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Transcription
by Kate Atkinson
I began the book as a recommendation, and one that i am very glad for! Kate Atkinson is a superb author, and Transcription is a superb work!
Juliet Armstrong, a naive young girl; fresh and idealistic, is recruited to be a spy! No! A stenographer of sorts. She diligently transcribes intelligence stolen from the Fifth Column. Surrounded by a group of men that seem to want her for something (And no, not her womanhood, which she is rather serious about at least one of them taking seriously!), and forces that should get her down seem to be warded off. Who is protecting her? Who wants her? And for what?
Juliet's first foray, and the brilliant success she has, as a spy does seem to go to her head, and while the reader isn't looking she has been taken control of by more than one influence. Constantly 'My girl', but never leaving you to feel that they are more than Her Men...
Written in beautiful layers, with no awkward juxtaposition as one threads into the other, and times melt into each other. The final stages become faster, as the true plot is revealed and you almost read over it in your own bemusement! Juliet's own panic and confusion become your own.
And Her Men. Godfrey into his mist, and Perry's words her last.
I appreciate the spirit in which it was written. Bits and bobs of information get declassified and Atkinson thinks "that'll make an excellent story!" Names changed and the intelligence treated as paint on a smooth canvas, roughening only when further, wilder brushstrokes are applied. Her thorough research really pulled me in: from the steps and side doors of the Brompton Oratory at which I've stood, to Dolphin Place which you can Google and into which you can clearly see the story unfolding! And even to Manchester, of fond memory to me.
Unfortunately it was handed to me: a slow reader at the best of times! And so the next time I pick up a Kate Atkinson it will be when I know that there will be no new job rush, no Christmas season prep, sunny summer afternoons, and a well stocked fridge.
February!
Juliet Armstrong, a naive young girl; fresh and idealistic, is recruited to be a spy! No! A stenographer of sorts. She diligently transcribes intelligence stolen from the Fifth Column. Surrounded by a group of men that seem to want her for something (And no, not her womanhood, which she is rather serious about at least one of them taking seriously!), and forces that should get her down seem to be warded off. Who is protecting her? Who wants her? And for what?
Juliet's first foray, and the brilliant success she has, as a spy does seem to go to her head, and while the reader isn't looking she has been taken control of by more than one influence. Constantly 'My girl', but never leaving you to feel that they are more than Her Men...
Written in beautiful layers, with no awkward juxtaposition as one threads into the other, and times melt into each other. The final stages become faster, as the true plot is revealed and you almost read over it in your own bemusement! Juliet's own panic and confusion become your own.
And Her Men. Godfrey into his mist, and Perry's words her last.
I appreciate the spirit in which it was written. Bits and bobs of information get declassified and Atkinson thinks "that'll make an excellent story!" Names changed and the intelligence treated as paint on a smooth canvas, roughening only when further, wilder brushstrokes are applied. Her thorough research really pulled me in: from the steps and side doors of the Brompton Oratory at which I've stood, to Dolphin Place which you can Google and into which you can clearly see the story unfolding! And even to Manchester, of fond memory to me.
Unfortunately it was handed to me: a slow reader at the best of times! And so the next time I pick up a Kate Atkinson it will be when I know that there will be no new job rush, no Christmas season prep, sunny summer afternoons, and a well stocked fridge.
February!