Transcription
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3.6 • 49 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A Penguin Book Club Pick
From the bestselling author of Life After Life, a new novel that explores the repercussions of one young woman's espionage work during World War II.
In 1940, eighteen-year-old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathizers, she discovers the work to be by turns tedious and terrifying. But after the war has ended, she presumes the events of those years have been relegated to the past forever.
Ten years later, now a radio producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, on a different battleground, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat. A bill of reckoning is due, and she finally begins to realize that there is no action without consequence.
Transcription is a work of rare depth and texture, a bravura modern novel of extraordinary power, wit, and empathy. It is a triumphant work of fiction from one of the best writers of our time.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
German sympathizers in 1940s London weren’t just ferocious fascists and brilliant double-agents. The movement’s backbone was bourgeois housewives and average tradesmen focused on preserving the status quo. It’s into this absolutely boring network that 18-year-old Juliet Armstrong is first drafted to be a spy. Following days of clerical drudgery and nights prowling the streets during blackouts, Juliet’s ambitions for “real” espionage work are fulfilled…in ways she can’t shake, even decades later. In her 10th novel, Kate Atkinson returns to the world of World War II, proving her singular talent for writing historical fiction that makes us forget we’re not reading an eyewitness account.
Customer Reviews
Clever, funny and surprising ~ didn’t want it to end.
Very original story line, great characters, mysterious plot, poetic prose and compelling information about loyalties, friendships, and the futility of it all.
Transcription
One dimensional characters especially “heroine.” Plot loose and not as well tied together as previous novels. Time not as well woven into the storyline as in previous novels. Used words and locations only known to insiders. I usually like Kate’s novels, but Transcription is a disappointment.