Other editions of book Stormy Petrel

A classic tale of love, intrigue, adventure and the natural world, set on a beautiful isolated Hebridean island, by beloved novelist Mary Stewart. When Rose Fenemore takes a desperately needed holiday to an isolated cottage on the Scottish island of Moila she doesn't expect much in the way of adventure - just a few quiet weeks of writing, walking and bird-watching. And then, late one night during a wild storm, two young men appear in her doorway, seeking shelter from the wind and rain. Neither man is quite who he claims, and the question of whom to trust will put Rose in grave peril.... The stormy petrels. The fragile, tiny black birds, nocturnal and solitary, that come ashore to nest but spend most of the lives flying close above the sea waves, come storm or shine.

'A comfortable chair and a Mary Stewart: total heaven. I'd rather read her than most other authors.' Harriet EvansWhen Rose Fenemore takes a desperately needed holiday to an isolated cottage on the Scottish island of Moila she doesn't expect much in the way of adventure - just a few quiet weeks of writing, walking and bird-watching. And then, late one night during a wild storm, two young men appear in her doorway, seeking shelter from the wind and rain. Neither man is quite who he claims, and the question of who to trust will put Rose in grave peril . . .The stormy petrels. The fragile, tiny black birds, nocturnal and solitary, that come ashore to nest but spend most of the lives flying close above the sea-waves, come storm or shine.

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.

When Rose Fenemore sets out to meet her brother Crispin on the island of Moila off the west coast of Scotland, she looks forward to a quiet holiday in a natural paradise of seabirds and wild flowers. But things do not turn out so idyllically. Her brother's arrival is delayed, and the island's peace is shattered by the appearance one night of two men seeking shelter from a violent summer storm - men whose conflicting stories draw Rose into a web of menace and suspicion. Rose's discovery of the stormy petrels - the fragile, elusive birds who nest ashore but spend most of their lives flying close above the sea waves - comes to symbolize the confusion she feels about Ewen Mackay, the man known as the island's prodigal son, and about the man calling himself John Parsons, whose account of himself Rose has every reason to distrust. Moving through the arresting landscape of Scotland's fabled Western islands, The Stormy Petrel is an enthralling story of mystery and suspense, with a touch of romance and sheer good writing that is the hallmark of Mary Stewart's work.

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.