# Sinister Street — Character guide

> Key figures in Sinister Street by Compton Mackenzie.

- [Michael Fane](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/michael_fane.md): Michael drifts through childhood as 'Little Johnny Head-in-air,' so absorbed in contemplation that he loses his nurse in Kensington Gardens and must recite his own name and address aloud to keep from panic. That habit of
- [Stella Cunningham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/stella_cunningham.md): Reunited with Michael at a French pension, Stella greets him with a kiss that alarms his shy English reserve, then instantly relapses into her own shyness about introducing him to the household. She hums, arranges flower
- [Lily Haden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/lily_haden.md): Five years after their first meeting, Lily reappears to Michael with her contours unblunted by time, and the quest for her becomes a deliberate withdrawal from his familiar world. His cab ride toward Neptune Crescent tur
- [Maurice Avery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/maurice_avery.md): At High Towers, Maurice is smothered in adulation by a stockbroker father who refuses to age and a mother who spoils the dogs when her men are away. Michael finds the whole Surrey idyll oppressive—light-green Lovat tweed
- [Michael Garrod](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/michael_garrod.md): Garrod corners Michael at the Abbey with intimate questions about his physical well-being and invitations to Hornsey, pressing polytechnical knowledge and little books on a boy who only wants the books he finds himself. 
- [Mr. Lonsdale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mr_lonsdale.md): Lonsdale belongs to the storied lodging at 202 High Street—the old cardinal's palace with carved oak fireplaces and silver rumored stolen from a college kitchen—where Michael and his friends hold court among generations 
- [Henry Barnes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/henry_barnes.md): Barnes is the schoolmate turned Oxford companion whose boasts and dodges give Michael a window into a world far below Cheyne Walk. He insists that ten pounds a week would make him a bloody angel, and that Leppard Street 
- [Mrs. Fane](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mrs_fane.md): Mrs. Fane presides over the Cheyne Walk drawing-room where Michael returns from his secret fortnight, greeting him with affection but never asking the direct question that would unlock his confidence. Her daughter Stella
- [Guy Hazlewood](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/guy_hazlewood.md): Hazlewood is the host whose rooms Michael finds the most personal he has seen at Oxford, a space that shadows forth a life of sensibility and friendship rather than mere athletics. His good-natured hospitality draws Mich
- [Daisy Palmer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/daisy_palmer.md): Daisy belongs to the world Michael will not name when Stella and Alan press him about his vanished fortnight. Her presence shadows the secret he carries back to Cheyne Walk, a confidence he resents being asked to recite 
- [Sylvia Scarlett](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/sylvia_scarlett.md): Sylvia moves through Michael's life as a presence he cannot quite fold into the ordinary social round of his mother's house and Stella's engagement talk. Her unconventionality makes her a natural ally for a young man car
- [Nurse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/nurse.md): Michael's childhood nurse, a constant and comforting presence in his early years.
- [Miss Carthew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/miss_carthew_mrs_ross.md): Miss Carthew enters the household as a figure of almost royal anticipation, and Michael's determination to present her with an apple-green satin Valentine becomes his first act of open rebellion against Nurse's authority
- [Nanny](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/nanny_annie.md): A servant in the Fane household, later identified as Nancy Carthew.
- [Mark Chator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mark_chator.md): A schoolmaster at Michael's preparatory school, known for his eccentricity.
- [Joan Carthew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/joan_carthew.md): One of the Carthew sisters, a childhood friend of Michael.
- [Kathleen McDonnell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/kathleen_mcdonnell.md): An acquaintance of Michael's family, part of his social circle.
- [Mr. Wedderburn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mr_wedderburn.md): A master at Michael's public school, the Jacobean.
- [Venner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/venner.md): The proprietor of a lodging house in Oxford where Michael stays.
- [Arthur Wilmot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/arthur_wilmot.md): A flamboyant and artistic friend from Michael's Oxford circle.
- [Henry Meats](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/henry_meats.md): A friend and contemporary of Michael's at Oxford.
- [Arthur Drake](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/arthur_drake.md): A school friend of Michael's, part of his inner circle.
- [Mr. Viner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mr_viner.md): A master at the Jacobean, known for his strictness.
- [Poppy Carlyle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/poppy_carlyle.md): A young woman living in Neptune Crescent who attracts Michael's attention.
- [Mrs. Murdoch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mrs_murdoch.md): A landlady in London who lets rooms to Michael.
- [Mrs. Frith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mrs_frith.md): A former servant in the Fane household, remembered by Michael.
- [Nigel Stewart](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/nigel_stewart.md): A student at Oxford, known for his athleticism and good looks.
- [Dick Prescott](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/dick_prescott.md): A friend from Michael's school days, later a tragic figure.
- [Mrs. Haden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mrs_haden.md): Lily Haden's mother, a woman of questionable reputation.
- [Lord Saxby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/lord_saxby.md): Michael's eccentric and impoverished aristocratic relative.
- [Mr. Neech](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mr_neech.md): A local tradesman or character in Michael's childhood neighborhood.
- [Rodber](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/rodber.md): A servant or college scout at Oxford who assists Michael.
- [Mr. Prescott](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mr_prescott_merivale.md): A schoolmaster and his wife who befriend Michael.
- [Mr. Walter Trimble](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mr_walter_trimble.md): A friend or acquaintance from Michael's Oxford days.
- [Prout](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/prout.md): A master at the Jacobean, often the butt of jokes.
- [Frank Castleton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/frank_castleton.md): A friend from Michael's Oxford social set.
- [Brother Aloysius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/brother_aloysius.md): A monk at the school Michael attends, with a dubious past.
- [Mr. Cray](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mr_cray.md): A master at the Jacobean, known for his dullness.
- [Doris Haden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/doris_haden.md): Lily Haden's sister, a minor character in the Haden family drama.
- [Tommy Grainger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/tommy_grainger.md): A cheerful and loyal friend from Michael's school days.
- [Clarissa Vine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/clarissa_vine.md): A young woman who is part of Michael's social circle.
- [Dom Cuthbert Manners](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/dom_cuthbert_manners.md): A Benedictine monk who becomes a spiritual influence on Michael.
- [Captain Kenneth Ross](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/captain_kenneth_ross.md): A military man and acquaintance of the Carthew family.
- [Mother Wadman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mother_wadman.md): An elderly woman who runs a lodging house.
- [George Ayliffe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/george_ayliffe.md): A student at Oxford, known for his rowing prowess.
- [Mr. Alfred Murdoch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mr_alfred_murdoch.md): The husband of Mrs. Murdoch, a minor figure in London.
- [Mrs. Smith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/mrs_smith.md): A generic name used for a landlady or minor character.
- [May Carthew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/may_carthew.md): Another of the Carthew sisters, a childhood friend.
- [Porcher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/porcher.md): A schoolboy at the Jacobean.
- [Carben](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/carben.md): A contemptible schoolboy at the Jacobean.
- [Miss Harper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters/miss_harper.md): A governess or teacher in Michael's early life.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sinister_street_se/characters