A review by siria
Half a Crown by Jo Walton
4.0
The last book in the Small Change trilogy, Half a Crown takes place in the 1960s, in an alternate Europe where fascism and terror hold sway. I found this a better book than the middle one in the trilogy—while I thought the ending was a little too pat, I enjoyed the juxtaposition of Carmichael's third person narrative with the first person narrative of his ward, Elvira, much more than I did the juxtaposition of his voice with Viola Larkin's. Elvira's growth from blithe obliviousness to awareness of the world around her contrasts sharply and neatly with Carmichael's growing understanding of his own relative privilege.
I also found the brief, casual mentions we got of other parts of the world to be horrifying (and was incredibly saddened by the reference to pogroms in Ireland; there was one short-lived economic boycott against Jewish people in Limerick in the late nineteenth century, but it was a gut-punch to think of us sinking even lower than that.)
I also found the brief, casual mentions we got of other parts of the world to be horrifying (and was incredibly saddened by the reference to pogroms in Ireland; there was one short-lived economic boycott against Jewish people in Limerick in the late nineteenth century, but it was a gut-punch to think of us sinking even lower than that.)