A follow up to Farthing which I read and reviewed earlier. This is even better. Following a fragile peace between Germany and England mainly to avoid a full blow out of war, this is a book which is so beautifully written - more or less created because it is imaginative and creative and so much of what could or may have been that until you see it on paper you as just a reader cannot imagine it to be so and once you see it in black and white it seems so much more real and probable.
Like the earlier book this follows a plot of two separate but interlinked lines. Viola Larkin a debutante and an actress gets involved inexplicably with a plot to assassinate Hitler during a play where she takes a leading role. That is complicated enough. The other story is Inspector Carmichael a man who just wants to be left alone but has his homosexuality being used as the blackmail by the powers that be to prevent just such an assassination bid when the plot becomes known when two so called terrorists accidentally blow themselves up.
Set in WWII London the book combines fact and fiction wonderously. Like the earlier book you are drawn in so very much into the life stories of all the characters - and each character has so much hidden story behind the facade of what they present to the world. I would recommend going in the order of reading first Farthing and then Ha'Penny and then going on to Half a Crown.
If you are a fan of this era as well as historical fiction in general this is one author you do not want to miss.
Sounds like I'm going to need to pick up both this one and Farthing!
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely going to have to read these books at some point!
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