Rec. #387: My Brother Michael

What: In my opinion, just about the best thing that could come from Guillermo del Toro's period horror movie Crimson Peak would be a neo-Gothic revival in novels.

Author Mary Stewart led just such a revival throughout the third quarter of the twentieth century, and My Brother Michael is a fine example of this particular sub-genre --- an ordinary person is put in extraordinary, dangerous, and mysterious circumstances.

Also, there is an immersively described location (Athens, in this case).

Opening lines: "'Nothing ever happens to me.' I wrote the words slowly, looked at them for a moment with a little sigh, then put my ballpoint pen down on the cafe table and rummaged in my handbag for a cigarette."

How to get it: Stewart's books are not currently Kindle-able, but various paperback editions are available all over the place. I suggest the vintage ones.

Connections to previous Wreckage: My Brother Michael provided Quote from a Fictional Character #39.

And Stewart's best novel, The Ivy Tree, was (part of) Rec. #201.