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1940: A young girl is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage.
Transcription
What you need to know before your trail
In 1940, eighteen-year old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathizers, she discovers the work to be by turns both tedious and terrifying. But after the war has ended, she presumes the events of those years have been relegated to the past for ever.
Ten years later, now a producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, on a different battleground, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat. A bill of reckoning is due, and she finally begins to realize that there is no action without consequence.
Travel Guide
London 1940s
The London which Kate Atkinson recreates is one of war and secrecy. Now working in Schools opposite BBC Broadcasting House, she thinks she sees someone from her past, a ghost of a figure of a world now faded, even disapppeared for many, except her. Past covers the present like a sheet of tracing paper and the shadows of what was then are always evident.
1940s London is crafted with style. From the cafes such as Moretti’s of Charlotte Street to the Lyon Corner House, these were the meeting places of people everywhere. When the war preparation and fear got too much, the characters shelter here and take time out from the city. Once Juliet is selected for the Secret Service, her London changes again. It’s off to Pimlico where despite being in the middle of the city, this is where her isolation is going to begin:
“Dolphin Square was built a few years ago, close to the Thames and until now Juliet had only seen it from the outside. Entering through the large arch on the river side, tis presented quite a daunting sight – ten blocks of flat, each ten storeys high, build around a kind of garden quadrangle with trees and flower beds and a winter-dry fountain. “Quite Soviet in its conception and execution, don’t you think?””
Mi5
We can never really know what went on during the war here, but Kate’s novel gives a fascinating insight. The sharp yet comical interview shows Juliet’s stamina from the outset. When the interviewer barely speak, she wonders if the Home Office has started to ration words. The secrecy with what happens next, the work and the place of work is fascinating to discover.
“Do not equate nationalism with patriotism…Nationalism is the first step on the road to Fascism”.
Wormwood Scrubs
An imposing structure which is a Victorian-built ‘local’ prison, Category B which holds up to 1279 adult males in the early stages of custody remanded from local Magistrates and Crown Courts. In 1940s London however, this is a maze of intrigue…
National Archives of secrets
Statements and transcripts from the war fueled Kate’s creative process. She found out in the course of her research that an ordinary-seeming bank clerk was a major cog in rounding up British supporters of Nazis, the wheels of motion in the story began to turn. Pages of transcripts re imagined in the book give the novel an air of authencity – even the font, reminiscent of old typewriters takes it that step closer.
This is a London of spies, of spies working for the British Government, Security Services but it’s also the everyday men and women working for the cause. It’s their every day lives worries, emotions mapped out in across London, the places they go to relax, the constant fear of war and of the enemy in plain sight.
What is real and what is not?
And there was Juliet Armstrong, of course, who some days seemed like the most fictitious of them all, despite being the ‘real’ Juliet. But then what constituted real? Wasn’t everything, even this life itself, just a game of deception?”
Streetview Maps
D) London - Broadcasting House, Portland Place
E) London - Mi5
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
Hitler was collecting countries like stamps. How long before he had the full set?
This is a snapshot of history inspired by a series of transcripts the author discovered.
In fact there is one line in the book uttered by Juliet which sums up this novel for me : “History should always have a plot …. How else could you make sense of it?”
For Juliet is recruited into the world of spies and intrigue with MI5 and her job is to transcribe meetings between an agent working under cover as a Fifth Columnist and the various fascist agents he comes into contact with. This is a fascinating part of history and one I’d not really heard that much about. Entering this world and seeing it through the eyes of the various players was a treat and you can feel the research and author interest oozing off the page. Never does it get in the way of the story though – that’s Atkinson’s trademark after all – top class research, complex issues and an easy to read treat of a novel.
What made this novel for me was the humour – wry and caustic at times –
“‘Hypocaustum from the Ancient Greek – hypo meaning beneath and caust burnt. Which word do you think we get from that?’ ‘I have no idea,’ she said, caustically.”
Linguists will love this – word play, editorial jokes and those war time transcripts which fuel the behind the scenes of wartime. I’ve transcribed many meeting notes myself as a translator but never quite as interesting as these. To have them dotted throughout the novel, in a different font and set out as if they were inserts in a history book, is also something history buffs in particular will appreciate.
It all works really really well even if I did think Juliet seemed very naive for working in the foreign office and for …well life in general at times. There wasn‘t quite enough novel to go round either – so much complexity there, research, war time intrigue but I felt the novel was too short and I was left feeling there should have been more. It was fourth gear rather than fifth.
Kindle or e-readers should perhaps be prepared to take a few notes as the timeline does move around and flip back and forth quite a bit and with the transcripts too, it might be tricky to keep track of some threads. Don’t be tempted to read the author note beforehand though as that’s a story in itself!
There’s so much scope in this world and I hope Kate Atkinson returns to it.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Transcription
Destination : London Author/Guide: Kate Atkinson Departure Time: 1940s
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