Mary Stewart's My Brother Michael

In this episode of Tart Words, Suzanne Fox and Linda Hengerer are discussing Mary Stewart’s book My Brother Michael and how she uses setting, incorporates both ancient and recent history, and how her characters answer a call to adventure. 

It was first published in 1959 by Hodder & Stoughton and is now available in ebook editions.  

Description from Amazon:

''Nothing ever happens to me...'' So begins Camilla Haven's letter home during her quiet holiday in Athens. But when a stranger begs her to drive a car to Delphi, swearing that it is a matter of life and death, Camilla impulsively takes the opportunity she's been offered. Before long she is caught up in a whirlwind of intrigue, deceit and murder as she spins along the dusty Greek roads in a race against time to solve a fourteen-year-old mystery.
 
 The longer I waited the less possible it seemed to walk out of the café and leave everything to settle itself without me, and the more insidiously did the other possibility begin to present itself. Dry-mouthed, I pushed it aside, but there it was, a challenge, a gift, a dare from the gods . . .

Takeaways for writers:

 In My Brother Michael, Camilla Haven has just written on a postcard that nothing ever happens when a man gives her the keys to a jeep that must be taken to Delphi for Simon. Camilla takes the opportunity to get to Delphi, thinking she’ll at least save the cost of transportation there, and pass the jeep off to Simon – whoever he is. 

Mary Stewart sets My Brother Michael against a backdrop of ancient history and the recently ended World War II.  She intertwines the ancient and contemporary to give the reader the feeling that the past isn’t so far gone. Ancient secrets, war secrets, and settling old scores create a recipe for adventure and romance.

Camilla isn’t looking for love or romance, but she gets caught up in Simon’s quest to find out what happened to his brother – the titular Michael – and what Michael found that he referenced in his last letter home. 

Exercises for writers 

Characters – How do you introduce a character at the beginning of a story so going from “nothing ever happens” to accepting the call to adventure feels natural? How do you build a bond between characters who didn’t know each other at the beginning of the story but are a couple by the end? Do you show or tell the reader what the character is going through in a dangerous situation?

Backstory – My Brother Michael deals with ancient and more recent history. Notice how she weaves both into the contemporary story. Read your work in progress from the beginning, and only leave in the relevant information about the character’s past that the reader needs to understand the story at that moment, or edit it so the relevant information is where the reader needs it for understanding the story. How do you make the information relevant to your characters? Knowing why it’s relevant will help you decide what information the character – and your reader – need now.