I thought it might be fun to explore just who are our favourite Mary Stewart characters. Let’s start by finding out our favourite heroine/narrator from the earliest Mary Stewart books, in the 1950s (and I am including My Brother Michael in this despite the Hodder & Stoughton first edition being published in the UK in February 1960: this book was serialised in Argosy magazine in 1959). So, please select one character and vote for her.
Was this an easy choice for you or have you agonised between two or more heroines? Are you annoyed because you would rather have voted for Louise or Marcia or one of the other supporting characters? Do you have any thoughts on who should play your character choice in a film? – Because, come on, these books are crying out to be made into amazing films! I’d love to hear any comments you want to make.
Can I ask you to spread the word about this poll, please? It would be great to have lots of votes cast to give us a true picture of just who is our most popular Mary Stewart heroine. Thank you!
Featured image information.
I made this collage for free via PicMonkey. Our pictured heroines, clockwise beginning with the large image, are:
Charity (from Doubleday One Dollar Book Club bulletin, July 1956, of Madam, Will You Talk?, illustrator not known);
Gianetta (from Hodder paperback, 1969, of Wildfire at Midnight, illustrator unknown);
Jennifer (from Woman magazine, 18 May 1957, of Thunder on the Right serialisation called ‘The Small Blue Flower’, illustrated by John Heseltine);
Camilla (from Hodder paperback, 1971, of My Brother Michael, illustrator unknown);
Linda (from Hodder paperback, 1968, of Nine Coaches Waiting, illustrator unknown)
Mary Queen of Plots 
Hmm, can we see the votes so far? I’m interested!
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I thought I’d try presenting this poll a little bit differently and hide the votes for a time – but tbh I prefer it when the results are visible too so I’ll change the set up now. I don’t think many people have voted yet.
I’m glad you’re interested! If you know any Mary Stewart fans, please encourage them to vote too.
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I wavered between Camilla & Charity, but in the end it had to be Camilla. Why? Because I love the humour in this book and if it were me driving Simon’s car, I’d be decorated with chicken feathers too!
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Haha wonderful, I’m glad I’m not the only one who has hapless Camilla tendencies!
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It had to be Gianetta for me. None of my other favourite Mary Stewart heroines are in this shortlist. I love Gianetta because, for me, she manages the difficult feat of being practically perfect in every way while also being sympathetic and engaging. I like her humour, her ability to relate to and sympathise with other people from all walks of life and her honesty about her own bad decisions and choices.
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These are really good points, I like Gianetta very much too, though a London-based model is slightly too sophisticated for me to relate to completely…
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I had to choose between Camilla and Linda, but ended up deciding on Camilla – I like the idea of knowing your own weaknesses (like driving – I’d have been just as nervous), but still taking on challenges.
I do love the others though as well.
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Thanks for voting, Laura – and thank you for letting me know how you reached your decision, I think the comments are actually more fascinating than the poll itself!
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