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Small Change #2
Ha'penny
In 1949, eight years after the "Peace with Honor" was negotiated between Great Britain and Nazi Germany by the Farthing Set, England has completed its slide into fascist dicatorship. Then a bomb explodes in a London suburb.
The brilliant but politically compromised Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is assigned the case. What he finds leads him to a conspiracy of peers and communists, of staunch King-and- Country patriots and hardened IRA gunmen, to murder Britain's Prime Minister and his new ally, Adolf Hitler.
Against a background of increasing domestic espionage and the suppression of Jews and homosexuals, an ad-hoc band of idealists and conservatives blackmail the one person they need to complete their plot, an actress who lives for her art and holds the key to the Fuhrer's death. From the ha'penny seats in the theatre to the ha'pennies that cover dead men's eyes, the conspiracy and the investigation swirl around one another, spinning beyond anyone's control.
In this brilliant companion to Farthing, Welsh-born World Fantasy Award winner Jo Walton continues her alternate history of an England that could have been, with a novel that is both an homage of the classic detective novels of the thirties and forties, and an allegory of the world we live in today.
The brilliant but politically compromised Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is assigned the case. What he finds leads him to a conspiracy of peers and communists, of staunch King-and- Country patriots and hardened IRA gunmen, to murder Britain's Prime Minister and his new ally, Adolf Hitler.
Against a background of increasing domestic espionage and the suppression of Jews and homosexuals, an ad-hoc band of idealists and conservatives blackmail the one person they need to complete their plot, an actress who lives for her art and holds the key to the Fuhrer's death. From the ha'penny seats in the theatre to the ha'pennies that cover dead men's eyes, the conspiracy and the investigation swirl around one another, spinning beyond anyone's control.
In this brilliant companion to Farthing, Welsh-born World Fantasy Award winner Jo Walton continues her alternate history of an England that could have been, with a novel that is both an homage of the classic detective novels of the thirties and forties, and an allegory of the world we live in today.
319 pages, Hardcover
First published October 2, 2007
76 people are currently reading
1438 people want to read
About the author
Jo Walton
84 books3,076 followersJo Walton writes science fiction and fantasy novels and reads a lot and eats great food. It worries her slightly that this is so exactly what she always wanted to do when she grew up. She comes from Wales, but lives in Montreal.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 391 reviews
June 4, 2023
After reading Jo Walton's, Farthing , I was pleased to discover that it was #1 of a trilogy. This sequel is no less disturbing. It is set in a world that might have been , a society which has tried to trade freedom for security, but fails at both. One reviewer described this set as parahistorical , but while it can be viewed as an historical fantasy, aside from the alternate history and world, it is chilling and unfortunately very real.
I will not dwell on the plot, nor the mystery associated with it, except to state how riveting the story is. Walton has successfully created suspense and tension to the final page. Her character development is convincing and vivid.
The importance of this book, as in the previous setting, lies in the behaviors of the characters and their associated governments. The time period is 1949, purportedly 8 years after a "Peace with Honor" was transacted between Nazi Germany and Great Britain. This uneasy, odious, alliance is a major concern for many, but much of the populace is accepting of the facist dictatorship, blatant anti-Semitism and anti homosexual practices. The erroneous beliefs and the callous, brutal language and actions toward the Jews and homosexuals are shocking, yet all too real.
While reading this tale, which involves a bombing, frequent reference is made to the terrorists who want to destroy society, placing the onus for these actions on Jews and communists. Comparisons to today's attacks are easily viewed and disturbingly convincing to the reader.
Walton has achieved an admirable accomplishment in writing this all too plausible, horrifying thriller. I would possibly reread this series, which is rarely my practice.
I will not dwell on the plot, nor the mystery associated with it, except to state how riveting the story is. Walton has successfully created suspense and tension to the final page. Her character development is convincing and vivid.
The importance of this book, as in the previous setting, lies in the behaviors of the characters and their associated governments. The time period is 1949, purportedly 8 years after a "Peace with Honor" was transacted between Nazi Germany and Great Britain. This uneasy, odious, alliance is a major concern for many, but much of the populace is accepting of the facist dictatorship, blatant anti-Semitism and anti homosexual practices. The erroneous beliefs and the callous, brutal language and actions toward the Jews and homosexuals are shocking, yet all too real.
While reading this tale, which involves a bombing, frequent reference is made to the terrorists who want to destroy society, placing the onus for these actions on Jews and communists. Comparisons to today's attacks are easily viewed and disturbingly convincing to the reader.
Walton has achieved an admirable accomplishment in writing this all too plausible, horrifying thriller. I would possibly reread this series, which is rarely my practice.
November 2, 2021
Did I really believe that Pip, my own sister Pip, was a monster? The terrible thing, lying awake in the dark, was that I did, and that I recognised the callous places in myself that could have made me like her. I don't suppose Pip particularly wanted to be horrid to the Jews, but she was having a lovely time on the Continent and she just didn't care.
What a chilling indictment lies in this quotation of how fascism and totalitarianism and genocide take hold - not everyone has to be a rabid hate-monger believing in vile rhetoric, in this book primarily anti-Semitism, but enough people simply not caring about what is happening, allowing the series of 'small changes' to escalate, and becoming complicit even through inactivity, carelessness or fear is enough.
In this second part of the trilogy, we're just a few weeks since the Thirkie murder of Farthing. Another young woman, the Mitfordesque Viola, replaces Lucy as the first person narrator and alternates with the compromised Inspector Carmichael from the first book. Again, there's a Golden Age homage, this time to the theatrical setting of so many murder mysteries as well as the 'international conspiracy' plot tackled rather clumsily by, say, Agatha Christie where 'Reds', anarchists, Irish rebels and union leaders conspire to overturn the bourgeois values that the genre upholds.
What Walton does oh so cleverly, is to upend all those implicit sympathies by making the conspiracy one to assassinate Hitler thus complicating where we stand as readers in the book: with the anarchists (yay!), or with the dedicated Carmichael whose role forces him to strive to foil a plot which, personally, he'd rather see succeed?
And it's these moral ambivalences that make this series so worth reading: Walton doesn't trade in either one-dimensional romantic heroes or black-hearted villains - Viola even notes Hitler's charisma when she meets him briefly. Too many of the characters operate through expediency and self-interest rather than genuine, if hateful, conviction - and, in that sense, this is as much a reflection of modern politics and an analysis of how power is grabbed, held onto and circulates, as it is an alternative history. Oh, and it's also a gripping page-turner!
June 18, 2015
Description: In 1949, eight years after the "Peace with Honor" was negotiated between Great Britain and Nazi Germany by the Farthing Set, England has completed its slide into fascist dictatorship. Then a bomb explodes in a London suburb.
The brilliant but politically compromised Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is assigned the case. What he finds leads him to a conspiracy of peers and communists, of staunch King-and-Country patriots and hardened IRA gunmen, to murder Britain’s Prime Minister and his new ally, Adolf Hitler.
Against a background of increasing domestic espionage and the suppression of Jews and homosexuals, an ad-hoc band of idealists and conservatives blackmail the one person they need to complete their plot, an actress who lives for her art and holds the key to the Fuhrer's death. From the ha'penny seats in the theatre to the ha'pennys that cover dead men's eyes, the conspiracy and the investigation swirl around one another, spinning beyond anyone's control.
"When I was a lad," replied the foreman, "young ladies was young ladies. And young gentlemen was young gentleman. If you get my meaning."
"What this country wants," said Padgett, "is a 'Itler."
'Gaudy Night' (1935)
- Dorothy L. Sayers
Opening: They don't hang people like me. They don't want the embarrassment of a trial, and besides, Pappa is who he is. Like it or not, I'm a Larkin. They don't want the headline "Peer's Daughter Hanged."
A modern day Halfpenny
A rare picture of the Mitford family together, pictured in 1935
3.5* Farthing
3* Ha'penny
The brilliant but politically compromised Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is assigned the case. What he finds leads him to a conspiracy of peers and communists, of staunch King-and-Country patriots and hardened IRA gunmen, to murder Britain’s Prime Minister and his new ally, Adolf Hitler.
Against a background of increasing domestic espionage and the suppression of Jews and homosexuals, an ad-hoc band of idealists and conservatives blackmail the one person they need to complete their plot, an actress who lives for her art and holds the key to the Fuhrer's death. From the ha'penny seats in the theatre to the ha'pennys that cover dead men's eyes, the conspiracy and the investigation swirl around one another, spinning beyond anyone's control.
"When I was a lad," replied the foreman, "young ladies was young ladies. And young gentlemen was young gentleman. If you get my meaning."
"What this country wants," said Padgett, "is a 'Itler."
'Gaudy Night' (1935)
- Dorothy L. Sayers
Opening: They don't hang people like me. They don't want the embarrassment of a trial, and besides, Pappa is who he is. Like it or not, I'm a Larkin. They don't want the headline "Peer's Daughter Hanged."
A modern day HalfpennyA rare picture of the Mitford family together, pictured in 19353.5* Farthing
3* Ha'penny
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July 18, 2017The second book in Jo Walton’s Small Change trilogy is even better than the first. An alternate history set in a world where Britain made peace with Germany during World War II, shows how people respond as fascist rule begins to take hold following the events in Farthing. Inspector Peter Carmichael of Scotland Yard finds himself chasing terrorists who, it turns out, were planning to kill Hitler, an objective he sympathizes with. At the same time, the politically apathetic actress Viola Lark is preparing for the role of a lifetime in a gender-flipped Hamlet when she is drawn into the bombing plot. Viola’s story appealed to the theatre nerd in me, and Jo Walton does a great job showing how political apathy and a tendency to compromise can lead to disaster. It’s also fascinating how the book worked on me as a reader. I’m used to rooting for the detective and against the terrorists, but this book forces you to rethink all usual loyalties. I’ve started Half a Crown, the final book in the trilogy, and it’s just as good so far.
–Teresa Preston
from The Best Books We Read in April 2017: http://bookriot.com/2017/05/01/riot-r...
–Teresa Preston
from The Best Books We Read in April 2017: http://bookriot.com/2017/05/01/riot-r...
April 2, 2018
I'm afraid I got a little sloppy, back in 2008. I did not write a separate review of Ha'penny when I read it the first time. Instead, I just mentioned it as an aside in my original review of Farthing. But that was an oversight, I'll admit, one that does the central volume of Jo Walton's Small Change trilogy a significant disservice. Ha'penny very much has its own voice, and deserves to be considered on its own.
It is a darker work, this middle third. Ha'penny is set just a few weeks after the end of Farthing, but the national situation has already become much more worrisome, even if most of the English living in the shadow of the Third Reich can still convince themselves that things aren't yet so bad as they are on the Continent. The recent murder of James Thirkie is still a fresh topic, but not one that concerns Viola Lark very much. Despite her direct connection to the Farthing Set through Thirkie—her late sister Olivia was his first wife—Viola is much more involved in her own career as an actress, the career she left her family and changed her name to pursue. Viola's just landed a plum role, as Hamlet (cross-casting is all the rage in 1949 London) and that part will be commanding all of her attention for the next several weeks. So it's devastating news when Lauria Gilmore, who was to have played Hamlet's mother Gertrude, manages to get herself blown up by a terrorist bomb in her very own sitting room.
Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard and his able sergeant Royston are put on the case, which quickly takes a turn for the sinister and inexplicable. And Viola turns out to be much more involved in Lauria's fate and the reason for it than she ever wanted to be...
I know why I didn't review Ha'penny on its own the first time. It's not easy to talk about this book, despite its distance from the events of Farthing, without dipping into spoiler territory. Ha'penny begins in darkness, and I don't think it'll be any surprise to mention that it ends with even more darkness. But it's a necessary darkness too, I think, a passage that must be traveled through.
Time to see how things turn out. On to Half a Crown...
It is a darker work, this middle third. Ha'penny is set just a few weeks after the end of Farthing, but the national situation has already become much more worrisome, even if most of the English living in the shadow of the Third Reich can still convince themselves that things aren't yet so bad as they are on the Continent. The recent murder of James Thirkie is still a fresh topic, but not one that concerns Viola Lark very much. Despite her direct connection to the Farthing Set through Thirkie—her late sister Olivia was his first wife—Viola is much more involved in her own career as an actress, the career she left her family and changed her name to pursue. Viola's just landed a plum role, as Hamlet (cross-casting is all the rage in 1949 London) and that part will be commanding all of her attention for the next several weeks. So it's devastating news when Lauria Gilmore, who was to have played Hamlet's mother Gertrude, manages to get herself blown up by a terrorist bomb in her very own sitting room.
Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard and his able sergeant Royston are put on the case, which quickly takes a turn for the sinister and inexplicable. And Viola turns out to be much more involved in Lauria's fate and the reason for it than she ever wanted to be...
I know why I didn't review Ha'penny on its own the first time. It's not easy to talk about this book, despite its distance from the events of Farthing, without dipping into spoiler territory. Ha'penny begins in darkness, and I don't think it'll be any surprise to mention that it ends with even more darkness. But it's a necessary darkness too, I think, a passage that must be traveled through.
Time to see how things turn out. On to Half a Crown...
March 3, 2024
I read Farthing when it came out and thought it was brilliant. On rereading it, I still think so, and Ha'penny is just as good. Farthing's plot was a country-house mystery; I would call Ha'penny more of a suspense thriller, and full of suspense it is, right up to the explosive ending.
It follows on quite shortly after Farthing: Inspector Carmichael has just come off the Farthing case and has been assigned to a bombing which killed leading actress Lauria Gilmore. Viola Lark has been chosen to act Hamlet in a gender-switching production of the play, in which Gilmore had also been cast until her untimely death. As Carmichael investigates the bombing and ponders retirement from the police force, Viola is drawn into a plot to kill Hitler at the opening night of the play, along with Prime Minister Mark Normanby, the lead figure in the increasingly fascistic government.
As in Farthing, Walton alternates voices chapter by chapter, between Viola's first person and Carmichael's third, and both are equally absorbing; I especially liked the reflections of Viola's mental state in her role as Hamlet, as she wavers about her involvement in the plot and treads the edge of sanity. As England slides further and further into fascism, Walton's alternate history, always convincing, becomes more and more frightening. I can hardly wait until Half a Crown to see how she resolves it.
(Also, as someone very interested in the Mitford sisters, I really liked Walton's use of them as a basis for Viola and her sisters. They're not exact analogues by any means, but there are clear parallels. Also also, now I really want to see this production of Hamlet.)
It follows on quite shortly after Farthing: Inspector Carmichael has just come off the Farthing case and has been assigned to a bombing which killed leading actress Lauria Gilmore. Viola Lark has been chosen to act Hamlet in a gender-switching production of the play, in which Gilmore had also been cast until her untimely death. As Carmichael investigates the bombing and ponders retirement from the police force, Viola is drawn into a plot to kill Hitler at the opening night of the play, along with Prime Minister Mark Normanby, the lead figure in the increasingly fascistic government.
As in Farthing, Walton alternates voices chapter by chapter, between Viola's first person and Carmichael's third, and both are equally absorbing; I especially liked the reflections of Viola's mental state in her role as Hamlet, as she wavers about her involvement in the plot and treads the edge of sanity. As England slides further and further into fascism, Walton's alternate history, always convincing, becomes more and more frightening. I can hardly wait until Half a Crown to see how she resolves it.
(Also, as someone very interested in the Mitford sisters, I really liked Walton's use of them as a basis for Viola and her sisters. They're not exact analogues by any means, but there are clear parallels. Also also, now I really want to see this production of Hamlet.)
December 6, 2018
In an England that not only made peace with Nazi Germany but, is also about to welcome Hitler and some of his henchmen at the heart of London, lurks an underground and terrorist plot involving a mismatch of idealists that inspector Carmichael is assigned to uncover.
Sure, Walton takes here some easy liberty (e.g. the sister of one of the main plotters is married to Himmler, another to a physicist working on atoms...). It's a bit disappointing because too obvious a thing to do but, by contrast, her main protagonist -inspector Carmichael, the real hero of the trilogy- takes on a new depth that is chilling for being so relatable. Why individuals can act the way they do, supporting evil even against their own morale, in such extreme circumstances? Here's a fascinating take, giving an insightful extra-layer to an already very good plot.
'Ha'penny' is not as twisted as 'Farthing' (the first tome in this trilogy) yet, because more fast-paced and focused it is, I think, a better read. Haunting, it surely is a smart and gripping page-turner.
There's something rotten in the kingdom of Britain indeed, and this Small Change trilogy seems to get better and better book after book. I can't wait to read the last one ('Half a crown')!
Sure, Walton takes here some easy liberty (e.g. the sister of one of the main plotters is married to Himmler, another to a physicist working on atoms...). It's a bit disappointing because too obvious a thing to do but, by contrast, her main protagonist -inspector Carmichael, the real hero of the trilogy- takes on a new depth that is chilling for being so relatable. Why individuals can act the way they do, supporting evil even against their own morale, in such extreme circumstances? Here's a fascinating take, giving an insightful extra-layer to an already very good plot.
'Ha'penny' is not as twisted as 'Farthing' (the first tome in this trilogy) yet, because more fast-paced and focused it is, I think, a better read. Haunting, it surely is a smart and gripping page-turner.
There's something rotten in the kingdom of Britain indeed, and this Small Change trilogy seems to get better and better book after book. I can't wait to read the last one ('Half a crown')!
September 24, 2011
I found this second book in Jo Walton's "Small Change" trilogy increasingly difficult to put down. From something which I expected would take me a few days to read, it became a book which I devoured in three sittings - the last half of it in a single sitting.
The first book in the trilogy, Farthing, created the world of the novel: a world in which England made peace with Nazi Germany in 1941 and is sliding towards becoming a fascist state in 1949. Farthing was written in the style of a Golden Age detective novel. Ha'penny is written in the style of a thriller. Both novels are written in alternating first and third person narratives and share characters; in particular a police inspector with a conscience.
This novel suffers from being the second instalment in a trilogy. The world created in Farthing is powerful, disturbing and unforgettable. Because already familiar, it is somehow less shocking in this novel. In addition, it is clear that the book is in part a set-up for the final instalment.
Nowever, whatever weaknesses the book may have, there is still plenty to make it a page-turner. And if part of the point was to make the reader eager to read the final instalment, then it was hugely successful. I can't wait to get hold of the third novel in the trilogy, Half a Crown.
The first book in the trilogy, Farthing, created the world of the novel: a world in which England made peace with Nazi Germany in 1941 and is sliding towards becoming a fascist state in 1949. Farthing was written in the style of a Golden Age detective novel. Ha'penny is written in the style of a thriller. Both novels are written in alternating first and third person narratives and share characters; in particular a police inspector with a conscience.
This novel suffers from being the second instalment in a trilogy. The world created in Farthing is powerful, disturbing and unforgettable. Because already familiar, it is somehow less shocking in this novel. In addition, it is clear that the book is in part a set-up for the final instalment.
Nowever, whatever weaknesses the book may have, there is still plenty to make it a page-turner. And if part of the point was to make the reader eager to read the final instalment, then it was hugely successful. I can't wait to get hold of the third novel in the trilogy, Half a Crown.
May 5, 2013
This is the second book of this trilogy set in an alternate timeline where Britain has made peace with Hitler. This is readable enough, but it’s depressing as hell, and has a protagonist I didn’t believe in.
This book takes place a couple of weeks after the events in Farthing. We’re introduced to another young aristocratic woman who has defied her family - this one has become a theater actress and changed her name. She’s plausibly uninterested in politics and more concerned with her upcoming play than in the recent sinister administrative changes.
When her estranged sister asks her to participate in an assassination attempt, the actress answers the dangerous, outrageous proposal with a casual, polite refusal - until she finds herself sexually attracted to the man who will kill her if she doesn’t go along with the plot, so she agrees to do it.
I just didn’t find any of her actions to be believable at all, and this nearly ruined the book for me.
The other characterizations are mostly well done. The actress and her sisters are obviously based on the eccentric Mitford family, and this is kind of cool, except there’s an odd section of exposition that gives a synopsis of the lives of each sister - it feels like awkwardly inserted filler, adding nothing to the story.
I do like Inspector Carmichael and continue to be interested in his predicament: feeling helpless and trapped in a job that he despises, trying to do a little bit of good with what little power he has. I’ll read the next book mostly for his story.
This book takes place a couple of weeks after the events in Farthing. We’re introduced to another young aristocratic woman who has defied her family - this one has become a theater actress and changed her name. She’s plausibly uninterested in politics and more concerned with her upcoming play than in the recent sinister administrative changes.
When her estranged sister asks her to participate in an assassination attempt, the actress answers the dangerous, outrageous proposal with a casual, polite refusal - until she finds herself sexually attracted to the man who will kill her if she doesn’t go along with the plot, so she agrees to do it.
I just didn’t find any of her actions to be believable at all, and this nearly ruined the book for me.
The other characterizations are mostly well done. The actress and her sisters are obviously based on the eccentric Mitford family, and this is kind of cool, except there’s an odd section of exposition that gives a synopsis of the lives of each sister - it feels like awkwardly inserted filler, adding nothing to the story.
I do like Inspector Carmichael and continue to be interested in his predicament: feeling helpless and trapped in a job that he despises, trying to do a little bit of good with what little power he has. I’ll read the next book mostly for his story.
June 8, 2010
I tore through this one, and I'm tempted to go straight to the library for the third. This book suffers only a little bit from middleoftrilogyitis, mostly manifest in my desire to find out what happens in the final volume.
The trilogy's apparent structure is clever. This book, like the first one, has a split narrative; also like the first it alternates between a first person protagonist and a third person protagonist. The third person narrator, a Scotland Yard detective named Carmichael, is the same as in the first book, and his section blends seamlessly with that in Farthing. Carmichael is a remarkable character, with complex choices and complex motivations, and I look forward to reading the continuation of his story.
I was momentarily disappointed when the first person section didn't continue where Farthing had left off, but Walton managed to create another interesting character to hang this one on. As in that book, the first person character is a young woman who has rebelled against her family. She is less fluttery than Lucy but is still relatively naive politically, and Walton is thus able to use her ignorance and inquisitiveness as an expository tool.
I think this volume lacks a little of the horrific novelty of the first, but it is still a powerful exploration of a world that might have been, and of the choices people make in difficult situations. Many of the themes resonate with today's political climate as well.
*Side note: in my review of Farthing, I mentioned that it was shelved in different sections in different libraries. I have now noticed that in my own branch, Farthing is shelved in Mystery, Ha'Penny is shelved in Fiction, and the third book is shelved in Science Fiction. I guess this one was not really a mystery in the traditional sense, but it still seems odd to me to break up a series so comprehensively.
The trilogy's apparent structure is clever. This book, like the first one, has a split narrative; also like the first it alternates between a first person protagonist and a third person protagonist. The third person narrator, a Scotland Yard detective named Carmichael, is the same as in the first book, and his section blends seamlessly with that in Farthing. Carmichael is a remarkable character, with complex choices and complex motivations, and I look forward to reading the continuation of his story.
I was momentarily disappointed when the first person section didn't continue where Farthing had left off, but Walton managed to create another interesting character to hang this one on. As in that book, the first person character is a young woman who has rebelled against her family. She is less fluttery than Lucy but is still relatively naive politically, and Walton is thus able to use her ignorance and inquisitiveness as an expository tool.
I think this volume lacks a little of the horrific novelty of the first, but it is still a powerful exploration of a world that might have been, and of the choices people make in difficult situations. Many of the themes resonate with today's political climate as well.
*Side note: in my review of Farthing, I mentioned that it was shelved in different sections in different libraries. I have now noticed that in my own branch, Farthing is shelved in Mystery, Ha'Penny is shelved in Fiction, and the third book is shelved in Science Fiction. I guess this one was not really a mystery in the traditional sense, but it still seems odd to me to break up a series so comprehensively.
October 11, 2023
Ako išta, još bolje, još ozbiljnije, još uvjerljivije od prvog dijela. Jo se stvarno potrudila (re)konstruirati period o kojem piše. Nisam baš siguran za ponašanje glavnog lika, ali hej, nisam žensko.
August 1, 2016
I don't read too many thrillers, but this one reminded me of the experience I would have with them as a teen, usually resorting to a thriller after I'd read through my stash and had to borrow books from camp friends. Summer, days before smartphones (or personal computers!), hardly any TV, no work school, reading hundreds of pages a day.
It was a bit more pessimistic than I like my books, but once again, perfectly fitting for 2016, reminding us of the danger of letting excessive fear guide your choices. Fascist Europe looks so very believable in this, and the evil-- so extreme and yet so easy to pretend not to see it (see also, 2016).
I loved the characters and, most importantly, the mood. The book is atmospheric and an ultimate page-turner. I loved the relatioships between the sisters; whenever Walton used the sisterhood to introduce retardations, it was captivating for me (maybe due to my own large family; I do have quite a few siblings). I was less convinced by some aspects of the plot but it wasn't a large issue, merely something that strained my suspension of disbelief briefly.
On to book three.
It was a bit more pessimistic than I like my books, but once again, perfectly fitting for 2016, reminding us of the danger of letting excessive fear guide your choices. Fascist Europe looks so very believable in this, and the evil-- so extreme and yet so easy to pretend not to see it (see also, 2016).
I loved the characters and, most importantly, the mood. The book is atmospheric and an ultimate page-turner. I loved the relatioships between the sisters; whenever Walton used the sisterhood to introduce retardations, it was captivating for me (maybe due to my own large family; I do have quite a few siblings). I was less convinced by some aspects of the plot but it wasn't a large issue, merely something that strained my suspension of disbelief briefly.
On to book three.
April 18, 2018
Aspects of this I liked quite a lot - the plot was interesting (though somewhat similar to the film 'Inglourious Basterds'), there was a decent building of suspense throughout, and it was sprinkled with delightful little bits of writing, stylish moments where everything clicked and was convincing. These however were mixed in with quite a lot which didn't really work for me. Alternate timelines can work well if convincing, and this mainly succeeded, but there seemed to be a necessity to explain aspects in a slightly simplistic manner - which with a sometimes tedious focus on clothes and music and love (both the main romantic relationships within failed utterly to convince or interest me) the book ended up almost feeling as if it was aimed someplace between an adult and a YA audience. However, I did enjoy it overall, just not completely.
As for the shoe-horning in of random references to the term 'ha'penny' at any semi-opportune moment, which I now learn seems also to be something the author does in the other books of the trilogy, this to me felt very clunky and jarring indeed.
As for the shoe-horning in of random references to the term 'ha'penny' at any semi-opportune moment, which I now learn seems also to be something the author does in the other books of the trilogy, this to me felt very clunky and jarring indeed.
August 9, 2018
"'And that's what Normanby's trying to make himself, with all this hysteria about terrorists and the new laws. And you just swallow it, maybe with a little grimace, but down it goes like cough medicine. England is like a country of sleepwalkers, walking over the edge of a cliff, and has been these last eight years. You're prosperous, you're content, and you don't care what's going on the other side of the Channel as long as you can keep on having boat races and horse shows and coming up to London to see a show, or for the workers, dog races and days on the beach at Southend.'
'It's not my fault,' I said, almost frightened by his vehemence.
He stood up. 'It's not your fault, no, love, but it is your responsibility, and that you can't see that is your fault,' he said."
October 1, 2021
Did Kara read this book totally unaware that it’s the middle of a trilogy? Absolutely I did that. I picked this up for $5 from a used bookstore because it’s a Jo Walton novel I haven’t read, and I really like Jo Walton’s books. Even when I don’t love them, I like them, which is the case here. Honestly, you couldn’t tell from this book that there was one previous—obviously the first book would have filled in some of the backstory to how we got to now, and I would have met Inspector Carmichael sooner. But Walton is really good at making Ha’penny feel like a standalone novel.
It’s 1949, and the Second World War ended with a peace that left Hitler in power in Germany and fascism rising in Britain. A bomb went off in the home of an actor, Lauria Gilmore, killing her and another man. Were they terrorists, planning an attack? Or innocent victims? Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is on the case, getting heat from above to get results soon, close it, and move on. Meanwhile, actor Viola Lark (former Larkin) is cast as Hamlet even as one of her estranged sisters reaches out to bring her into a bombing conspiracy. Viola must decide if she is capable of helping them blow up Hitler and British Prime Minister Normanby on the opening night of her play. But will cutting the head off the snake save Britain from its fall into fascism? Or, like the hydra, will an even worse head climb into the power vacuum that awaits?
This is the central question of Ha’penny. When is violent revolution effective? When is civil resistance effective? When is it sufficient to depose a despot, and when is wider education and persuasion necessary? This might seem like a lot for a book about the theatre to tackle—but that is Walton for you, always meditating on complex issues in the most interesting of environments. This might be stating the obvious, but even the choice of play for the backdrop of this drama supports the question: Hamlet is about the main character’s indecisiveness over how to deal with his knowledge that his uncle murdered his father for the throne.
Walton’s choice of a counterfactual 1940s in which Hitler has held onto power makes the stakes all the more interesting. There were, of course, actual plots to kill Hitler with a bomb at several points leading up to and during the Second World War. I don’t know enough history to understand if that would have toppled the Third Reich and stopped the war dead in its tracks, but it seems to me like Hitler being in control of a consolidated peacetime Germany is a far different situation. Similarly, the grip that fascism has on Britain is fledgling—which seems to be harder to dislodge, in a way. People like Viola shrug at the violations of civil liberties visited upon Jewish people and non-British people, because they seem minor. In a world before mass television, the rumours of what is happening concentration camps are just that—rumours. So it’s more difficult to observe the descent, and people like Lord Scott seem more like alarmists than patriots.
Then we have Carmichael, who feels over the barrel because his superiors know he’s gay. Without spoiling the ending, he basically gets promoted into a position he really doesn’t want. He’s forced to hope that he can use his newfound power to “do some good” or at least mitigate the damage being done in the name of the state. The road to Hell and all … I can only imagine this is exactly the kind of thinking that many collaborators used during Nazi occupations and similar situations, including today. Do we stick inside the system and try to change it from within? Or do we disappear, go underground, even if that means leaving behind our lives? Carmichael is in a hard place, and there are no easy answers.
In the end, this isn’t so much a mystery novel (because we already know whodunit) as it is a suspense novel (will they be successful in their bombing plot, and will it make a difference)? Again, without spoilers, I’d also assert that given the ending it’s a bit of a horror story. At least a cautionary tale. I’m tempted to read the previous and subsequent books, which will hopefully give me a fuller understanding of the journey that Carmichael is on. We shall see what my library and used bookstore turn up for me!
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.
It’s 1949, and the Second World War ended with a peace that left Hitler in power in Germany and fascism rising in Britain. A bomb went off in the home of an actor, Lauria Gilmore, killing her and another man. Were they terrorists, planning an attack? Or innocent victims? Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is on the case, getting heat from above to get results soon, close it, and move on. Meanwhile, actor Viola Lark (former Larkin) is cast as Hamlet even as one of her estranged sisters reaches out to bring her into a bombing conspiracy. Viola must decide if she is capable of helping them blow up Hitler and British Prime Minister Normanby on the opening night of her play. But will cutting the head off the snake save Britain from its fall into fascism? Or, like the hydra, will an even worse head climb into the power vacuum that awaits?
This is the central question of Ha’penny. When is violent revolution effective? When is civil resistance effective? When is it sufficient to depose a despot, and when is wider education and persuasion necessary? This might seem like a lot for a book about the theatre to tackle—but that is Walton for you, always meditating on complex issues in the most interesting of environments. This might be stating the obvious, but even the choice of play for the backdrop of this drama supports the question: Hamlet is about the main character’s indecisiveness over how to deal with his knowledge that his uncle murdered his father for the throne.
Walton’s choice of a counterfactual 1940s in which Hitler has held onto power makes the stakes all the more interesting. There were, of course, actual plots to kill Hitler with a bomb at several points leading up to and during the Second World War. I don’t know enough history to understand if that would have toppled the Third Reich and stopped the war dead in its tracks, but it seems to me like Hitler being in control of a consolidated peacetime Germany is a far different situation. Similarly, the grip that fascism has on Britain is fledgling—which seems to be harder to dislodge, in a way. People like Viola shrug at the violations of civil liberties visited upon Jewish people and non-British people, because they seem minor. In a world before mass television, the rumours of what is happening concentration camps are just that—rumours. So it’s more difficult to observe the descent, and people like Lord Scott seem more like alarmists than patriots.
Then we have Carmichael, who feels over the barrel because his superiors know he’s gay. Without spoiling the ending, he basically gets promoted into a position he really doesn’t want. He’s forced to hope that he can use his newfound power to “do some good” or at least mitigate the damage being done in the name of the state. The road to Hell and all … I can only imagine this is exactly the kind of thinking that many collaborators used during Nazi occupations and similar situations, including today. Do we stick inside the system and try to change it from within? Or do we disappear, go underground, even if that means leaving behind our lives? Carmichael is in a hard place, and there are no easy answers.
In the end, this isn’t so much a mystery novel (because we already know whodunit) as it is a suspense novel (will they be successful in their bombing plot, and will it make a difference)? Again, without spoilers, I’d also assert that given the ending it’s a bit of a horror story. At least a cautionary tale. I’m tempted to read the previous and subsequent books, which will hopefully give me a fuller understanding of the journey that Carmichael is on. We shall see what my library and used bookstore turn up for me!
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.
October 23, 2023
A GRIPPING ALTERNATE HISTORY OF ENGLAND AFTER WORLD WAR II
Alternate history is a curious branch of science fiction—or, perhaps more properly, of speculative fiction. Because the factors that limit the author’s imagination aren’t the boundaries of science but those of history itself: reality. To work, alternate history must be believable in the context of what we know of our past. In Ha’penny, the second volume of her Farthing Trilogy, accomplished British science fiction and fantasy writer Jo Walton has achieved that, and more. She has written a gripping alternate history that illuminates the past with her artful imagination.
In Farthing, the first book of the trilogy, Nazi Germany and England had signed a peace treaty in 1941. That left Hitler dominant on the Continent—before the seminal events that drew the US and the USSR into the war. And now, eight years later, the “Farthing Set,” the group of right-wing aristocrats credited with ending the war, is poised on the brink of power. Farthing—combining alternate fiction with a murder mystery—tells the story of the violence that facilitated their ascent to power.
A GRIPPING ALTERNATE HISTORY THAT’S NOT FAR-FETCHED
How could this have happened in the seat of democracy? But it’s not so far-fetched. “England is like a country of sleepwalkers, walking over the edge of a cliff,” Walton writes, “and has been these last eight years. You’re prosperous, you’re content, and you don’t care what’s going on on the other side of the Channel as long as you can keep on having boat races and horse shows and coming up to London to see a show . . .” After all, most of us only pay attention to politics if we think it’s getting in the way of living our lives.
Ha’penny picks up the story shortly after the Farthing Set has settled into 10 Downing Street. The scene shifts from the country home in the village of Farthing where the first book was set to London’s theater district. There, Viola Lark, one of the six notorious Larkin sisters, has achieved stardom on the stage. She is set to begin production of a production of Hamlet, with herself in the title role in the theatrical fashion of the age. Viola cares only about the theater. She’s indifferent to politics. But the novel tells the fascinating tale of her gradual immersion in a plot to put an end to the fascist Farthing regime that has recently risen to power.
THE CENTRAL CHARACTERS ARE MODELED ON THE REAL-LIFE MITFORD SISTERS
At the center of the story are the aristocratic Larkin sisters. They’re closely modeled on the real-life Mitford sisters. The six women’s divergent paths through life in the 1930s, 40s, and beyond kept the English people variously entertained and enraged. The noted journalist and author Ben MacIntyre describes them as “Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur.” They were an endless source of gossip and scandalous headlines.
Photo of the Mitford sisters, models for the central characters in this gripping alternate history
The six Mitford sisters and their brother. Children of right-wing aristocratic English parents, they included a Nazi, a Fascist, and two leftists, including a Communist. Image: Vanity Fair
In truth, two of the sisters (Diana and Unity) were close to Hitler. And Diana married Sir Oswald Mosley, the head of the British Union of Fascists. But Nancy and Jessica, both accomplished writers, were left-leaning. With such stranger-than-fiction models for her characters, Jo Walton could hardly be faulted for a too-vivid imagination in writing Ha-penny.
A PERSONAL NOTE
I’m proud to say that I knew Jessica Mitford—she was better known as Decca—for a few years in the 1970s. Decca had moved to the USA early in life after her first husband died in World War II. She left the Communist Party not long after Khrushchev’s 1956 “Secret Speech” detailing Stalin’s crimes. By then, Decca had long since settled in Berkeley with her second husband, civil rights attorney Robert Treuhaft (a law partner of my late friend and long-time attorney). She was a brilliant social critic with a wicked, nonstop sense of humor. Decca wrote the widely acclaimed The American Way of Death pillorying the funeral industry.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jo Walton is a Welsh-Canadian science fiction and fantasy author who has written a total of fifteen novels as well as nonfiction and books of essays, short stories, and poetry. One of her fantasy novels, Among Others, won both the Hugo and Nebula awards for best novel, and another won the World Fantasy Award. She has won numerous other awards for her science fiction work. Farthing, Ha’penny, and Half a Crown form the Farthing Trilogy. They were published in the years 2006 to 2008. Walton moved to Montreal after her first novel was published. She is married and has one child.
Alternate history is a curious branch of science fiction—or, perhaps more properly, of speculative fiction. Because the factors that limit the author’s imagination aren’t the boundaries of science but those of history itself: reality. To work, alternate history must be believable in the context of what we know of our past. In Ha’penny, the second volume of her Farthing Trilogy, accomplished British science fiction and fantasy writer Jo Walton has achieved that, and more. She has written a gripping alternate history that illuminates the past with her artful imagination.
In Farthing, the first book of the trilogy, Nazi Germany and England had signed a peace treaty in 1941. That left Hitler dominant on the Continent—before the seminal events that drew the US and the USSR into the war. And now, eight years later, the “Farthing Set,” the group of right-wing aristocrats credited with ending the war, is poised on the brink of power. Farthing—combining alternate fiction with a murder mystery—tells the story of the violence that facilitated their ascent to power.
A GRIPPING ALTERNATE HISTORY THAT’S NOT FAR-FETCHED
How could this have happened in the seat of democracy? But it’s not so far-fetched. “England is like a country of sleepwalkers, walking over the edge of a cliff,” Walton writes, “and has been these last eight years. You’re prosperous, you’re content, and you don’t care what’s going on on the other side of the Channel as long as you can keep on having boat races and horse shows and coming up to London to see a show . . .” After all, most of us only pay attention to politics if we think it’s getting in the way of living our lives.
Ha’penny picks up the story shortly after the Farthing Set has settled into 10 Downing Street. The scene shifts from the country home in the village of Farthing where the first book was set to London’s theater district. There, Viola Lark, one of the six notorious Larkin sisters, has achieved stardom on the stage. She is set to begin production of a production of Hamlet, with herself in the title role in the theatrical fashion of the age. Viola cares only about the theater. She’s indifferent to politics. But the novel tells the fascinating tale of her gradual immersion in a plot to put an end to the fascist Farthing regime that has recently risen to power.
THE CENTRAL CHARACTERS ARE MODELED ON THE REAL-LIFE MITFORD SISTERS
At the center of the story are the aristocratic Larkin sisters. They’re closely modeled on the real-life Mitford sisters. The six women’s divergent paths through life in the 1930s, 40s, and beyond kept the English people variously entertained and enraged. The noted journalist and author Ben MacIntyre describes them as “Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur.” They were an endless source of gossip and scandalous headlines.
Photo of the Mitford sisters, models for the central characters in this gripping alternate history
The six Mitford sisters and their brother. Children of right-wing aristocratic English parents, they included a Nazi, a Fascist, and two leftists, including a Communist. Image: Vanity Fair
In truth, two of the sisters (Diana and Unity) were close to Hitler. And Diana married Sir Oswald Mosley, the head of the British Union of Fascists. But Nancy and Jessica, both accomplished writers, were left-leaning. With such stranger-than-fiction models for her characters, Jo Walton could hardly be faulted for a too-vivid imagination in writing Ha-penny.
A PERSONAL NOTE
I’m proud to say that I knew Jessica Mitford—she was better known as Decca—for a few years in the 1970s. Decca had moved to the USA early in life after her first husband died in World War II. She left the Communist Party not long after Khrushchev’s 1956 “Secret Speech” detailing Stalin’s crimes. By then, Decca had long since settled in Berkeley with her second husband, civil rights attorney Robert Treuhaft (a law partner of my late friend and long-time attorney). She was a brilliant social critic with a wicked, nonstop sense of humor. Decca wrote the widely acclaimed The American Way of Death pillorying the funeral industry.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jo Walton is a Welsh-Canadian science fiction and fantasy author who has written a total of fifteen novels as well as nonfiction and books of essays, short stories, and poetry. One of her fantasy novels, Among Others, won both the Hugo and Nebula awards for best novel, and another won the World Fantasy Award. She has won numerous other awards for her science fiction work. Farthing, Ha’penny, and Half a Crown form the Farthing Trilogy. They were published in the years 2006 to 2008. Walton moved to Montreal after her first novel was published. She is married and has one child.
October 3, 2010
I didn't like Ha'penny as much as Farthing -- I didn't devour it in the same way: it wasn't as compulsive a read, and besides, everyone's politics are getting a little bit murky. Viola, the first person POV character, isn't as likeable as Lucy -- she's not as amusing to read about, and her convictions are murky, and she gives in all too easily. It's understandable. Probably most people who read this and criticise her for giving in would give in themselves, hoping to earn a few more weeks of life, or maybe get out of it entirely, but we like to think we wouldn't. I didn't really buy into it, though. The way she described it -- admittedly, supposedly writing after the fact -- was unemotional in a way that just didn't let me connect with her. She'd have been much more interesting and easier to relate to if she was passionate about something.
I still love and sympathise with Carmichael, and understand what he does, but I didn't feel as in tune with him as I did in the first book, and really wished that he'd do things differently. I'm hoping that this builds up to a stunning ending in the third book, really.
In terms of the plot, it's a bit more The Thirty-Nine Steps (John Buchan) than Clouds of Witness (Dorothy Sayers), this time round. I wasn't so fascinated by that aspect of it, this time, though -- much more interested in Carmichael's problems.
The death of one of the characters at the end threw me a lot. I hadn't been expecting it, at all, and it didn't seem really necessary. Still, having read the first chapter of Half A Crown, I think I see where that's going.
Anyway: still chilling, still worth reading, still hits you where it hurts. Perhaps less so -- I felt a little numb, after the gut-punch end of Farthing -- but still, it was there.
Ow.
I still love and sympathise with Carmichael, and understand what he does, but I didn't feel as in tune with him as I did in the first book, and really wished that he'd do things differently. I'm hoping that this builds up to a stunning ending in the third book, really.
In terms of the plot, it's a bit more The Thirty-Nine Steps (John Buchan) than Clouds of Witness (Dorothy Sayers), this time round. I wasn't so fascinated by that aspect of it, this time, though -- much more interested in Carmichael's problems.
The death of one of the characters at the end threw me a lot. I hadn't been expecting it, at all, and it didn't seem really necessary. Still, having read the first chapter of Half A Crown, I think I see where that's going.
Anyway: still chilling, still worth reading, still hits you where it hurts. Perhaps less so -- I felt a little numb, after the gut-punch end of Farthing -- but still, it was there.
Ow.
May 4, 2016
Overall this book is weaker than its prequel. The characters were unconvincing to me, and I just cannot believe that Viola would fall so completely for a guy, charming as he may have been, who kidnaps her and threatens her with violence. Stockholm syndrome notwithstanding. Even though I preferred Viola’s voice to that of the female lead in the first in this series, I found her shallow and too easily influenced by others, especially her nasty sisters. I didn't mind that Viola seemed uninterested in the growing fascism and oppression in her country, there would have been many others in the population who were just like her, it was her utter capitulation that I found unbelievable.
September 23, 2020
Whilst not as strong as Farthing in my opinion, I still really enjoyed this book.
Following Carmichael's journey through another investigation that has the Farthing Set deep at the heart of.
I've not read alternative history novels before but am definitely loving these, I guess they seem to be more relevant with the rise of extreme political views again.
A good read, that again kept me turning page after page to find out what happens!
Following Carmichael's journey through another investigation that has the Farthing Set deep at the heart of.
I've not read alternative history novels before but am definitely loving these, I guess they seem to be more relevant with the rise of extreme political views again.
A good read, that again kept me turning page after page to find out what happens!
February 26, 2010
I loved Farthing, the first book in this series, despite avoiding alternate history and especially anything involving Nazis and WWII like the plague. In Farthing, Jo Walton took a classic British country house mystery and used it to divert the reader from all the subtly horrifying alternate history world-building going on at the edges, then brought all the alternate history aspects to the fore in the final third like a punch to the gut. It was one of the best books I've read all year.
In this sequel, which takes place almost directly after the events in Farthing, Jo Walton uses the classic thriller novel as her starting point in continuing to explore her fascist England, and if it isn't quite as successful as Farthing was, it is still compulsively readable and raises questions that will linger long after the book is finished. It can be read as a stand-alone, but I have no idea why anyone would want to, as reading it first would spoilthe events of Farthing, and that would be a terrible shame. (Needless to say, this review will also spoil the events of Farthing, so read no further if you haven't read the first book yet!)
This book has the same structure as its predecessor, alternating chapters between a tight third-person focused on Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard and a new female first-person narrator, also a woman born to the upper classes who has rejected (and been rejected by) her traditional aristocratic family. In this novel, the female narrator is Viola Larkin, who has been estranged from her family since she chose to take up acting as a profession. Carmichael is still reeling from his decision to compromise his ideals of justice to save his comfortable life with his man, Jack, and Viola has just agreed to take on the role of Hamlet in a production that will be attended by Mark Normanby (the new Prime Minister) and Adolf Hitler, who is coming to visit England to cement ties. Within the first couple chapters, Carmichael is investigating the accidental bombing death of an actress who was also going to be in the production of Hamlet, and Viola has been forced to become a part of the new assassination plot by one of her sisters, a card-carrying Communist.
This structure works less well in Ha'penny, however, because the two protagonists are far less sympathetic here than the two protagonists were in Farthing, creating emotional distance and lessening the impact of events later in the book. Carmichael, though very much consistent with the character Walton set out in Farthing, has now fallen from grace; he does not deserve the same sympathy he received when he appeared to be the righteous detective on the trail of monsters. And while Lucy Kahn was a little person caught in a trap who had the wit to find a way to escape for herself and the man she loved, Viola has much more power in determining her own destiny and chooses to give that power away by swooning over her terrorist captor. A review I read advanced the notion that she was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, but to the best of my knowledge a person does not develop Stockholm Syndrome after a momentary fright -- and besides, Viola was strongly attracted to Connelly before he ever became her captor. No, to me Viola is just another one of those fantasy girls that gets hot and bothered when a man mistreets her, and while I have no problem with sado-masochism in principle and found it wonderfully treated in Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series, in this instance it simply rang false. (Underlining the falsity, later in the novel Viola is disgusted by Normanby's subtly sadistic treatment of his wife.)
The novel also failed a little for me because I simply have no sympathy for terrorists. I reject utterly the notion that the ends can justify the means, so I had no problem rooting for Carmichael to discover the conspiracy and put a stop to it. That sucked some of the tension out of the middle of the novel, where in Farthing the middle section ratcheted up the tension by pitting Lucy against Carmichael when both were clearly on the same side.
Still, despite those weaknesses, Walton pulled off an ending that had the power to devastate, and the fact that it raises so many questions about power (questions concerning both what the ethical assertion of power looks like and what power any individual has to change any larger system) makes this a novel that people should read and discuss. I would strongly recommend it to nearly anyone, and I will most certainly be reading the next book in the series.
In this sequel, which takes place almost directly after the events in Farthing, Jo Walton uses the classic thriller novel as her starting point in continuing to explore her fascist England, and if it isn't quite as successful as Farthing was, it is still compulsively readable and raises questions that will linger long after the book is finished. It can be read as a stand-alone, but I have no idea why anyone would want to, as reading it first would spoilthe events of Farthing, and that would be a terrible shame. (Needless to say, this review will also spoil the events of Farthing, so read no further if you haven't read the first book yet!)
This book has the same structure as its predecessor, alternating chapters between a tight third-person focused on Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard and a new female first-person narrator, also a woman born to the upper classes who has rejected (and been rejected by) her traditional aristocratic family. In this novel, the female narrator is Viola Larkin, who has been estranged from her family since she chose to take up acting as a profession. Carmichael is still reeling from his decision to compromise his ideals of justice to save his comfortable life with his man, Jack, and Viola has just agreed to take on the role of Hamlet in a production that will be attended by Mark Normanby (the new Prime Minister) and Adolf Hitler, who is coming to visit England to cement ties. Within the first couple chapters, Carmichael is investigating the accidental bombing death of an actress who was also going to be in the production of Hamlet, and Viola has been forced to become a part of the new assassination plot by one of her sisters, a card-carrying Communist.
This structure works less well in Ha'penny, however, because the two protagonists are far less sympathetic here than the two protagonists were in Farthing, creating emotional distance and lessening the impact of events later in the book. Carmichael, though very much consistent with the character Walton set out in Farthing, has now fallen from grace; he does not deserve the same sympathy he received when he appeared to be the righteous detective on the trail of monsters. And while Lucy Kahn was a little person caught in a trap who had the wit to find a way to escape for herself and the man she loved, Viola has much more power in determining her own destiny and chooses to give that power away by swooning over her terrorist captor. A review I read advanced the notion that she was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, but to the best of my knowledge a person does not develop Stockholm Syndrome after a momentary fright -- and besides, Viola was strongly attracted to Connelly before he ever became her captor. No, to me Viola is just another one of those fantasy girls that gets hot and bothered when a man mistreets her, and while I have no problem with sado-masochism in principle and found it wonderfully treated in Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series, in this instance it simply rang false. (Underlining the falsity, later in the novel Viola is disgusted by Normanby's subtly sadistic treatment of his wife.)
The novel also failed a little for me because I simply have no sympathy for terrorists. I reject utterly the notion that the ends can justify the means, so I had no problem rooting for Carmichael to discover the conspiracy and put a stop to it. That sucked some of the tension out of the middle of the novel, where in Farthing the middle section ratcheted up the tension by pitting Lucy against Carmichael when both were clearly on the same side.
Still, despite those weaknesses, Walton pulled off an ending that had the power to devastate, and the fact that it raises so many questions about power (questions concerning both what the ethical assertion of power looks like and what power any individual has to change any larger system) makes this a novel that people should read and discuss. I would strongly recommend it to nearly anyone, and I will most certainly be reading the next book in the series.
January 24, 2016
I kind of liked the first book in this trilogy. I didn't like this one nearly so much. (I loathed the third one, but I'll get to that in due time.) It takes place not so long after the first one, and the story now centers around an actress who finds herself embroiled in an anarchist plot to kill Hitler. Meanwhile, she is slated to star as a revolutionary female Hamlet, and while that was almost a saving grace … the author's knowledge of Shakespeare, and Hamlet, let her down, which let me down.
"I imagine Claudius as a man bad enough to commit murder, but with enough conscience to come to feel guilty." Uh, no, that's not your imagination. That's the way he's written. That's exactly the way he's written.
The cast and crew is all stirred up about their iconoclastic production. "…The whole indecisive thing did make more sense for a girl, who wouldn't expect to inherit automatically. A son and heir being usurped would be a fool to do nothing about it…" Yeah, but ... That's not how it worked. There was no "inherit automatically". The kingship in Denmark in Hamlet's time period worked entirely differently. So – this is a non sequitur. And ignorant, for a dramaturg. And rather offensively sexist, I don't think I really need to add (although in a book I liked I'd be excusing that based on the setting).
I did enjoy this moment, regarding whether it makes more sense for Hamlet to be a woman: "Mrs. Tring laughed. 'If it made more sense, you can trust that Shakespeare would have written it that way round first off and saved a lot of trouble.' *hugs Mrs. Tring*
I think another small reason I began to dislike this series was the narration. The first book alternated between one male and one female character, and I liked both. Or at least became used to both. While the male character – and narrator - carry over for this second book, the female character (and thus narrator) is new, and I didn't enjoy her reading as much. (I believe it was she who pronounced Boedicea as "Bow-disha", which is an entirely new one on me.)
It might not have been so much the narrator, however, as that character, Viola. In a way, I liked the divided perspective she developed, with half of her continuing to work on her role as Hamlet – while all the time the other half of her is participating in plans that will destroy the play. And the theatre. And, hopefully, Hitler. She just wore out her welcome with me after a while. Rather like the heroine of the first book, she's not the sharpest crayon in the box, and … I just didn't like her. When one of her sisters died, she says at one point, "I went to the funeral, even though it was up in Yorkshire, and meant hours on a blacked out train". Gosh. And she was only your sister. That's mighty decent of you. Heroic, even. Here's a medal. She is simplistic about her motivations for her planned act of anarchy; granted, it doesn't require any complex reasoning to know Hitler is evil, but (like Lucy from Farthing) she's rather childlike.
"It was a detail that had always stuck with me, even when I thought it was just a horror story. It was the stuff of nightmare, being given soap and going into a shower but the soap is a stone and the showerheads vent poison gas."
And there is Inspector Carmichael again, being drawn deeper into a position which could endanger his relationship with his (male) lover (homosexuality being seen as nearly as bad a Judaism in this Nazi-riddled alternate world). He's kind of a hard-luck fellow – nothing seems to go his way. So when, toward the end, he is cheerful about the case being nearly over, it's a clear and certain sign that something is about to go catastrophically pear-shaped. He tells himself, "Not for very much longer now!" And I said, Uh oh.
I just didn't enjoy it much. I didn't like the taste going down, and I didn't like the aftertaste. But I'd already bought the sequel…
"I imagine Claudius as a man bad enough to commit murder, but with enough conscience to come to feel guilty." Uh, no, that's not your imagination. That's the way he's written. That's exactly the way he's written.
The cast and crew is all stirred up about their iconoclastic production. "…The whole indecisive thing did make more sense for a girl, who wouldn't expect to inherit automatically. A son and heir being usurped would be a fool to do nothing about it…" Yeah, but ... That's not how it worked. There was no "inherit automatically". The kingship in Denmark in Hamlet's time period worked entirely differently. So – this is a non sequitur. And ignorant, for a dramaturg. And rather offensively sexist, I don't think I really need to add (although in a book I liked I'd be excusing that based on the setting).
I did enjoy this moment, regarding whether it makes more sense for Hamlet to be a woman: "Mrs. Tring laughed. 'If it made more sense, you can trust that Shakespeare would have written it that way round first off and saved a lot of trouble.' *hugs Mrs. Tring*
I think another small reason I began to dislike this series was the narration. The first book alternated between one male and one female character, and I liked both. Or at least became used to both. While the male character – and narrator - carry over for this second book, the female character (and thus narrator) is new, and I didn't enjoy her reading as much. (I believe it was she who pronounced Boedicea as "Bow-disha", which is an entirely new one on me.)
It might not have been so much the narrator, however, as that character, Viola. In a way, I liked the divided perspective she developed, with half of her continuing to work on her role as Hamlet – while all the time the other half of her is participating in plans that will destroy the play. And the theatre. And, hopefully, Hitler. She just wore out her welcome with me after a while. Rather like the heroine of the first book, she's not the sharpest crayon in the box, and … I just didn't like her. When one of her sisters died, she says at one point, "I went to the funeral, even though it was up in Yorkshire, and meant hours on a blacked out train". Gosh. And she was only your sister. That's mighty decent of you. Heroic, even. Here's a medal. She is simplistic about her motivations for her planned act of anarchy; granted, it doesn't require any complex reasoning to know Hitler is evil, but (like Lucy from Farthing) she's rather childlike.
"It was a detail that had always stuck with me, even when I thought it was just a horror story. It was the stuff of nightmare, being given soap and going into a shower but the soap is a stone and the showerheads vent poison gas."
And there is Inspector Carmichael again, being drawn deeper into a position which could endanger his relationship with his (male) lover (homosexuality being seen as nearly as bad a Judaism in this Nazi-riddled alternate world). He's kind of a hard-luck fellow – nothing seems to go his way. So when, toward the end, he is cheerful about the case being nearly over, it's a clear and certain sign that something is about to go catastrophically pear-shaped. He tells himself, "Not for very much longer now!" And I said, Uh oh.
I just didn't enjoy it much. I didn't like the taste going down, and I didn't like the aftertaste. But I'd already bought the sequel…
September 23, 2016
I read Farthing last month, and straight away I added the next book to Mount TBR. Well, the second I finished this I almost grabbed the third in the series to start reading it. In fact, had it not been for the fact that I didn’t have it with me, and had time left on my lunch for reading, I would probably have dived right into the third book. Because I loved this one. I mean, I really liked Farthing, it was great, but this one is even better in some respects.
It is certainly darker.
And yet despite the darkness and the horror it is an incredibly easy book to read and to enjoy. Also, when I say dark and horror, I don’t mean that there this is anything like a torture-porn story or a ghost story. Instead it is a social and political horror story, the erosion of democracy and the formation of a fascist society. And how easy it seems to happen.
I hadn’t read the blurb on the back, of this, or any of the other books in the series, so I thought this might be a continuation of Lucy and David’s story. So I was a bit thrown to have a different first person narrator. But only initially. After a paragraph or too I could see why Walton chose to centre the story on a different woman. She’s from a similar class and status to Lucy, but she has a very different outlook to her.
Inspector Carmichael is the returning central character here, and after how Farthing ended for him, he has serious soul searching to do. His story is so important. A good man, in terrible times, with a secret that those in power are all too willing to use to keep him in line. His story is heart-breaking.
I found that I kept wanting to keep reading this book. It’s certainly a tense, atmospheric page-turner of a book. Makes for compulsive reading.
It is certainly darker.
And yet despite the darkness and the horror it is an incredibly easy book to read and to enjoy. Also, when I say dark and horror, I don’t mean that there this is anything like a torture-porn story or a ghost story. Instead it is a social and political horror story, the erosion of democracy and the formation of a fascist society. And how easy it seems to happen.
I hadn’t read the blurb on the back, of this, or any of the other books in the series, so I thought this might be a continuation of Lucy and David’s story. So I was a bit thrown to have a different first person narrator. But only initially. After a paragraph or too I could see why Walton chose to centre the story on a different woman. She’s from a similar class and status to Lucy, but she has a very different outlook to her.
Inspector Carmichael is the returning central character here, and after how Farthing ended for him, he has serious soul searching to do. His story is so important. A good man, in terrible times, with a secret that those in power are all too willing to use to keep him in line. His story is heart-breaking.
I found that I kept wanting to keep reading this book. It’s certainly a tense, atmospheric page-turner of a book. Makes for compulsive reading.
September 8, 2012
The standout book of this series. This book was brilliant in a way that the first (Farthing) and third (Half a Crown) were not. Also, if you don't love the awesomeness of the cover — a vintage photo of an advertising-crowded street which includes an ad proclaiming that Guinness is good for you — then I don't mean to judge, but really, you should probably have that checked out. And when I say "that" I mean "your improperly functioning sense of what is funny and/or awesome."
One of the viewpoint characters is a lady actress (essentially disowned by her family for her disreputable profession) playing Hamlet. The way her plotline plays off of the play's is ... awesome.
In the space of about a week, I have read two books that used "trick cyclist" as slang for "psychiatrist" despite not ever having encountered this usage before. Odd. (The other was The Towers of Silence.)
One of the viewpoint characters is a lady actress (essentially disowned by her family for her disreputable profession) playing Hamlet. The way her plotline plays off of the play's is ... awesome.
In the space of about a week, I have read two books that used "trick cyclist" as slang for "psychiatrist" despite not ever having encountered this usage before. Odd. (The other was The Towers of Silence.)
September 10, 2017
"Ha'Penny" is the second book in Jo Walton's "Small Change" series, a trilogy that explores an alternate world where England and Germany sign an accord during WWII, the USA remains incredibly isolationist, Germany takes over much of Europe, and England slides further and further into fascism.
As with "Farthing," the protagonist is a (female) member of the upper class who takes a while to figure out what's going on and then come down firmly on the "anti-fascism" side of things. It's interesting watching people grow more aware of things around them, to realize that just because they don't see something immediately doesn't mean it doesn't exist. And it's horrifying to see just how easy and quickly a government, a country, can become actively oppressive and genocidal.
The writing remains generally good, although Viola slides into a relationship with her abductor oddly easily. Maybe she wanted to be convinced the entire time; maybe she's just incredibly damaged from her abusive upbringing. Maybe it's something else. Maybe it's a bit of lazy and/or sexist writing.
Unlike a lot of middle of trilogy books, it's a solid story that holds its own instead of feeling like filler.
As with "Farthing," the protagonist is a (female) member of the upper class who takes a while to figure out what's going on and then come down firmly on the "anti-fascism" side of things. It's interesting watching people grow more aware of things around them, to realize that just because they don't see something immediately doesn't mean it doesn't exist. And it's horrifying to see just how easy and quickly a government, a country, can become actively oppressive and genocidal.
The writing remains generally good, although Viola slides into a relationship with her abductor oddly easily. Maybe she wanted to be convinced the entire time; maybe she's just incredibly damaged from her abusive upbringing. Maybe it's something else. Maybe it's a bit of lazy and/or sexist writing.
Unlike a lot of middle of trilogy books, it's a solid story that holds its own instead of feeling like filler.
July 2, 2018
I ❤️❤️❤️ Jo Walton.
Incredible that this book is a decade old, and yet feels like it's speaking directly to who and where we are today.
"What if the Nazis won" is a well-worn alternate history trope, that's certainly intriguing, but also somewhat self contained -- it stays firmly in the fairly simple confines of "gee, Nazis are bad."
Ha'penny asks, instead, "What if we just kind of... got along with the Nazis? What if we declared that Hitler was basically OK, as long as he didn't threaten us?" And this is a much more powerful lens through which to examine fascism, nationalism, the politics of power and oppression.
Where Farthing set the scene chillingly, it's Ha'penny that delves into it, showing a society sliding into atrocity inch by inch -- out of necessity, convenience, self-interest, and self-preservation.
Is there any way to reverse the flow? I don't know if Half-Crown will be uplifting or heartbreaking, but I look forward to finding out.
Incredible that this book is a decade old, and yet feels like it's speaking directly to who and where we are today.
"What if the Nazis won" is a well-worn alternate history trope, that's certainly intriguing, but also somewhat self contained -- it stays firmly in the fairly simple confines of "gee, Nazis are bad."
Ha'penny asks, instead, "What if we just kind of... got along with the Nazis? What if we declared that Hitler was basically OK, as long as he didn't threaten us?" And this is a much more powerful lens through which to examine fascism, nationalism, the politics of power and oppression.
Where Farthing set the scene chillingly, it's Ha'penny that delves into it, showing a society sliding into atrocity inch by inch -- out of necessity, convenience, self-interest, and self-preservation.
Is there any way to reverse the flow? I don't know if Half-Crown will be uplifting or heartbreaking, but I look forward to finding out.
September 30, 2008
I've been working on this in between all the YA books I've been reading and even though I've been reading it for weeks, the minute I opened it again I was immediately immersed in Walton's alternate world. In Farthing, the first book, Walton set out a world in which the Farthing Peace treaty is reached in WWII and Britain is now ruled by a dictatorship lead by Normanby, an ally of Hitler. There is increasing suppression of Jews, homosexuals, and anyone born outside England. Ha'penny follows the further investigations of Scotland Yard Inspector Carmichael, himself a homosexual and being blackmailed by his superiors to keep secrets. When a bomb explodes killing a well known actress, Inspector Carmichael is drawn into a far-reaching plot. This is a brilliantly written book, a thriller of the first caliber and a meticulously imagined alternate history. The issues raised throughout are so thought-provoking as well. Fascinating book.
November 21, 2017
The second of Jo Walton's stunning trilogy set in a horrifying alternate universe of British Fascism and a world dominated by Hitler and the Nazis.
Like Farthing, it's very effectively told in alternating chapters narrated in the first person by a young woman, in this case the aristocratic actress Viola Lark, and in the third person by Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard, who is the one main character in all three novels.
Unlike Farthing, which was in the style of a classic British murder mystery, Ha'penny is a chilling novel of suspense in which we know who's trying to do what to whom and why. What we don't know, and what makes this novel so engrossing, is what exactly will happen with the conspiracy -- who lives, who dies, and who might surprise us in the end.
Like Farthing, it's very effectively told in alternating chapters narrated in the first person by a young woman, in this case the aristocratic actress Viola Lark, and in the third person by Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard, who is the one main character in all three novels.
Unlike Farthing, which was in the style of a classic British murder mystery, Ha'penny is a chilling novel of suspense in which we know who's trying to do what to whom and why. What we don't know, and what makes this novel so engrossing, is what exactly will happen with the conspiracy -- who lives, who dies, and who might surprise us in the end.
June 3, 2008
Set shortly after Farthing, Inspector Carmichael is once again drawn into a murder case with disturbingly political subtext. This is a disturbing, frustrating book because the situation is completely hopeless. Fascism and every possible form of modern intolerance continue to gain power, and nothing the smart, likeable main characters do makes any difference. It doesn't seem like the failures of the main characters (Lucy Khan in the first book, Viola Lark in this) and Carmichael's own compromises serve any purpose other than to depress the reader.
February 7, 2017
Solid story, and I like something in her writing, some kind of deceptive simplicity, that works so well for this topic. My worry in the first book was that she wouldn't justify the invocation of fascism - I think there are many books set in the WWII era that use the setting merely as a plot device, which is vile. But Walton builds slowly to show the gradual normalization of terrifying things, and all of that combines to find new ways to pierce perception and promote insight. I don't know, I guess I'm saying this might get through to someone who hasn't figured it out yet, and if one more person learns to stand up to fascism, then it's worth it.
July 19, 2018
I read the first in this series pre-Trump America and I liked it but wow - reading this series in our current political climate is a whole other experience. A chilling look at how apathy shapes society - but also a really great mystery with a compelling central character.
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