“ | He shook his head and came forward a little, so the light from the fanshaped window above the door fell on his face, and I saw the dark circles under his eyes and the marks of the bone-deep exhaustion that is grief’s only consolation. | ” |
Michael Murray is the second son of Ian and Jenny Murray, and twin brother of Janet.
Personal History[]
Michael lives in France, where he is a junior partner at Fraser et Cie, the wine business run by an elderly cousin Jared Fraser. As of November 1766, he had just been married and was expecting a child.[3]
Events of the Novels[]
An Echo in the Bone[]
In January/February 1778, Michael's wife Lillie dies of influenza. Two weeks later he arrives at Lallybroch, knowing that his father is dying – Michael remarks that he would have come sooner, were it not for his wife. It is here that he meets his aunt Claire for the first time.
"The Space Between"[]
Michael accompanies his cousin by marriage, Joan MacKimmie, to the convent where she intends to become a novice. Still mourning the loss of his wife, Michael struggles with his return to Paris, where he wades through the fog of memory and grief while trying to resume his role in Jared's wine company. He is galvanized into action when Joan's disappearance may be connected to the return of a mysterious French noble.
Personality[]
Michael is quiet, but has a deep sense of humor.
Physical Appearance[]
Michael is the only child of Jenny and Ian Murray that inherited Ellen MacKenzie's red hair, and although he has his father's brown eyes, he generally resembles the MacKenzie side of the family. He is a slight man, lacking either Young Jamie's "burly strength" or Young Ian's "wiry height". He dresses fashionably.[4]
Joan MacKimmie observes to herself that Michael looks like his mother Jenny,[5] but Jamie remarks to Claire that Michael resembles Jamie's uncle Colum MacKenzie.[4]
Name[]
- Michael is from the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el) meaning "who is like God?".[6]
- Murray is derived from the region in Scotland called Moray meaning "seaboard settlement".[7]
Trivia[]
References[]
- ↑ In Voyager, Claire guesses that Janet (Michael's twin) is about seventeen in 1766.
- ↑ Age as of the end of Written in My Own Heart's Blood.
- ↑ Voyager, Chapter 29
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 An Echo in the Bone, Chapter 80
- ↑ The Space Between
- ↑ Behind the Name: Michael - accessed 16 June 2016
- ↑ Behind the Name – Surnames: Murray – Accessed 17 March 2014