Kate Atkinson - Transcription

A dramatic story of WWII espionage, betrayal, and loyalty, by the #1 bestselling author of Life After Life.

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 both 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.

Comment: In 2017 I've read another book by this author which was interesting but not enough to tempt me to try other things by the author. I probably would remain with this intention if I had not seen this Transcription available at the library, and that is the only reason I decided to give the author another go.

In this novel, the author tackles the WWII theme, focusing the story on Juliet, a young woman who starts working for MI5 as a stenographer. Her first mission involves spying on a group of people who have Fascist tendencies and might be conspiring to help the Germans. While part of the work seems boring and sometimes too repetitive, it also helps Juliet and those of her team to present some results. Ten years later, Juliet works for BBC but one day she sees her old mission leader and calls up to him in the street but he pretends he doesn't know her. Juliet then starts receiving threats and she figures it all might be connected to that mission, and what went wrong...

I think the idea of this novel is certainly intriguing, even though there are countless stories on WWII out there. I think the idea of focusing on Juliet and the small sphere in which she is interacting with only a few people was quite the tactic. I also like that the setting remains in the UK, so no foreign missions and the usual scenes we would have to see regarding that.

The story is actually told in three times: 1981 when Juliet is hit by a car and starts to reminisce on her active work years, then 1940 when the mission begins and also 1950, when Juliet decides to investigate who might be threatening her. The 1981 time line only serves to put a context on things and, in a way, it was both sad and frustrating because what little happens in the few pages set in that year has no way of changing.

The main action is divided between 1940 and 1950, a mere ten year difference, but what difference, between active war years and a moment were supposedly all is behind everyone. The 1940 section is certainly interesting, especially when I think about the recruitment of Juliet and the tasks asked of her, which seem pretty basic when she starts. She has the job of writing down the conversations they listen to in the apartment next door, where the people they are spying usually reunites. Juliet also does some spying of her own in the house of one of the targets and she is somehow involved in the disappearance of an innocent person, which affects her more than she imagined.

In 1950, when all those things are behind her - but not out of her memories - she leads a simple life as a BBC producer but everything gets complicated when she recognizes her old mission leader and then, suddenly, other familiar faces get in her path again. I think the small vibe of suspense was well achieved but I must say that, while the writing is competent, it wasn't always very appealing and Juliet came across as someone with principles and regrets, but her characterization felt rather poor. I suppose it might be intentional we don't have a larger than life heroine, but I didn't always empathize with her.

In fact, my biggest personal complaint is that in such a clever and witty story (the author often uses expressions, little comments and includes information which clearly demonstrate her knowledge and sharpness), it all seems a bit misused when the main character isn't more engaging nor when the plot is actually as basic as it ends up being. I always imagined the mystery of what happened and why is Juliet feeling chased now would be something bigger or more complex and, it turns out, things are actually a little less complicated. Not that this is bad, but I think there was some build up of expectations.

Portuguese cover

The author adds in a note at the end where she got her inspiration and I've found that explanation way more interesting than most of the plot. I think she wanted to keep things as close as possible to real life events but for the sake of fictionalizing, some things felt a little unbalanced. the characters weren't always easy to like, except perhaps two dogs which actually have quite an important role in the middle of all the mess the spies see themselves in. There were also a few scenes where Juliet thinks about wrong and right and how that isn't the same if war is ongoing... or is it?

I can understand why this was a winner for some readers and why not for others, and I feel I'm in the middle... this has good elements, the writing is very clever, but it wasn't as emotional perhaps, nor as purposeful as it could be, to make it feel even stronger to me. I think this means I won't run to look for more by this author but if something else by her is at the library again, I might try it as well.

Grade: 6/10