"Nine Coaches Waiting" {by Mary Stewart} Book Club Ideas

Book Club on Tuesday was perfection. Bethany did a WONDERFUL job moderating our book, "Nine Coaches Waiting" with a PowerPoint presentation that helped to point out the authors use of analogies, symbolism, and patterns throughout the book. It was a perfect compliment to the food that was themed to mimic the French backdrop of the story! The pictures below were graciously taken by Bethany and each photo will make your mouth salivate! Thank you to everyone who came and brought such 'festive' food!

What's in a name? Understanding the title, 'Nine Coaches Waiting'

I was in the middle of the book when out of no where I thought, "I still don't understand why this book is titled Nine Coaches Waiting!!!" (Although, on Page 8 of the book is does attemp to explain.) It was quite frustrating to me that it didn't make sense and so began my 'hunt' to find out any tid bits of information I could on why Mary Stewart titled her book what she did. So, in case any of you were also bewildered as to the title, here is all the information I was able to scrape up after a long 2 HOUR search! (There wasn't much info. but I did manage to get what I needed I think!)

The title, Nine Coaches Waiting, is a quote from a Renaissance play by Cyril Tourneur called "The Revenger's Tragedy." In the play, the coaches are a symbol for the tempting offer of life at the palace extended to a poor girl, and in Nine Coaches Waiting each "coach" is represented by a ride in a car. The title refers to The Revenger's Tragedy, in which a poor girl is seduced by a rich man's servant who promises her unbelievable and absurd wealth - not just one coach waiting to transport her, but nine. Linda is of course a poor woman overawed by the splendours of a noble estate, but the connections are fairly sparse. Stewart uses the quotation in a structural way, dividing the novel into "coaches" rather than parts, each having a journey as a central aspect. Below is the excerpt from The Revenger's Tragedy where the quote was taken...

VINDICI:Oh, think upon the pleasure of the palace: Secured ease and state, the stirring meats, Ready to move out of the dishes, That e'en now quicken when they're eaten, Banquets outdoor by torch-light, musics, sports, Bare-headed vassals that had ne'er the fortune To keep on their own hats (hats were removed as a sign of respect) but let horns were 'em, Nine coaches waiting. (Coaches were popular places for love-making)Hurry, hurry, hurry!
CASTIZA: Ay, to the devil.
VINDICI: [Aside] Ay, to the devil!--To th' duke, by my faith.

Castiza is the only one worrying seriously about the Devil. The rest have their eyes on the court and its pleasures. The Revenger’s Tragedy is disturbing because it reveals an unsettling truth about the true nature of world. It shows us a society for which Christianity provides a convenient frame of reference to remind themselves and us of good and evil, sin and divine punishment, heaven and hell, but it is in truth, a society that pays only lip-service to such concepts and is in love with the pursuit of wealth, pleasure and power to such an extent that in practice Christian teaching and morality are ignored.



In Nine Coaches Waiting when Miss Martin first meets Leon de Valmy she has the thought,

"Then I told myself sharply not to be a fool. This was the result of Daddy's intriguing build-up and my own damned romantic imagination. Just because the man looked like Milton's ruined archangel and chose to appear in the hall like the Demon King through a trap door, it didn't necessarily mean that I had to smell sulphur."

Through out the book Miss Martin continues to compare Leon de Valmy to the 'Demon King' which I believe is in parallel with the plot to The Revenger's Tragedy...how interesting! Leon represents the pursuit of wealth, pleasure, power and immorality! He is indeed the Demon King!

Nine Coaches Waiting in Ladies Home Journal, 1958

The table of contents page above has a little biography of Mary Stewart. It says that in her spare time she "directs college plays and exercises race horses." Her passion for drama makes sense, but exercising race horses? So crazy glamorous!

Many of Mary Stewart's novels were condensed and published in women's magazines around the time of that the novels were first published. Through this sort of think is done infrequently now, back in the day it was a fairly common way to publicize a new book by a well-known author. The image above is the illustration by Harry Anderson that accompanied the condensation of Nine Coaches Waiting in the September 1958 issue of Ladies Home Journal. Sorry the quality isn't great -- the microfilm was black and white and a bit fuzzy. But it's a lovely picture. It must depict the scene when Linda is in Madame de Valmy's room trying on the ballgown she'd made. Raoul finds her there and they have a nice little interlude. ;)

I pushed away from him at last, both hands against his chest. "But Raoul, why?"

"What d'you mean why?"

"Why me? Your father called me 'Jane Eyre,' and he wasn't far wrong. And you--you could have anyone. So ... why?"

"Do you want to know why?" His hands turned me around to face the mirror again, holding me back against him. I could feel his heart hammering against my shoulder blade. His eyes met mind in the glass. "You don't have to be humble, ma belle. That's why."

*Sigh*

If you haven't already started this classic tale, "Nine Coaches Waiting," DON'T WAIT ANY LONGER!!! This book is a hybrid mix between Rebecca and Jane Eyre for me and I'm loving every page more than the last one! Let's admit it, summers over, the kiddos are back in school, so there's no excuse for you to not find the time read this little gem!

Happy Reading!