- Hardcover: 319 pages
- Publisher: Tor Books (2 Oct 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0765318539
- ISBN-13: 978-0765318534
- Product Dimensions: 21.5 x 14.9 x 2.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 586,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Ha'penny
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Review
"Stunningly powerful.While the whodunit plot is compelling, it's the convincing portrait of a country's incremental slide into fascism that makes this novel a standout. Mainstream readers should be enthralled as well." --"Publishers Weekly" (starred review) on "Farthing"
"If le Carre scares you, try Jo Walton." --Ursula K. Le Guin on "Farthing"
"A stiff-upper-lip whodunit boasting political intrigue and uncomfortable truths about anti-Semitism." --"Entertainment Weekly"
"Packs a considerable wallop." --"Kirkus Reviews"
"Amazing. One of the most compelling and chilling books of the year." --"Romantic Times BookReviews"
"If le Carre scares you, try Jo Walton." --Ursula K. Le Guin on "Farthing"
"A stiff-upper-lip whodunit boasting political intrigue and uncomfortable truths about anti-Semitism." --"Entertainment Weekly"
"Packs a considerable wallop." --"Kirkus Reviews"
"Amazing. One of the most compelling and chilling books of the year." --"Romantic Times BookReviews"
Product Description
In 1949, eight years after the "Peace with Honor" was negotiated between Great Britain and Nazi Germany by the Farthing Set, England has completed its slide into fascist dicatorship. Then a bomb explodes in a London suburb.
The brilliant but politically compromised Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is assigned the case. What he finds leads him to a conspiracy of peers and communists, of staunch King-and- Country patriots and hardened IRA gunmen, to murder Britain's Prime Minister and his new ally, Adolf Hitler.
Against a background of increasing domestic espionage and the suppression of Jews and homosexuals, an ad-hoc band of idealists and conservatives blackmail the one person they need to complete their plot, an actress who lives for her art and holds the key to the Fuhrer's death. From the ha'penny seats in the theatre to the ha'pennies that cover dead men's eyes, the conspiracy and the investigation swirl around one another, spinning beyond anyone's control.
In this brilliant companion to Farthing, Welsh-born World Fantasy Award winner Jo Walton continues her alternate history of an England that could have been, with a novel that is both an homage of the classic detective novels of the thirties and forties, and an allegory of the world we live in today.
The brilliant but politically compromised Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is assigned the case. What he finds leads him to a conspiracy of peers and communists, of staunch King-and- Country patriots and hardened IRA gunmen, to murder Britain's Prime Minister and his new ally, Adolf Hitler.
Against a background of increasing domestic espionage and the suppression of Jews and homosexuals, an ad-hoc band of idealists and conservatives blackmail the one person they need to complete their plot, an actress who lives for her art and holds the key to the Fuhrer's death. From the ha'penny seats in the theatre to the ha'pennies that cover dead men's eyes, the conspiracy and the investigation swirl around one another, spinning beyond anyone's control.
In this brilliant companion to Farthing, Welsh-born World Fantasy Award winner Jo Walton continues her alternate history of an England that could have been, with a novel that is both an homage of the classic detective novels of the thirties and forties, and an allegory of the world we live in today.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
this is the second in Jo Walton's alternative historical thriller trilogy, the first being Farthing and the last being Half A Crown. Here she follows the same plotting techniques as with Farthing. She takes a familiar style, in this case, the race against time thriller, and fits it against her take on what history would have been like had Hitler won the war in Europe and England declared a truce. This story follows on almost directly from Farthing.
Here the narrative is split between Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard and Viola Lark, an actress from one of the leading aristocratic families in England. Viola is drawn against her will into a plot to assassinate Hitler and the English Prime Minister. Her story works as a counterpoint against that of Carmichael as he races to discover the crime.
Walton has clearly done her research and this gives an added authenticity to the story in terms of historical detail that lifts it above the average thriller and gives it a grimly realistic edge that makes it well worth reading.
Here the narrative is split between Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard and Viola Lark, an actress from one of the leading aristocratic families in England. Viola is drawn against her will into a plot to assassinate Hitler and the English Prime Minister. Her story works as a counterpoint against that of Carmichael as he races to discover the crime.
Walton has clearly done her research and this gives an added authenticity to the story in terms of historical detail that lifts it above the average thriller and gives it a grimly realistic edge that makes it well worth reading.
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This follow up to the author's alternative historical novel Farthing concerns a plot to kill Hitler and the English quisling PM Mark Normanby. The irony is that the plotters are mostly fairly unsympathetic characters, while the police officer pursuing them is a much more sympathetic man, opposed to the regime in his heart, but compromised by his forced involvement in the political machinations in Farthing. The novel reminds me rather of The Eagle has Landed, probably because one of the plotters was an Irish opportunist called Devlin who reminded me of the character in Jack Higgins's novel. Good stuff, though I found the theatrical bits a little tedious. 4/5
Format:Hardcover
We are back in the world of the alternate history of Britain, with British politicians hand-in-glove with the Nazis, Jews being practically witch-hunted and a widespread disbelief in the atrocities being perpetrated on the continent against Jews.
In this novel, a sequel to Farthing, we follow a plot to kill Hitler, and his British comrade-in-arms, Prime Minister Mark Normanby. The novel covers a short timescale and follows the twin threads of the plot conspirators, and the investigation to foil that same plot, all played out against the fascinating world of the theatre. We know from the first page that the plot will fail, and the suspense in the novel is just about how the plot will be foiled.
Once more in this series of books we have two narrators in the novel. The main voice this time is an actress, a member of the aristocracy and generally living a jolly life until she is against her will caught up in a plot to eliminate Hitler. Carmichael, the detective from Scotland Yard is on her case and provides the opposing voice.
As the reader you find yourself in a somewhat contrasted position of both wanting the plot to succeed, but also wanting Carmichael to solve the case. This is the great skill of Jo Walton: constructing the novel so as to perfectly illustrate the conflicted nature of the the novel, and of the characters within it.
The element of the novel that I found particularly well written was the attitude of the main character when confronted by the seriousness of the political situation. Her response is depressingly predictable and also so true to the world of the novel - "why should I care?" "the stories are exaggerated" and "if it wasn't hitler it would be someone else"... It is so easy to imagine the spin the media would place on stories from the continent and that those believing fanciful stories about jews being sent to concentration camps would be regarded as crackpots.
What I didn't find convincing was the nature of the conspirators. The group just were not convincing and in fact, there were too many characters to be able to give them more than a light once-over. It was difficult to get a feel for all of these minor characters and what their purpose was and many of them felt like spare parts.
All in all this book is well worth the read, particularly for the depiction of the oppressive nature of the political situation. Jo Walton does a great job of illustrating the world - and sending a chill down the spine. This book is not quite as readable as Farthing and suffers a little from the relatively light job done on characterisation and the slightly contrived plot, but it is still a great book and the depressing, threatening world is so well described that it is worth reading for that alone.
In this novel, a sequel to Farthing, we follow a plot to kill Hitler, and his British comrade-in-arms, Prime Minister Mark Normanby. The novel covers a short timescale and follows the twin threads of the plot conspirators, and the investigation to foil that same plot, all played out against the fascinating world of the theatre. We know from the first page that the plot will fail, and the suspense in the novel is just about how the plot will be foiled.
Once more in this series of books we have two narrators in the novel. The main voice this time is an actress, a member of the aristocracy and generally living a jolly life until she is against her will caught up in a plot to eliminate Hitler. Carmichael, the detective from Scotland Yard is on her case and provides the opposing voice.
As the reader you find yourself in a somewhat contrasted position of both wanting the plot to succeed, but also wanting Carmichael to solve the case. This is the great skill of Jo Walton: constructing the novel so as to perfectly illustrate the conflicted nature of the the novel, and of the characters within it.
The element of the novel that I found particularly well written was the attitude of the main character when confronted by the seriousness of the political situation. Her response is depressingly predictable and also so true to the world of the novel - "why should I care?" "the stories are exaggerated" and "if it wasn't hitler it would be someone else"... It is so easy to imagine the spin the media would place on stories from the continent and that those believing fanciful stories about jews being sent to concentration camps would be regarded as crackpots.
What I didn't find convincing was the nature of the conspirators. The group just were not convincing and in fact, there were too many characters to be able to give them more than a light once-over. It was difficult to get a feel for all of these minor characters and what their purpose was and many of them felt like spare parts.
All in all this book is well worth the read, particularly for the depiction of the oppressive nature of the political situation. Jo Walton does a great job of illustrating the world - and sending a chill down the spine. This book is not quite as readable as Farthing and suffers a little from the relatively light job done on characterisation and the slightly contrived plot, but it is still a great book and the depressing, threatening world is so well described that it is worth reading for that alone.
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