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Publication
in Mary Stewart: Four Complete Novels, Random House Value Publishing (1988)
Description
Camilla Haven is on holiday alone, and wishes for some excitement. No sooner has she written to her friend Elizabeth in England, than her life suddenly begins to take off and she finds herself in the midst of an exciting, intriguing, yet dangerous adventure as she sets out on a mysterious car journey to Delphi.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Herenya
Camilla is a teacher travelling around Greece. A case of mistaken identity means she's handed the keys to a car wanted urgently by a man in Delphi, and as she's unable to find the intended driver - and is desperate to go to Delphi - she drives the car there herself. Along the way she meets Simon -
The appeal of My Brother Michael is how it depicts a time and a place: Greece in the 1950s. It becomes an atmospheric setting for a tense mystery - more of a thriller than a murder mystery.
Mary Stewart's use of language and attention to detail is vivid and evocative; she effectively captures the landscape, the food, the personalities and mannerisms of her characters, and incorporates references to Greek mythology. I love how Stewart's heroines (generally) have an appreciation of poetry and literature.
The other thing I love the subtlety of the growing romance, which Camilla is not really ready to openly acknowledge. (They really haven't known each other that long. And Camilla has just broken things off with her former fiancé, so she has good reason to be cautious.)
But there are these ambiguous moments of conversation which elude to the - the romance, if you will. It's all very understated and all the more convincing in consequence.
This time, rereading it, I found myself wondering whether there were out-dated, sexist overtones to their relationship - manly, capable (physically fit and attractive) man rescues damsel in distress, because women are weak and men have a responsibility to rescue them, etc. I concluded that while Camilla and Simon both reflect the attitudes of their era - he holds open car doors for her and so on - this novel does not propagate problematic gender relationships. Their adventures are a team-effort which allow Camilla to prove she's courageous and resourceful, and allow Simon to demonstrate that he's understanding and is not going to leave her at home to get on with her knitting. And she gets to rescue him, before the end. (I discuss this in more detail here).
This is amongst my favourites of Stewart's novels.
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also a Classics teacher - who is investigating the circumstances of his brother's death during WWII.The appeal of My Brother Michael is how it depicts a time and a place: Greece in the 1950s. It becomes an atmospheric setting for a tense mystery - more of a thriller than a murder mystery.
Mary Stewart's use of language and attention to detail is vivid and evocative; she effectively captures the landscape, the food, the personalities and mannerisms of her characters, and incorporates references to Greek mythology. I love how Stewart's heroines (generally) have an appreciation of poetry and literature.
The other thing I love the subtlety of the growing romance, which Camilla is not really ready to openly acknowledge. (They really haven't known each other that long. And Camilla has just broken things off with her former fiancé, so she has good reason to be cautious.)
But there are these ambiguous moments of conversation which elude to the - the romance, if you will. It's all very understated and all the more convincing in consequence.
This time, rereading it, I found myself wondering whether there were out-dated, sexist overtones to their relationship - manly, capable (physically fit and attractive) man rescues damsel in distress, because women are weak and men have a responsibility to rescue them, etc. I concluded that while Camilla and Simon both reflect the attitudes of their era - he holds open car doors for her and so on - this novel does not propagate problematic gender relationships. Their adventures are a team-effort which allow Camilla to prove she's courageous and resourceful, and allow Simon to demonstrate that he's understanding and is not going to leave her at home to get on with her knitting. And she gets to rescue him, before the end. (I discuss this in more detail here).
This is amongst my favourites of Stewart's novels.
Show Less
LibraryThing member cbl_tn
“You find that the grave of Michael Lester is as moving and as important as the 'tomb of Agamemnon' at Mycenae, or Byron or Venizelos or Alexander. He, and the men like him, are a part of the same picture.” I stopped, and then said helplessly, “Greece. Damn it, what is that it does to one?
He
On the heels of a broken engagement, 25-year-old Camilla Haven is traveling alone in Greece. Her money is almost exhausted and she'll have to return to England soon. While she's sitting in an Athens cafe trying to come up with a way to stretch her remaining money to allow for a trip to Delphi, a man appears with keys to the car that he insists she hired to drive to Delphi on a matter of life and death. There's obviously been some mistake, for the person who hired the car is described as “Simon's girl”, and Camilla doesn't know anyone named Simon. However, Camilla's six words of Greek aren't enough to get her out of this muddle. The man disappears before she can convince him he has the wrong person. With no way to return the car to its owner, she decides to drive it to Delphi and deliver it to Simon, who is surely there waiting for it. After all, it's a matter of life or death.
As luck would have it, Camilla finds Simon before she reaches Delphi, but he's as puzzled as she is about the car. Camilla feels responsible for the car, and Simon feels responsible for Camilla, so they join forces to look for another Simon. Meanwhile, this Simon has his own reason for being in Delphi. His older brother, Michael, had been there during World War II, and had died there. Simon's recent discovery of his brother's last letter home has brought him to Delphi to search for answers.
Mary Stewart helped to define the romantic suspense genre. Her novels are more than brain candy. They have weight and substance. Her main characters in this novel are well-read in the classics. They can see Homer and the pantheon of gods in the landscape and in the faces and bearing of the local residents. Readers will need to suspend their disbelief at some of the decisions required of Camilla and Simon to get them to the right location for the action to begin. The payoff is almost as rewarding as a trip to Greece, and much less expensive.
He
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was silent a moment, then he said, “I think the secret is that it belongs to all of us—to us of the West. We've learned to think in its terms, and to live in its laws. It's given us almost everything that our world has that is worth while. Truth, straight thinking, freedom, beauty. It's our second language, our second line of thought, our second country. We all have our own country—and Greece.”On the heels of a broken engagement, 25-year-old Camilla Haven is traveling alone in Greece. Her money is almost exhausted and she'll have to return to England soon. While she's sitting in an Athens cafe trying to come up with a way to stretch her remaining money to allow for a trip to Delphi, a man appears with keys to the car that he insists she hired to drive to Delphi on a matter of life and death. There's obviously been some mistake, for the person who hired the car is described as “Simon's girl”, and Camilla doesn't know anyone named Simon. However, Camilla's six words of Greek aren't enough to get her out of this muddle. The man disappears before she can convince him he has the wrong person. With no way to return the car to its owner, she decides to drive it to Delphi and deliver it to Simon, who is surely there waiting for it. After all, it's a matter of life or death.
As luck would have it, Camilla finds Simon before she reaches Delphi, but he's as puzzled as she is about the car. Camilla feels responsible for the car, and Simon feels responsible for Camilla, so they join forces to look for another Simon. Meanwhile, this Simon has his own reason for being in Delphi. His older brother, Michael, had been there during World War II, and had died there. Simon's recent discovery of his brother's last letter home has brought him to Delphi to search for answers.
Mary Stewart helped to define the romantic suspense genre. Her novels are more than brain candy. They have weight and substance. Her main characters in this novel are well-read in the classics. They can see Homer and the pantheon of gods in the landscape and in the faces and bearing of the local residents. Readers will need to suspend their disbelief at some of the decisions required of Camilla and Simon to get them to the right location for the action to begin. The payoff is almost as rewarding as a trip to Greece, and much less expensive.
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LibraryThing member delmar
I suppose I didn't enjoy it due to the distaste I have for most modern fiction. It almost seemed as if the story had no point, not to mention the fact that the characters are very unrealistic.
LibraryThing member patience_crabstick
A thinking woman's romance novel. Thank you, Mary Stewart for introducing a hero who isn't the mocking, sarcastic, lip curling swain who appears in 99% of romance novels. The heroine, also, is refreshingly underdescribed. We have no idea of the color or her eyes or tresses, or even if she's at all
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good looking. Very well done, and even though this book was written over forty years ago, it's still worth a read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kasthu
This is the seventh of Mary Stewart’s novels that I’ve read, and I’ve noticed that they tend to be a bit formulaic. There’s always a young Englishwoman who’s experienced disappointment in love, who goes to an exotic location to recuperate. While there, she usually finds herself in the
My Brother Michael follows this ploline to a T. Camilla Haven travels to Athens, Greece. In the middle of writing a letter to a friend, in which she complains that nothing ever happens to her, Camilla is offered the use of a car. She takes the car to Delphi, in lieu of the girl—“Simon’s Girl—it’s meant for—and finds herself involved in a fourteen-year-old mystery. Camilla is a pretty average girl (who calls herself “old” at 25!) who nonetheless shows great courage and fortitude—not unlike some of Mary Stewart’s other heroines.
OK, so the plot, and its romantic subplot, are pretty predictable—but it’s a formula that really works well. Mary Stewart was adept at creating great atmosphere in her novels, and she did a lot of research on the places in which her books are set. She also describes everything in great detail, which I love. The romance story in My Brother Michael is a bit rushed (although, obviously, you can see it coming from a mile away).
However, the suspense in this novel is absolutely top notch—how can you forget that climactic scene in the caves? And Camilla and Simon’s walk in the ruins of Delphi earlier is a prime example of why I love Mary Stewart’s writing—again-she really knows how to write atmospheric novels! My Brother Michael probably isn’t my favorite of Stewart’s books, since it tends to meander a bit, but I did enjoy it quite a lot.
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midst of a mystery, usually risking her own life. And, of course, there’s the handsome stranger, with whom there’s a romantic subplot.My Brother Michael follows this ploline to a T. Camilla Haven travels to Athens, Greece. In the middle of writing a letter to a friend, in which she complains that nothing ever happens to her, Camilla is offered the use of a car. She takes the car to Delphi, in lieu of the girl—“Simon’s Girl—it’s meant for—and finds herself involved in a fourteen-year-old mystery. Camilla is a pretty average girl (who calls herself “old” at 25!) who nonetheless shows great courage and fortitude—not unlike some of Mary Stewart’s other heroines.
OK, so the plot, and its romantic subplot, are pretty predictable—but it’s a formula that really works well. Mary Stewart was adept at creating great atmosphere in her novels, and she did a lot of research on the places in which her books are set. She also describes everything in great detail, which I love. The romance story in My Brother Michael is a bit rushed (although, obviously, you can see it coming from a mile away).
However, the suspense in this novel is absolutely top notch—how can you forget that climactic scene in the caves? And Camilla and Simon’s walk in the ruins of Delphi earlier is a prime example of why I love Mary Stewart’s writing—again-she really knows how to write atmospheric novels! My Brother Michael probably isn’t my favorite of Stewart’s books, since it tends to meander a bit, but I did enjoy it quite a lot.
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LibraryThing member jtck121166
This was my first Mary Stewart, and I must say I did enjoy it. We're in a sort of female Eric Ambler world, here, without the politics: Europe in the 1950s, with the War looming large in the collective memory; this plot, though, is wholly personal.
Told from the point of view of the accidental
Greece in general, and Delphi in particular, are rendered beautifully, and credibly. Apollo, too, makes a welcome appearance.
Told from the point of view of the accidental
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heroine, the story gets off to a rather tediously drawn-out start (perhaps it's just old fashioned, this idea that driving a car is such a big deal!), but soon gathers a pretty good momentum, picking up some nicely unpleasant characters on the way. I loved the whole mental landscape: pure young James Mason as directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Greece in general, and Delphi in particular, are rendered beautifully, and credibly. Apollo, too, makes a welcome appearance.
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LibraryThing member pussreboots
As with Moonspinners, Stewart back loads her plots. My Brother Michael doesn't really get started until about page 75 or so. All through the book I had the sense of having read this book before and I knew how it would end. Nonetheless it was still a very enjoyable book though perhaps not quite as
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engaging a story as Moonspinners. Readers who enjoy My Brother Michael would also enjoy The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Show Less
LibraryThing member Bjace
Book does have good setting and evokes the magic of Greece well, but it was an Idiot Plot. (Definition: problem that would be solved in short order if the characters weren't behaving like idiots.) Young English woman in Athens on vacation decides on a whim to commit car theft and ends up nearly
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murdered by thugs. Show Less
LibraryThing member joannagawn
I love this book. I am reading it for the third or fourth time. I want to wrap myself up in the evocative prose and the strong sense of place and time (one which is lost to the past, and has been taken over by tourism and a faster pace of life.) I love Stewart's characterisation: how you can you
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not fall in love with her heroes? I have only 60 pages left to read and want to draw them out like a long, cool drink, tasting and savouring every scene in exquisite detail. One not to be rushed. Show Less
LibraryThing member ehousewright
When I was in school I had a habit of marking the end of the semesters by choosing a book by someone like Mary Stewart or Victoria Holt in order to really feel like I was on intellectual vacation. I hadn’t read this one before, but when I saw it recently on a list of suggested readings I thought
It is in the first person, as many of these books seem to be, and that gives it simultaneously immediacy and a slow and gradual unfolding as the heroine learns about people and situations as they happen. The first half of the book, with its scene setting (Athens, Delphi in this case) is very well done, especially as I took the time to look up (briefly) some of the references to classics and history. Once the action starts it begins to seem really dated. Everyone smokes, and the repeated use of cigarettes and matches to mark attitudes, slow down conversations and show individual styles is startling. The heroine is trying to get over a failed relationship and make her own way, and ends up making some spur of the moment decisions that involve her in some relatively unlikely scenarios. While some actions do show a bit of spunk or growth, she is pretty superfluous for the results of the final confrontation. The most dispiriting quote, as the confrontation sets up and the hero comes into view, is “I only knew that [he] didn’t move, and I remember wondering, with a sick cold little feeling, if he was afraid.” Because you wouldn’t want a man who was afraid, would you?
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it might be a change of pace.It is in the first person, as many of these books seem to be, and that gives it simultaneously immediacy and a slow and gradual unfolding as the heroine learns about people and situations as they happen. The first half of the book, with its scene setting (Athens, Delphi in this case) is very well done, especially as I took the time to look up (briefly) some of the references to classics and history. Once the action starts it begins to seem really dated. Everyone smokes, and the repeated use of cigarettes and matches to mark attitudes, slow down conversations and show individual styles is startling. The heroine is trying to get over a failed relationship and make her own way, and ends up making some spur of the moment decisions that involve her in some relatively unlikely scenarios. While some actions do show a bit of spunk or growth, she is pretty superfluous for the results of the final confrontation. The most dispiriting quote, as the confrontation sets up and the hero comes into view, is “I only knew that [he] didn’t move, and I remember wondering, with a sick cold little feeling, if he was afraid.” Because you wouldn’t want a man who was afraid, would you?
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LibraryThing member judy.morrison.79
This is my favorite of Mary Stewart's books that I have read so far. It weaves history, mythology and an exotic location to make an exciting story. Her books have always made me want to travel to these locations.
LibraryThing member jtck121166
This was my first Mary Stewart, and I must say I did enjoy it. We're in a sort of female Eric Ambler world, here, without the politics: Europe in the 1950s, with the War looming large in the collective memory; this plot, though, is wholly personal.
Told from the point of view of the accidental
Greece in general, and Delphi in particular, are rendered beautifully, and credibly. Apollo, too, makes a welcome appearance.
Told from the point of view of the accidental
Show More
heroine, the story gets off to a rather tediously drawn-out start (perhaps it's just old fashioned, this idea that driving a car is such a big deal!), but soon gathers a pretty good momentum, picking up some nicely unpleasant characters on the way. I loved the whole mental landscape: pure young James Mason as directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Greece in general, and Delphi in particular, are rendered beautifully, and credibly. Apollo, too, makes a welcome appearance.
Show Less
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1959
DDC/MDS
| Fic Romance Stewart |