse-obsessed young girl that I was.

Thanks for the memories!

By the way, I didn't find a single thing to criticise in Daphne Kouma's reading.

Jay Thomas

Narration very good

There have been some reviews regarding the sound volume of the narrator. At the beginning of the book I was concerned but soon realized the little bit softer speech were asides and reflective of thoughts so were appropriate. They added to the ambiance of the story. Only the Greek names of the town and some of the characters were a little bit incomprehensible. It might have been easier if I could have read the words before I heard them spoken, but in the end it didn’t detract from the story. I really enjoyed the narrator she brought much of the action and inflection of the characters to life.