Hitler was collecting countries like stamps. How long before he had the full set? Transcription by Kate AtkinsonI was swept into Transcription, enthralled with Kate Atkinson's atmospheric and witty writing, the recreation of England during the rise of Hitler, and the espionage ring with its vivid characters and uncertain alliances.
The novel opens in 1950 with twenty-eight-year-old Juliet working in post-war London for the BBC.
"There was a better life somewhere, Juliet supposed, if only she could be bothered to find it." Transcription by Kate AtkinsonJulie fingers her necklace of pearls, which she admits she took off a dead woman who was heavier to lift than she looked. We learn that Julie tells lies to strangers. She sees a man she used to know by two names, who tells her "I think you have confused me with someone else." And in a local cafe, a strange man observes her "in a way that was extremely disconcerting." Julie reflects on her time with MI5 during the war ten years previous, when she was a transcriptionist typing recordings of traitorous conversations.
Juliet's life working for MI5 alternates between boredom and mystery. She is never completely filled in on the operations, merely does as she is told. She drifts along with whatever comes, even into a mock engagement with a coworker who shows no physical interest in her. She is given a fake identity as part of a sting operation. She is a natural liar and playactor.
The future of England at stake, with Fascists sympathizers and Communist sympathizers and loyal royalists endeavoring for the prize.
This England, is it worth fighting for? Transcription by Kate Atkinson
The novel ends with unexpected turns of events.
I am so happy to have finally read Atkinson. I can't wait to get a hold of her previous books.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
Transcription
by Kate Atkinson
Little, Brown and Company
Pub Date 25 Sep 2018
ISBN 9780316176637
PRICE $28.00 (USD)
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