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The Lonely Margins
To live in the shadowland of espionage, where the only certainties are death and deceit, is to live on the lonely margins.
The French Resistance brought James Harmer and Jane Frazer together. The Gestapo broke them apart. But it was something else that shattered their love and left them haunted by a sense of betrayal and a thirst for revenge.
The French Resistance brought James Harmer and Jane Frazer together. The Gestapo broke them apart. But it was something else that shattered their love and left them haunted by a sense of betrayal and a thirst for revenge.
267 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 28, 1995
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16 people want to read
About the author
Ted Allbeury
167 books43 followers1917 - 2005. Also wrote under the pseudonyms Richard Butler and Patrick Kelly.
Ted Allbeury was a lieutenant-colonel in the Intelligence Corps during World War II, and later a successful executive in the fields of marketing, advertising and radio. He began his writing career in the early 1970s and became well known for his espionage novels, but also published one highly-praised general novel, THE CHOICE, and a short story collection, OTHER KINDS OF TREASON. His novels have been published in twenty-three languages, including Russian. He died on 4th December 2005.
See also: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/j...
and
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/t...
Ted Allbeury was a lieutenant-colonel in the Intelligence Corps during World War II, and later a successful executive in the fields of marketing, advertising and radio. He began his writing career in the early 1970s and became well known for his espionage novels, but also published one highly-praised general novel, THE CHOICE, and a short story collection, OTHER KINDS OF TREASON. His novels have been published in twenty-three languages, including Russian. He died on 4th December 2005.
See also: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/j...
and
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/t...
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 16, 2020
The Lonely Margin was quite a good read; the plot is not flawless, with some loopholes and a few plausibility issues, but the human interest part of the story is so remarkable to make the whole novel rather engrossing.
More than like a spy thriller, The Lonely Margins reads like an ancient Greek tragedy, with its emotional epicentre based on the theme of the ineluctability of human fate; a rather bitter story, not suited if you are in need of an uplift...
Ted Allbeury was a very prolific writer with a highly volatile quality, spanning from excellent to less than mediocre; so, for the readers approaching Allbeury from scratch, there is a risk of starting on the wrong foot and to stop there and this would be a shame as in his best clothes, Allbeury can be as good as Len Deighton. Some navigation guidance is therefore needed for handling properly Allbeury's body of work; here's my take on it.
Good/Very Good (4-5 stars): Seeds Of Treason (my personal favourite), The Other Side Of Silence, The Dangerous Edge, A Wilderness Of Mirrors, Moscow Quardille, The Only Good German, Shadow Of A Doubt, The Lonely Margin, The Line-Crosser, Beyond The Silence
About OK (3 stars): The Twelfth Day In January, The Crossing, The Lantern Network, Shadow Of Shadows
Not Worth (1-2 stars): Show Me A Hero, Deep Purple, No Place To Hide, The Girl From Addis, Pay Any Price, Snowball (these last two probably the worst)
More than like a spy thriller, The Lonely Margins reads like an ancient Greek tragedy, with its emotional epicentre based on the theme of the ineluctability of human fate; a rather bitter story, not suited if you are in need of an uplift...
Ted Allbeury was a very prolific writer with a highly volatile quality, spanning from excellent to less than mediocre; so, for the readers approaching Allbeury from scratch, there is a risk of starting on the wrong foot and to stop there and this would be a shame as in his best clothes, Allbeury can be as good as Len Deighton. Some navigation guidance is therefore needed for handling properly Allbeury's body of work; here's my take on it.
Good/Very Good (4-5 stars): Seeds Of Treason (my personal favourite), The Other Side Of Silence, The Dangerous Edge, A Wilderness Of Mirrors, Moscow Quardille, The Only Good German, Shadow Of A Doubt, The Lonely Margin, The Line-Crosser, Beyond The Silence
About OK (3 stars): The Twelfth Day In January, The Crossing, The Lantern Network, Shadow Of Shadows
Not Worth (1-2 stars): Show Me A Hero, Deep Purple, No Place To Hide, The Girl From Addis, Pay Any Price, Snowball (these last two probably the worst)
November 16, 2022
Ted Allbeury was a prolific author of espionage fiction, much of it presumably drawn from his own experiences, which according to his 2005 obituary in the Guardian included being parachuted into Germany during World War II and being captured and tortured by the Russians while running agents in East Germany during the Cold War. Those are pretty good credentials for a thriller writer, if not the kind most of us would want to acquire.
His own travails probably account for the distinctly melancholy tone of The Lonely Margins. The novel has two parts, the first set during WWII and the second in the late fifties. James Harmer is an SOE operative running a Resistance network in France. The classic emotionally repressed loner, he falls for the passionate Jane Frazer, his radio operator, just before their network is betrayed and rolled up by the Gestapo. Harmer spends the rest of the war in Buchenwald, surviving but emerging physically and psychically damaged.
Thirteen years later he is a respected police superintendent in Kent, more of a loner than ever. He runs into Jane, whom he believed to be dead; she also finished the war in a concentration camp and suffered emotional damage. They decide to figure out who betrayed their network and ruined their lives.
It would be hard to say more without spoilers; suffice it to say that the book becomes a legal thriller in the final reel and has a less than happy ending. It's a peculiar mix of genres and not very uplifting, but then Allbeury would know: there's nothing uplifting about the business of espionage.
His own travails probably account for the distinctly melancholy tone of The Lonely Margins. The novel has two parts, the first set during WWII and the second in the late fifties. James Harmer is an SOE operative running a Resistance network in France. The classic emotionally repressed loner, he falls for the passionate Jane Frazer, his radio operator, just before their network is betrayed and rolled up by the Gestapo. Harmer spends the rest of the war in Buchenwald, surviving but emerging physically and psychically damaged.
Thirteen years later he is a respected police superintendent in Kent, more of a loner than ever. He runs into Jane, whom he believed to be dead; she also finished the war in a concentration camp and suffered emotional damage. They decide to figure out who betrayed their network and ruined their lives.
It would be hard to say more without spoilers; suffice it to say that the book becomes a legal thriller in the final reel and has a less than happy ending. It's a peculiar mix of genres and not very uplifting, but then Allbeury would know: there's nothing uplifting about the business of espionage.
August 23, 2024
excellent story
Great story with the author no doubt using his wartime role and experience for the details and plot. I read the book quickly eager to see outcome. One of Ted Allbeury best.
Great story with the author no doubt using his wartime role and experience for the details and plot. I read the book quickly eager to see outcome. One of Ted Allbeury best.
September 8, 2017
Excellent to say the least
January 29, 2017
A traditional narrative told in 3 parts. The hero (James) is an SOE operative who ran resistance networks in occupied France duringWWII. During his last mission he falls in love with fellow SOE member (Jane) in France but the network is blown leading to arrests, torture and imprisonment in concentration camps. The second part deals with his career as a policeman after his return to England post war. He has been ostracised from the resistance group, unaware of their fate or that he was suspected of being the traitor. A chance meeting with Jane renews their emotions (limited for both of them since their war experience) and puts him on a path to find the true traitor. This leads to him murdering his wartime SOE commander (who had betrayed the network on orders from higher up) and part three deals with his murder trial. James is revealed as a man with strong values who has never felt love and has difficulty connecting emotionally. A loner who was ideally suited to war but who has difficulty coping with betrayal and other emotions
Easy and enjoyable read with a very effective plot. The trial details sounded very authentic and the end is moving
Easy and enjoyable read with a very effective plot. The trial details sounded very authentic and the end is moving
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews