An Officer and a Spy

Degradation of Dreyfus (Wikimedia commons image)

Robert Harris has taken the historical Dreyfus affair and written a page turning thriller. Even though one knows the end, his portrayal of the various characters involved in this infamous incident brings history to life the way textbook accounts can rarely match.

The story is told by Georges Picquart one of the officers initially involved in the delivery of information that led to the miscarriage of justice.

His efforts to clear Dreyfus of the spying allegations lay bare the inadequacies of high command of the time. Harris acknowledges that no diary has been found written by Picquart but in allocating the role of narrator to him, we find a conflicted character keen not to compromise his career but forced to choose between the easy path of denial and the path of righteousness.

This was a book I could not put down and I read it in a day, so compelling was the storytelling. I am a Robert Harris afficionado having read 6 of his 8 novels.

The Aviator's Wife

This is the fictionalised story of Charles Lindbergh's wife Anne Morrow and the important role she played in his achievements. Melanie Benjamin has done an excellent job of portraying the life in the limelight that this couple led, along with its ups and downs.

A vivid rendering of the years between the 1920s and 1960s paints an interesting historical view of the changing role of the educated woman's place in society. Charles Lindbergh is portrayed as a selfish man to whom Anne must acquiesce. Her achievements are given just recognition in this portrayal of their lives. She is acknowledged as the first female glider pilot in the United States but her role in the support of Lindbergh is all consuming often to the detriment of the relationship and her own reputation as a writer.

Having read this title I am now interested to read Gift from the sea (1955) written by Mrs Anne Lindbergh and read her account of life with Charles.

The Tailor's Girl

The Tailor’s Girl by Fiona MacIntosh

This is another delightful historical story from the author of The French Promise and Fields of Lavender. This book could probably be best described as an historical romance with the wounded soldier and his wife as the central characters. The horrors of war and attendant memory loss are as central to this story as is the womens’ movement for equal rights.

The Tailor’s Girl of the title is Edie the daughter of a Jewish tailor based in London. Her desire to lead a life as an independent woman, more than wife and mother, provides an ongoing focus when the hero Tom changes direction through an accident that is no fault of his own.

The challenges for returned soldiers and women post war are addressed with a wonderful tour through the streets of London, life in the English countryside, lots of detail about the fashions of the time and an interesting look into that very male bastion of the times, Savile Row.

Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed this tale, the somewhat convenient ending was rather contrived, but having said that, it was an enjoyable read with an ending that suggests 'love conquers all'.