2007 alternate-history suspense/thriller, second in the "Small Change"
trilogy. Eight years after the "peace with honour" of 1941, as Mark
Normanby's new government is cracking down on Jewish communist
terrorists, a bomb goes off in a Hampstead suburb. Inspector
Carmichael, compromised but useful to his political masters,
investigates.
As in Farthing, chapters alternate between the viewpoints of
Carmichael and an aristocratic young woman; this time it's Viola Lark,
one of six slightly batty aristocratic sisters who deliberately
reflect the Mitfords (one of them is married to Himmler, another has
flirted with communism, and so on). She's playing Hamlet in a
cross-cast performance, but also gets sucked into the conspiracy
behind that bombing. Because Hitler and Normanby are going to be in
the same box on the opening night of the play…
Where this book slips slightly compared with Farthing is that
there's no mystery about it. Carmichael is investigating the plot as
Viola Lark is finding out about it; while there is a slow drip of
revelation, there's nothing like the deductive process that ran
through the first book. This one's much more of a suspense novel,
raising tension through the reader's uncertainty about whether the
bombing plot will succeed and how the principals will be affected by
whatever happens, and its main reason for existing is in any case to
show us the world – and to make some important philosophical points.
Killing a tyrant may well rid the world of that tyrant, but even if
it's done with the best of intentions can it in fact remove the
tyranny? Especially if that tyranny wasn't especially unpopular
anyway? By the time I got to the final chapters, I found myself
entirely ambivalent about whether or not I actually wanted the bomb
to go off, which is pretty good going.
As always with Walton, the writing is a joy; not only is it
beautifully crafted, it's compelling and free-flowing. The chapters
are perhaps a little on the short side, usually only covering one
scene, and this makes the transitions between viewpoints feel slightly
abrupt. I found Carmichael's story more compelling than Viola's, but
both were thoroughly engaging.
Highly recommended, again; you could start here, but there's no good
reason not to begin with Farthing instead. Followed by Half a
Crown.
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