The Secret Purposes [Hardcover]

The novel is set against the background of the forced internment of German nationals to the Isle of Man in 1940. Most of the German nationals resident in the UK just happen to be Jewish refugees fleeing from the persecution that is beginning to escalate against them in Europe. At this stage however, the scale of the Nazis’ genocidal activities is not yet fully comprehended, and it’s deemed more important to minimise risks and just lock-up anyone who might scare members of the public by speaking with a German accent until the government can decide how to deal with the situation.

Caught up in this situation is Isaac Fabian, a German Jew who has turned against his religion in favour of Communism and a forbidden marriage to a non-Jewish girl of Aryan appearance, Lulu. When Isaac is repatriated to the Isle of Man, Lulu petitions for his release, but this puts her into an awkward situation with a man who volunteers to help her out. Meanwhile, June Murray, a translator for the Ministry of Information is becoming aware of the growing problem in Germany and is appalled at the seemingly callous indifference of the Ministry, so she sets out, unauthorised, to the Isle of Man to gather some first-hand reports for herself. There she meets Isaac, and despite the circumstances, a relationship develops between them that is to have unforeseen consequences.

The relationships that are struck-up between June and Isaac and between Lulu and Douglas rely too much on coincidence and contrivance to be really convincing, but Baddiel makes a good case of presenting the contradictory elements of desire and responsibility and how the characters accommodate their actions to best suit their circumstances and rationalise those actions later. The characterisation is thoroughly convincing in this respect – each character having their own motivations and personalities, intensely pragmatic and driven – whether by desire or by their situation – by who they are and what they believe in – an immigrant, a German, a Jew, a wife, a mother, a prisoner, a government official. This kind of characterisation is carried through to even the smallest of secondary characters – the bumbling Army officials who dither between doing their duty (while not being entirely sure what their duty is) and not wishing to appear incompetent or even ungentlemanly to a lady. Only Douglas comes across as a something of a pantomime cad, but if you are prepared to go along with the whole old-fashioned romantic melodrama of the story, you’ll not worry about this too much.

This is a remarkably good book, carrying the reader along through some brilliantly constructed and insightful prose. From the premonitory musing of the elder Rabbi Fabian on the seven deadly sins as he crosses the seven bridges of Konigsberg, presaging the weaknesses of man to the culmination of those evils in the holocaust forcefully brought home in the epilogue of the book – and from all the smaller human dilemmas of love, loss, duty and responsibility in-between – Baddiel presents a story that is clear, coherent, purposeful and serious in its tone and themes, yet is still a good, old-fashioned read. Absolutely superb.

Baddiel also very cleverly uses a very small cast of characters to say big things about cultural identity and how that impacts on political decisions. I'm from the Isle of Man and I was extremely impressed with the way that he uses a single Manx character to sum up, accurately in my experience, the attitude that the Manx had (and still have) to outsiders. There's also a great twist towards the end of the book that really stays with you and which has relevance way beyond the time in history that it is set in. I won't spoil the book and say what it is!

Saying all that, this book's not "high literature" and I mean that as a positive comment: it's a really good read, pure and simple. I doubt that anyone's going to be studying it for English A Level but I can see it being made into a very good film.