Mary Stewart

[pondhawk]

I am currently rereading her Merlin trilogy+1, having finished The Crystal Cave and being currently in the middle of The Hollow Hills. They are very good, and might be termed speculative historical fiction. She also wrote a long list of romantic thrillers from the early '60s to mid '90s, with the later ones being distinctly tamer than earlier ones. She was a British writer so they are set in the UK and Europe. Loved them as a teenager and still do.

[Janilee]

She wrote a YA or children book as well.

They turned one of her books into a movie The Moon-Spinners? Disney did a number on the Book's plot.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058371/ Didn't remember it was a Hayley Mills movie.

Still remember The Ivy Tree with fondness.

[Patti L.]

I liked Crystal Cave & Hollow Hills.  Then they went dark, with the story.

Airs Above The Ground!

[Janilee]

I remember the horses more than the story line in that one.

[pondhawk]

Disney always did do a number on stories. The first of her thrillers I read was This Rough Magic. It probably contributed to my lifelong fascination with Greece (also looking at you, Gerald Durrell and Mary Renault). The one I reread most often was Madam Will You Talk, though. They all read pretty dated now, but then so does Jane Eyre.

As to the Merlin stories going dark, the source material was at least as dark. I can live without a conventional HEA if the writing is good enough, which it is imo.