The Stormy Petrel

By: Mary Stewart

Narrated by: Jenny Seagrove

The isolated cottage on the remote Hebridean island of Moila seemed like an ideal away-from-it-all retreat for writer Rose Fenemore, a place where she could work in peace, and where her brother Crispin could walk, fish, and photograph the birds and wildlife. But it is not easy to escape the world and its troubles. Crispin's arrival is delayed, and Rose, on her own in the lonely cottage, has to cope with two very different men who come in from the sea on a night of summer storm.

©1992 Mary Stewart (P)1992 Dove Audio, 2016 Phoenix Books

Critic reviews

"Rose Fenemore is a tutor of English at one of the Cambridge colleges; she also writes poetry and now needs an 'ivory tower' retreat. Brother Crispin promises to join her for a holiday on the Scottish island of Moila but is delayed. Alone in her cottage, Rose is at first terrified, then angry and puzzled, by the night arrivals—separately—of two men.... For Stewart's many followers, a pleasant armchair holiday in a wild and lovely landscape." (Kirkus Reviews)

Delightful—transported me!

I loved this little story! Clean mystery with a hint of romance. The vivid descriptions of the Highlands and the sea and wildlife were delightful. I felt transported to Scotland of yesteryear.

The Stormy Petrel

I read all of Mary Stuart book's as a young girl. She continues to be one of my favorite authors. With a lyrical style of writing, and pleasant if sometimes not so nice characters, she will always be one of my favorite authors. I am very glad to see her books are once again in print and now on audiobook.

Not the Ivy Tree but good

If you could sum up The Stormy Petrel in three words, what would they be?

Romantic adventure

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Stormy Petrel?

When she was trapped on the Island and heard the Stormy Petrels

What three words best describe Jenny Seagrove’s performance?

Easy to follow as she changed characters. Both leading male characters sounded alike but other than that there were no problems

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No. I was hoping it would be like The Ivy Tree or Nine Coaches Waiting. It was not that good but it was enjoyable.

Any additional comments?

I hope that you will start to carry more of Mary Stewart in her Romance/Adventure. Madam will you talk and Nine Coaches Waiting, the Moon Spinners and my favorite, The Ivy Tree. If you carry them you will sell them.

Horrible audio quality

I think the story may have been good, but it was hard to tell. The audio quality is horrendous. I couldn't understand most of the narration because it was garbled and no matter how high I tried to put the sound, it remained about the same. Now it might have been my old IPad but I tried it on my new one with similar results.

Poor Recording

What disappointed you about The Stormy Petrel?

It was very difficult to understand this book due to the poor audio quality of the recording. There are a lot of places where the recording is so quiet and muffled that the narration cannot be understood. Really wish I could have understood...I think the story was probably a good one...but I won't know until I can read this one.

Not Stewart's best, sound quality a problem

Mary Stewart's later titles just don't have the character or plot quality of her earlier books. Stormy Petrel is ok, but especially as it's abbreviated (why? the original isn't long or wordy, what's the point?), you get little chance to see any spark between the main characters, and the mystery/suspense part is extremely tame. It's a nice enough tale to while away a few hours, but the sound quality, unusually for audible, is poor--not very clear overall and for about half an hour or more (a significant part of a 3 hour recording), it's so murky you can hardly distinguish what's being said. Still, a Mary Stewart is pleasant enough and much better than a lot of the drek out there, so on sale it was just about worth it.