Seven Tears for Apollo

Seven Tears for Apollo was one of my favorite of Ms. Whitney's adult novels when I was young and I still remembered several things from it although I haven't reread it in decades. Dorcas Brandt suffered considerable psychological, and some physical, abuse from her husband, Gino Nikkaris. They were married for five years. So far as Dorcas is concerned, their daughter, Beth, is the only good thing to come from that marriage. Thank heaven Gino died in a plane crash. Dorcas has taken back her maiden name and given it to Beth, greatly shocking Gino's sort-of foster mother, popular travel writer Miss Fernanda 'Fern' Farrar. Of course, Fernanda was as devoted to Gino as if he really had been her son. She doesn't know --and wouldn't believe if show more she were told -- that Gino had successfully 'gaslighted' Dorcas into a nervous breakdown. Even now, it's easy for Dorcas to doubt her own sanity.

Fernanda's next trip is going to be to the Isle of Rhodes, Greece. She's taking Dorcas with her as a companion-secretary. Beth will be with them.
Fernanda is the steam roller type. She makes plans for Beth's care without so much as consulting the little girl's mother. Worse, Vanda Petros, the widow she hires, obviously dislikes Dorcas. Johnny Orion, an American high school teacher who works for Fernanda when she travels, seems a nice man. Too bad he believes Fernanda instead of Dorcas.

Strange things keep happening, such as Dorcas' room being searched both in America and now in their hotel. Why would anyone want that letter that came for Gino after his death? It was full of nonsense. Who is the man who stands below, watching Dorcas' balcony? A visit to the Archeological Museum of Rhodes offers a clue. Fernanda might not believe that Gino could be mixed up in such a crime, but Dorcas knows better.

Besides the usual marvelous place descriptions, this novel offers plenty of reasons for its heroine to be afraid for herself and her child. Can she find anyone to believe her before it's too late?

When I was young it bothered me that the number of times Dorcas cries for Apollo doesn't match the title. Now I think that might have been deliberate.

If you want to see how Ms. Whitney's juvenile mystery set in Rhodes differs from her adult novel, that title is Mystery of the Hidden Hand. http://www.phyllisawhitney.com/Mystery%20of%20the%20Hidden%20Hand.htm show less

I think that it must have been a very long time since I last read this book because I didn't remember any of the story. Today
Whitney's books would be called romantic suspense but they were considered Gothics in the sixties. However [Seven Tears for Apollo] is above average for that type of book. Dorcas even managed to acquire a backbone by the end of the novel.

At the beginning of the story Dorcas is a very young widow who is secretly glad to have escaped an abusive marriage. Odd things have been happening and she feels as if she is being watched so Dorcas accepts Fernanda's offer to travel to Rhodes as her companion/secretary. But trouble follows Dorcas and on Rhodes we finally discover the truth that has been eluding her.

I actually show more enjoyed the book once I was a couple of chapters in and decided that Dorcas wasn't really 'too stupid to live', just in the process of getting over being psychologically abused. The descriptions of Rhodes as it was then were also good, making the island almost a character in its own right. Of course, a lot of the people were the stock characters found in novels of this genre.

Recommended for those who enjoy Gothics. show less