mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
3.0
An alternate history period murder mystery complete with extreme prejudice and Nazis. Really there's no amount of good writing that could rescue this setup. I like this author's voice and she writes very prettily about some ugly stuff. But it ended up feeling completely empty-headed. But readable in a train-wrecky sort of way.
ladyvictoria's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
spinnerroweok's review against another edition
4.0
This book starts out as a murder mystery in an English manor house in an alternate universe where England has made a peace with Germany and WWII never took place. While you have to sit through a pretty routine sounding mystery to begin with, Walton pays off with an ending that will leave you thinking and wanting more. I recommend.
raxxq's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a little slow to get going, though once it did I was enthralled. I certainly couldn't have predicted the direction she would go with the character and plot development. Looking at the summaries of the subsequent novels, I expect that they will be just as interesting, and hopefully as unpredictable.
siria's review against another edition
4.0
This is such a great read: an old-fashioned country house mystery novel set within an alternate history premise: what if Hess' mission to the UK had succeeded, and Britain and the Reich had made peace in 1941? It's told from the alternating viewpoints of Lucy Eversley Kahn, the daughter of a conservative viscount who's married a Jewish man in spite of the disapproval of her family, and of Inspector Carmichael, the policeman assigned to investigate the murder of the leading politician Sir James Thirkie at the Eversley family's country estate.
It's very atmospheric, and well set up. Walton excels at carrying through the consequences of her set up--there's no pulling of punches here. I really liked Lucy, who had a strong vein of common-sense lying beneath a rather feather-brained appearance; though she narrates an equal amount of the book with Carmichael, I think she's far more clearly the main character, and the better sketched out. Many of the secondary characters are neat sketches of the kind of unreflective, privileged members of the upper classes that you can meet even nowadays in English society. There's a satisfyingly Byzantine level of intermarriage and interrelationships between them all, though the fact that the majority of the main characters in the novel appeared to be homosexual/bisexual/have little problem with homosexuality did strain credulity a little.
Walton alludes with great subtlety to the changes which have occurred in the time-line from 1941 onwards--the references to an isolationist America under President Lindbergh, for example--but there were times when I felt as if she needed to sketch out more clearly how the time-line had moved from A to B. How is the murder of one politician the equivalent of the destruction of a national symbol such as the Reichstag Fire? How does an anti-Semitic, anti-Bolshevik, anti-Other political movement gain such a foothold so quickly without any indication of an accompanying ideological programme? How did the Second World War become commonly known as the 'Jewish War'? I'm not hugely up on modern history, but as far as I'm aware, knowledge of what was going on in concentration camps didn't really seep through to England until after the end of the war; things would have to have occurred very differently, to have been spun very differently, I think, for such a name to gain common parlance, and we don't see how that occurred.
For a book which was so good in evoking a period feel in other respects, I was really surprised to see that it messed up on something so basic as forms of address and descent of titles: surely Sir James Thirkie's nephew should have inherited the baronetcy before him, if Sir James were the younger son; the younger sons of earls are addressed as 'the Honourable' as a courtesy, not as 'Lord.' The Irish police force is also referred to as the Gardaí, not the Garda (which is singular), though I'm more willing to let that slide because, well, it's not something people who're not Irish tend to get right.
These do seem like a lot of quibbles, but really they are the elements I saw which took a good book and kept it from being really fantastic. There's a sequel, Ha'penny, which I shall have to keep an eye out for, and which I hope improves on the promise shown here.
It's very atmospheric, and well set up. Walton excels at carrying through the consequences of her set up--there's no pulling of punches here. I really liked Lucy, who had a strong vein of common-sense lying beneath a rather feather-brained appearance; though she narrates an equal amount of the book with Carmichael, I think she's far more clearly the main character, and the better sketched out. Many of the secondary characters are neat sketches of the kind of unreflective, privileged members of the upper classes that you can meet even nowadays in English society. There's a satisfyingly Byzantine level of intermarriage and interrelationships between them all, though the fact that the majority of the main characters in the novel appeared to be homosexual/bisexual/have little problem with homosexuality did strain credulity a little.
Walton alludes with great subtlety to the changes which have occurred in the time-line from 1941 onwards--the references to an isolationist America under President Lindbergh, for example--but there were times when I felt as if she needed to sketch out more clearly how the time-line had moved from A to B. How is the murder of one politician the equivalent of the destruction of a national symbol such as the Reichstag Fire? How does an anti-Semitic, anti-Bolshevik, anti-Other political movement gain such a foothold so quickly without any indication of an accompanying ideological programme? How did the Second World War become commonly known as the 'Jewish War'? I'm not hugely up on modern history, but as far as I'm aware, knowledge of what was going on in concentration camps didn't really seep through to England until after the end of the war; things would have to have occurred very differently, to have been spun very differently, I think, for such a name to gain common parlance, and we don't see how that occurred.
For a book which was so good in evoking a period feel in other respects, I was really surprised to see that it messed up on something so basic as forms of address and descent of titles: surely Sir James Thirkie's nephew should have inherited the baronetcy before him, if Sir James were the younger son; the younger sons of earls are addressed as 'the Honourable' as a courtesy, not as 'Lord.' The Irish police force is also referred to as the Gardaí, not the Garda (which is singular), though I'm more willing to let that slide because, well, it's not something people who're not Irish tend to get right.
These do seem like a lot of quibbles, but really they are the elements I saw which took a good book and kept it from being really fantastic. There's a sequel, Ha'penny, which I shall have to keep an eye out for, and which I hope improves on the promise shown here.
jsmithborne's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting and scary alternate history about what might have happened if Britain had gone for peace with Germany during WWII.
hrjones's review against another edition
4.0
I found the book very well written: engaging protagonists, well-crafted mystery, good use of atmosphere. Just a really really creepy setting. Bad enough that it invaded my dreams after I finished it an gave me nightmares about having to flee an oppressive regime.
mariocomputer's review against another edition
5.0
Jo Walton! I'm coming to realize that she can make any kind of story captivating. I devour her books. I especially always appreciate the left-wing, feminist, anti-racist, pro-lgbt elements in her work. I just feel like she gets it, and that's basically the most important aspect of an author for me.
pdonovan's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Homophobia, Antisemitism, and Trafficking
enno's review against another edition
5.0
Spoiler warning. I could not put this book down for long after I got about a third into it. starting as an alt history book, it becomes a murder mystery soon, only to turn into a warning about fascism towards the end.
I found myself wishing for the longest time that it would still find a happy ending somehow, but alas. And it isn't even Herr Hitler's fault.
Definitely going to pick up the other books in the series.
I found myself wishing for the longest time that it would still find a happy ending somehow, but alas. And it isn't even Herr Hitler's fault.
Definitely going to pick up the other books in the series.