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Farthing: Small Change, Book 1 (Unabridged)
 
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Farthing: Small Change, Book 1 (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

by Jo Walton (Author), John Keating (Narrator), Bianca Amato (Narrator)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
List Price: £21.34
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Product details

  • Audio Download
  • Listening Length: 9 hours and 46 minutes
  • Program Type: Audiobook
  • Version: Unabridged
  • Publisher: Audible, Inc.
  • Audible Release Date: 5 Aug 2011
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B005DFFH6O
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Product Description

One summer weekend in 1949 - but not our 1949 - the well-connected "Farthing set", a group of upper-crust English families, enjoy a country retreat. Lucy is a minor daughter in one of those families; her parents were both leading figures in the group that overthrew Churchill and negotiated peace with Herr Hitler eight years before. Despite her parents' evident disapproval, Lucy is married - happily - to a London Jew. It was therefore quite a surprise to Lucy when she and her husband, David, found themselves invited to the retreat. It's even more startling when, on the retreat's first night, a major politician of the Farthing set is found gruesomely murdered, with abundant signs that the killing was ritualistic.

It quickly becomes clear to Lucy that she and David were brought to the retreat in order to pin the murder on him. Major political machinations are at stake, including an initiative in Parliament, supported by the Farthing set, to limit the right to vote to university graduates. But whoever's behind the murder, and the frame-up, didn't reckon on the principal investigator from Scotland Yard being a man with very private reasons for sympathizing with outcasts and looking beyond the obvious. As the trap slowly shuts on Lucy and David, they begin to see a way out - a way fraught with peril in a darkening world.

©2006 Jo Walton; (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is apparently a science fiction book. I mean, it must be, it's been nominated for the Nebula and all! And it's published by Tor! Of course it's sci-fi! Well, no, it's not. While it does use the common sci-fi trope of being set in an alternate history (and a rather pedestrian one at that - peace between Britain and Germany in 1941) the story itself is just a country-house detective mystery, with political meddling. A fairly competently executed one too. While it's obvious from the start whodunnit (or at least oneofwhodunnit) the whydunnit isn't clear at first, and it's fun to see the investigation flail around a bit. On the other hand, the characters are a bit two-dimensional and stereotyped. Stupid aristocrats. Nasty aristocrats. Good copper with a hidden past. Nasty Nazis. And the Jewish hero is, of course, a banker. In summary, worth reading, but wait for the paperback. The book is apparently the first in a trilogy, I'll give the second installment a try.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Mark Klobas TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Jo Walton's novel opens with a typical mystery - a murder at an English country house - in a most atypical world. It is one in which the British did not defeat the Nazis, but sued for peace on the even of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Eight years after the 'Farthing Peace', the appeasers are celebrated in Britain as having been right, with everyone believing that the war only proved that the nation could stand aloof from the bloodshed on the Continent. Yet events soon prove just how wrong such thinking can be, as a prominent aristocrat is found dead with a yellow Star of David pinned to his chest. As Scotland Yard inspector Peter Carmichael investigates, he encounters a conspiracy that threatens to bring the climate of fear and hate across the Channel.

Walton's book is an enjoyable mixture of two differing genres, which combine to provide a fresh and engaging tale. The world she envisions is a plausible one, with historical detail that indicates a good amount of effort in fleshing out a new chain of events. The plot itself is gripping, with a mystery that does not fully resolve itself until the final pages yet holds the reader's interest throughout. While the ending presages the descent into the grim world of her sequels, Ha'penny and Half A Crown, it offers a very real meditation on the choices people make and the price that they pay for them. It all comes together for a suspenseful tale that appeals to both fans of alternate history and anyone who enjoys a good mystery novel.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Nicely Executed 18 Feb 2009
By Mrs. K. A. Wheatley TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This has all the trademarks of a classic Agatha Christie style murder mystery. It is beautifully recreated in terms of historical setting, dialogue and characterisation and has the interesting twist of being set in a parallel world to ours.

in this world Hitler has taken over most of Europe, Jews are being eradicated ruthlessly and England is a fragile safe haven where a political accord between the UK and Hitler is in place.

Dark forces stir when a murder occurs amongst the top ranking politicians of the day and the balance of power starts to tip towards fascism and a totalitarian state.

Entertaining, well written and compelling this is the first of a trilogy and I will definitely be reading the next one.
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