The Miracle Inspector

by Helen Smith

A darkly comic literary novel set in the near future. England has been partitioned and London is an oppressive place where poetry has been forced underground, theatres and schools are shut, and women are not allowed to work outside the home. A young couple, Lucas and Angela, try to escape from London - with disastrous consequences.

Genres: Fiction, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic, Apocalyptic, London

252 pages, Paperback

First published May 17, 2010

About the author

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Helen Smith is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, The Crime Writers Association and English PEN. She traveled the world when her daughter was small, doing all sorts of strange jobs to support them both – from cleaning motels to working as a magician's assistant – before returning to live in London where she wrote her first novel. She's the author of Alison Wonderland, Being Light, The Miracle Inspector and the Emily Castles mystery series as well as children's books, poetry and plays.

Helen Smith's books have reached number one on Amazon's bestseller lists in the US, UK, Canada and Germany. Her first book, Alison Wonderland, was one of Amazon Publishing's top five bestselling books when it was launched in the US in 2011. In July 2013, following the publication of Invitation to Die, Helen Smith reached the top spot as "America's most popular mystery author" on Amazon. Her books have been praised in The Times, The Times Literary Supplement, the Guardian, Time Out and Wired.com. They have appeared on "best books of the year" lists in For Books' Sake, The Cult Den, The Independent and the Guardian.

Helen Smith has been invited to read at literary events and festivals in London and New York and points in between – including, most recently, a cruise ship en route to California via the Suez Canal. Her work has been read or performed at the National Theatre, The Royal Festival Hall, the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood, Amnesty International’s Headquarters, The Edinburgh Festival and The University of London. She’s a Literary Death Match champion and the recipient of an Arts Council of England award. Her work has been optioned by the BBC. She’s amazing! Please buy her books.

"Smith is gin-and-tonic funny." Booklist

Reviews

[Anagha Uppal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars


I'm finding it near impossible to figure out exactly what my feelings are at the end of this book. There's been some good parts and some not-so-fun parts.... but the complicatedness should be expected. It's such a unique combination of genres - it's a dystopian novel, which as you know I read as much of as I can. Yet I've never, ever read anything quite like it. Which makes me wonder if the parts I didn't love is just because it's so different. First off, just how many dystopian books have you read in the past two years that were adult books? Still thinking? I thought so. If you have read some, how many were literary tales that reminded you of Hemingway? Mhmm, I told you it was unique.


The scary thing about this novel is the world is so absolutely believable. The author took some of our actual fears today and envisioned a future where the government (that stays very much in the shadows) uses these fears against its people to control them. People were afraid of terrorists-that was used to enforce border controls and walls and barriers to keep out (or keep in?). Fear of rapists and pedophiles are hugely exaggerated and in this future London, women are forced to sit at home and cook and clean for their husbands, and can only meet approved relatives. Lucas doesn't abuse his wife, but it is a common enough practice that no one blinks an eye when the Head of Security uses his cameras to spy on his wife in the shower.

The Miracle Inspector isn't something you read for entertainment. It's something you read when you are in the contemplative mood, when you can handle the depth of despair and fear of this book. There is no sassy young protagonist to provide the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. There are no outright explanations as to why the world is in such a state of desrepair. You aren't given the explanations on a platter, instead, the author wants you to puzzle it out for yourself. And there isn't a sequel to elaborate on any of this. The author leaves me with more questions than answers, which for once I can appreciate - think about the classics. You aren't told all the hows and whys - you're supposed to fill in the blanks yourself, which might vary greatly. Is the couple going to survive? Was that finally a miracle at the end or some sort of 1984-esque ending?

This is a very adult book, not in its content (though there are plenty of explicit references to sex) but in the level of intelligence needed to approach this book, an amount that I admittedly don't have yet.


TMI (hee hee) is not your typical rebel-against-evil-government read. There is very little action, instead concentrating on character development. It's more realistic - sort of like a combination of 1984 (especially the last few chapters) and Lord of the Flies. There was no plague or famine or epic war (that I know of), but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a try.

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what you get for believing the Daily ****.
I shouldn't mention the name of my least favourite paranoia-inducing newspaper; insert your own.
Helen Smith has taken some of the fears and obsessions of today's society, then twisted and exaggerated them to create a dystopian vision of the future.
Fear of terrorists has closed the borders and grounded the planes, not just keeping the terrorists and tourists out, but shutting in the citizens and any hapless foreigners caught in the net.
Fear of paedophiles has closed the schools and most of the churches.
Fear of rapists has confined women to their homes, apart from visits to 'relatives' during the hours of daylight while dressed in a burqa (or something very similar).
Paranoia is irrational or exaggerated fear, out of proportion to the true level of threat. This is what we have in "The Miracle Inspector". Added to that is a government and bureaucracy which are, to various extents, pointless, inefficient and random, while also chillingly repressive. Few people survive beyond fifty: most have been arrested as potential terrorists, paedophiles or rapists. Next door to the Head of Security (who is more interested in spying on his wife in the shower than state security) is a government department for monitoring cat ownership. Then there is Lucas, the Miracle Inspector, who spends his days looking at pictures of the Virgin Mary in home-baked goods. He hasn't found a miracle yet. The society is a mixture of sharia law as practised in Saudi Arabia, religious superstition from somewhere with a lot of faith and not a lot of education like rural Bolivia, surveillance and disappearances from any totalitarian state you care to name and satirical silliness from Bulgakov, Kafka or Zemyatin, plus a bit of the 1950s as depicted in washing powder advertisements. That is how I saw it. Helen Smith describes it obliquely, with glimpses of parts of the picture, never the whole at once.
Does it work as a portrait of a fractured future Britain?
It does for me.

The main characters in the story are Lucas, the Miracle Inspector, and his wife Angela. They are fairly sure they still love each other, but they do not understand each other or communicate. They decide that everything will be perfect if they can just get away from London and go to Cornwall or Wales or Australia, places they know nothing about. You just know that it is not going to work. They need a miracle, and we have already discovered they are in short supply.
Lucas does something very risky. He goes to meet Joanna Jones, the wife of the Head of Security, who he has seen naked on Jones's computer. When Jones calls at his house and meets Angela he is enraged. This incident contains the least gratuitous use of a very rude word I have seen in fiction.
Another character in the story is Jesmond, a drunken poet and friend of Lucas's parents when they were alive. Jesmond doesn't do much these days, apart from drink a lot and occasionally turn up and scrounge a free meal from Angela, but he is the focus of resistance and young dissidents gather at illegal assemblies to hear him read his old poems. Is any association with Jesmond dangerous for Angela and Lucas? Jesmond leaves a journal and some letters with Angela. What is Jesmond's story?
Lucas goes to investigate a possible miracle. Maureen has a disabled child called Christina who, Maureen says, can cure people and save lives. Instead of dismissing the claim as usual, Lucas takes Angela to meet Maureen and Christina. Christina does become a live saver in a way.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was one of the strangest, far out, and mind boggling books I have ever read. Not only that, it was the one of the best books I have ever read. It's set in the near-future London where things like art and theater and poetry are a big no no. I wasn't sure what to think at first when I started reading because you are soon tossed in a world where women are not allowed to work outside the house and the only time they can leave the house is when they are visiting relatives. They have to wear veils to cover their faces and bodies, and never allowed out at night. Or where people are taken away from their homes for having certain beliefs and never heard from again.

You meet Lucas, a ministry man who's job is Miracle Inspector. His job is to answer claims of miracles from the Virgin Mary's face in flan or Jesus' face in toast. Lucas comes and investigates and makes it known that no such thing has occurred, and deduces that it was usually done on purpose.

I felt myself having a lot of mixed feeling towards Lucas. I found myself disliking him because he believes the views as far as thinking a woman having a job outside of the house is ludicrous. On the other hand, I realize that it's the life that he was born and raised in. It's something that has been instilled in him since his parents are gone. He holds a prominent place in the ministry and must live by the rules in order to keep him and his wife safe.

Another view point of the story is from the point of view of his wife, Angela, whom I loved and admired since I first “met” her in the book. She dreams of getting away from London and living with Lucas in a place where woman and men are treated equal and they can have and raise a family with better views than where they are now. Instead of being home all day trying to keep herself occupied while Lucas is making a living outside of their home.

Compared to the other couples that you meet in the book I love the relationship between Lucas and Angela. I believe it's apparent from the first time we meet them that they are deeply in love, but also have conflict with each other. She wants a life outside of the home and Lucas above all wants to give that to her at whatever cost.

Their story has ups and too many downs, and at the end I was left wondering what is to come of these two. I like to draw my own conclusions, as many readers do and envision they have the life they each wanted for each other, just the way a miracle should be. Be prepared for British humor at it's best, and a story that will have you believing in miracles even when life isn't so kind.

[coty ☆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

the miracle inspector doesn't commit to its own premise. it throws multiple dystopian-esque cliches at you, but never does it seem to actually expand on them, approaching its plot in an incredibly fake-deep way. i see multiple uses of the word "feminist" in the description, likening it to the handmaid's tale or 1984 - and i just have to wonder, "did we read the same book?" there's the suggestion of it, an awareness of these ideologies, sure, does it actually provide a commentary on sexism (and how race and sexuality intersect with it), on the patriarchy, on white supremacy (because the patriarchy doesn't exist without supremacy)? no. one of my biggest issues is with the primary premise of the novel: women aren't allowed to leave their homes, but then they are if they're visiting relatives... and they lie about being related to other women in order to visit them, and even the government knows they're lying, but there's no consequences?

this is only one of the ways in which the novel doesn't commit (another one being in the title, 'the miracle inspector', yet there's a widespread condemnation of religion... mentioned after the titular inspector is reminiscing of his job, the 'miracles' he's sent to investigate all feeling incredibly christian in nature, from faces of christ or father christmas in food, to the healing of the sick. so i wonder how, if people are wary of being religious, there's a branch of government dedicated to such religious phenomenon.)

the characters have little in the way of personality. the writing is bland, unrelatable (both characters or the plot, and dystopian works thrive best when there's a sense that this can happen, and like, yeah, theoretically this could, but with the wishy-washy approach to lore that seems to bend when the plot needs it to to bring it to its conclusion, it fails to deliver any sense of fear or urgency, to really feel as if we're one simple shift of society away from this world.)

overall, the plot is just lacking in too many areas to be the hard-hitting commentary it wants to be, with cardboard characters that feel more like scenery than maintaining an actual presence within a narrative that tries to present itself as Intellectual, with an ending that's not only dissatisfying, but feels more akin to a cop-out than the abstract, "up to your interpretation" conclusion it aims to be.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Remember: you can’t make a difference when you’re dead.’

This novel is set in a dystopian near future: England has been partitioned and London is a walled and suspicious place. Theatres, libraries and schools have been closed and women are no longer allowed to work outside their homes. The older generation have mostly disappeared, as does anyone who speaks out about the government.

Lucas, who lives in London with his wife Angela, is the miracle inspector. It’s his job to investigate and report on claimed miracles. And, in an oppressive environment with few creative outlets many miracles are claimed. Angela is lonely and unhappy. They dream of escaping to Cornwall where, they believe, people are free to live as they choose.

A woman named Maureen requests a miracle inspection in respect of her daughter Christina. Lucas investigates, and finds himself taking Angela to meet Maureen and Christina. This is forbidden: women are only allowed to visit other women to whom they are related.

‘Men made the laws. Women set out to exploit the loopholes in them.’

This is an unsettling and bleak world: Angela dreams of escape, fuelled by reading letters dropped off at her home by Lucas’s uncle Jesmond – an outlawed poet. Lucas sees himself as largely invisible as he operates outside the law. Plans are made to leave London, but nothing goes according to plan. The wisdom of elders is needed, but missing. The consequences of choices are not anticipated, the outcomes are never comforting.

In fewer than 250 pages, Ms Smith creates an unsettling and incomplete world. Aspects are disconcertingly recognisable, others are alien. Many parts of the world have harsh restrictions on citizens – the cause is not always clear, even if the immediate effect is. And what of the long-term? Beyond the memories of the past?

I found this novel unsettling, disturbing, and worth reading.

Note: I was offered, and accepted, a copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Steve Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Patricia Highsmith wrote dystopian fiction but had more of a sense of humor, it might be something like The Miracle Inspector. The book opens in an England of the near future that's been partitioned and in decay. London proper seems to have the worst of it, walled off and Taliban-like in its social clampdown. Women can't leave the home. The Arts are off-limits. Men work meaningless bureaucratic jobs that only serve the faceless authority that keeps them all locked in, both socially and interpersonally. The book focuses on one couple, Lucas and Angela, who think they once loved each other but are really just strangers passing each other constantly. An aging and legendary underground poet, Jesmond, fuels their secret needs to escape to that sought-after heaven, Cornwall. They're all not especially likable, but they're always a little more so than those around them, chipping away at them. It works.

The saddest part might not be that they can't have what they want, but rather that they don't truly know what they'd want if they could have it.

I mention Patricia Highsmith because Smith deftly works in the dark urges and fears of Lucas, Angela and others in a way that only psychological mystery and espionage writers like Highsmith and Graham Greene do well. The story manages to remind of 1984, Brazil, Children of Men, The Road and other noirish dystopian tales yet manages to be original, partially through the dark and often subtle humor. Yes, I'm mixing films with books here, because I think this would make a good film script.

If I could give this 4.5 stars I would, but as we know we have to choose between 4s and 5s. I would have like to have had more setup and background about how England became this way, but that's also a product of me liking the story enough.

I'll be reading more from this author.

[Howard McEwen]

England has been partitioned. London is now under a totalitarian regime. It now has a written constitution.* Codicils of the constitution give rise to petty bureaucrats charged with micro-managing the lives of its citizens. One such petty bureaucrat is the Miracle Inspector and his pretty wife. The Miracle Inspector is, of course, charged with inspecting miracles.

I hate mixing art forms but reading this book kept bringing to mind the powerful German film The Lives of Others. Not so much in that film’s politics or thriller quality but in its human quality. The love story. I think Smith demonstrates in this novel, like that film does, how an oppressive government can warp our basic human behavior and emotions. How a government can twist even the best in us - love, caring, compassion - toward fear and paranoia and self-preservation.

The Miracle Inspector is the story of a husband and wife in love with each other but dealing with how their government has twisted the two of them into people they don’t want to be.

Smith is a comedic writer. That sensibility comes through repeatedly and throughout. A cellmate is described:

“He could have been any age from twenty-five to forty-five and he looked like a desert island companion - not in the sense of being an ideal choice, like when people say for example that their ‘desert island’ ice cream would be chocolate and cherry, or mango sorbet. Rather, he looked as though he had been living on a desert island for some time. But there was no hushing sound of waves, no coconut trees, no hot sun or salty breeze, no warm sand to wiggle bare toes in, where they were being held.”

We’re talking prison here, right? And Smith’s mind goes to ice cream? She charms me with that.

As you can see, there’s no leadened-phrased Orwell “a boot stamping on a human face” in The Miracle Inspector. No, the prose is light and airy and thus when the inevitable happens, it strikes with a brute force that makes it that much more tragic. I thought it similar to what it must be in several of these regimes. I picture a ‘light and airy’ Cuba with beautiful people, beaches, water, air and forest...alongside the darkness of Castro’s thugs murdering and imprisoning people; smashing printing presses and clubbing opposition heads.

Helen’s Smith’s words walk across the page like little cat’s feet. She’s not hectoring or lecturing or imposing her ego into the narrative. The prose is soft and hardly felt...until it is.

“A heavy instrument, a cricket bat or something like that, was brought down on the back of his head very hard. More blows on his arms and his shoulders. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. The sound of willow hitting leather (even if it was only Jesmond’s old leather jacket) was redolent of a quaint old England that had long since disappeared, so it was quite a fitting sound to be coming from the author of This Faerie England, as if Jesmond had finally found his perfect moment as a performer; a human instrument, which when played would summon up reminders of the lost England he lamented in his poetry. Leather boots connected with the yellowing piano keys of his teeth, but this was less successful, instrumentally speaking. There was no melodic tinkle, no thundering crescendo of keys and chords. But then it takes a very skilled artist to play the piano with his boots, and Jesmond’s attackers were thugs. Although it was impossible to say for sure, just by looking at them, whether or not any of the attackers could play an instrument, it was reasonable to assume that if they had attended more dutifully to music lessons as children, they might have had something more interesting to do to fill their time than beating up an old gentleman. But most of the schools in the state education system had closed down for fear of paedophiles. Music lessons likewise. These thugs were perhaps a product of their time.”

George W. Bush said, “I believe that God has planted in every heart the desire to live in freedom.” It’s nonsense, of course. People yearn for what they call 'freedom' really just want is licentiousness. They eschew any responsibility. They want the doughnut without the weight gain, the sex without disease or pregnancy, the stable government without the messy, raucous elections. They’d rather be swaddled in third rate state-care as long as they are allowed some form of 'freedom' than have the true freedom to provide themselves first-rate lives.

People yearn for the security of totalitarian regimes. That’s why most of the world is made up of them to some extent or another. In The Miracle Inspector, there’s no mention of how this tyranny came down on England. However, women are not allowed outside the home. They are covered from head-to-toe. They are veiled. It is noted that pedophilia scares have shut down most of the schools and keep men from interacting with government.

Is this England a form of theocracy married to suburban paranoia? It's not said. Early on in the novel, I decided to not try to figure out the nature or cause of the oppression. It’s like those time-travel TV shows. Don’t try to figure out the time travel rules. Pay attention to what the time travel reveals about the characters. Don’t try to figure out who has imposed a totalitarian government. Just know that it’s been imposed and this is how the characters reacted.

I say not to fixate on it but I did to a degree. I feared Smith was pulling a major punch and thus lessening the effect her work could have had.

Mohamed is the most popular name now given to boys in England. Was the cause of this oppression Islam exerting its influence over that new English Constitution? It seems not only plausible but likely. Yet religion, even in the title characters work, is barely mentioned. Did Smith pull that punch for fear of becoming the next Salman Rushdie or Lars Vilks or Fleming Rose or, worse yet, Theo Van Gogh.

I don’t know. I won’t fault her if that’s the case. However, artist pulling that punch out of fear would only presage the nightmare England Smith describes in The Miracle Inspector.

*an English friend once told me, “The U.K. has a constitution. It’s just not written down.”

[A.B.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Miracle Inspector totalitarian London is walled off from a Britain partitioned into sovereign and more or less free regional districts. In London, people disappear mysteriously. People over the age of 50 are rarely seen, and nearly everyone’s parents are among the missing. All art is suppressed, and London is governed by an overarching, and excessive, fear of rapists and pedophiles. Bleak as it sounds, author Helen Smith treats these subjects with a light touch that enlivens the dystopian genre, without trivializing the repressive effects and human cost of authoritarian governments.

For much of the novel one hopes Lucas will stumble on a way to improve his relationship with Angela, and later, that they can escape and find a better life outside London, or that Angela does. Successive plot developments chip away at hope until it is overwhelmed by sadness and feelings of helplessness and despair, in last two chapters and epilogue.

Lucas is an uptight civil servant, and one gets the feeling he would be in any bureaucracy. His fear of not conforming is heightened by his position in a repressive government, and his secret family connection to a rebellious outlaw poet, who is his godfather and occasionally visits their home. The government has an inspector for everything from cats to security, and Lucas is the inspector of miracles. He hasn’t found any. His wife Angela is an intelligent, repressed woman who longs for a life outside the home. They love each other but Lucas can’t communicate and Angela doesn’t; their only real connection is having sex. Both characters are hard to relate to, perhaps because of the way their society has distorted their personalities. But as the novel progressed I grew increasing sympathetic to them, and their plight.

The form of government is left mysteriously undefined; all we know about it is that it’s exclusively male, bureaucratic, arbitrary, and uses fear for social control. A repressive government exploiting the fear of sexual crimes for political control is easy to believe, and Smith makes good use of it. Women are forced to remain in their homes and pursue traditional domestic roles. They can leave their residences only to visit relatives, and must wear something like a Muslim burqa.

Helen Smith’s flowing prose style is clear and readable, and she is a literary writer in the sense that she makes the reader feel for her characters. She also has a knack for turning a comedic phrase, and some of her similes seem way out there at first, but they work.

I always have trouble rating books and rarely give 5 stars. I give The Miracle Inspector 4 stars and recommend it.

[Alice Yeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The tale begins with Lucas, a man whose job is to inspect whether or not reported "miracles" were indeed miraculous. As many might expect, his days are spent researching hoaxes, and while the occupation itself might seem a bit far-fetched, it makes complete sense in a society where people with a lot of passion and little logic took over the government. They have restricted women and children to their homes, limited transportation, and inserted civilian spies in true Orwellian fashion. The book is almost a sardonic commentary on the results of unchecked paranoia over pedophiles, rapists, and the dangers of free thought: we are safest when children, women, and philosophers are invisible or nonexistent in society at large.

As with any story that begins with confinement, the protagonists plot to escape. The result is a journey as bleak as those through the Underground Railroad or North Korean refugees — one aiming towards some glorified location and solely dependent upon a combination of luck and the trustworthiness of strangers. Smith is thorough in capturing the seeming hopelessness of it all without belaboring the point, referencing instead the weariness of the walkers and the meagerness of their rations. Instead of evoking pity, she elicits the reader's sympathy for the predicament of these refugees.

In her usual style, Smith starts with multiple story lines, linking them together loosely before tightening the connections. With fewer subplots than usual, however, The Miracle Inspector proves relatively easy to follow, and each of the seemingly disconnected tales is given the richness that they deserve. One is able to immerse oneself in each scene fully, instead of dabbling a bit before jumping to another part of London and another set of characters.

For the record, there was more explicit sexual content and violence than there were in either Alison Wonderland or Being Light. They bordered upon the limits of what I will willingly read at times but were just vague or brief enough to avoid overstepping my bounds. Given the content of magazines, comic books, and movies nowadays, the material might seem borderline tame, but the sensitive or conservative reader might still want to keep this in mind.

As with Being Light, there are deeper messages to be drawn from The Miracle Inspector if one is open to them. The philosophical arguments, ethical conflicts, and open-ended conclusion might just leave you wondering what exactly constitutes a "miracle" and if indeed one was finally found.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is set in London in the near future; it’s a London that in some ways feels very familiar, but in some ways is scarily different from the London of today.  Counties have been partitioned off, and Londoners are effectively trapped in their city.  To escape, they have to literally go underground, and risk their lives.  Women are not allowed to work – indeed, are not even allowed outside their house unless they are covered with a veil.  The fear of paedophilia is so immense that men are frightened of spending time with any child who is not their own, and even then, only with their wife present.  Theatre and books are banned, and any kind of culture is considered anarchic.

Living in the middle of all this are young couple Lucas and Angela.  Lucas works for the sinister Ministry, as a Miracle Inspector – his days are spent visiting people who claim to have discovered a genuine miracle, but so far every ‘miracle’ has been a fraud, or the wishful thinking of the claimant.  Lucas and Angela make plans to leave London, but it turns out to be much harder than anyone could imagine.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Dystopia is one of my favourite genres, and fans of such books as Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Handmaid’s Tale, would almost certainly enjoy this novel.  I found it scarily believable; a world that was all too easy to imagine, where fear of paedophilia and terrorism has curtailed people’s freedom to an extreme level.

It is not spoilerish to say that at one part, Angela finds herself outside London, as a refugee, and the story drew parallels with how asylum seekers are treated in the real world, with mistrust and fear.

The writing is very ‘clean’ – no words are wasted here – and it flows beautifully.  The different subplots tie together nicely and despite the subject, there is genuine humour here as well.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this book, and will be seeking out Helen Smith’s other books.  Definitely recommended, especially to fans of dystopian fiction.

[Heather Boustead · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Miracle Inspector
By Helen Smith

In the near future, London has become an oppressive society, one in which women are not allowed out of the home to work or even socialize with other women. Lucas and Angela is a young couple who have become restless in this society, Angela is tired of being a captive in her own home while Lucas is tired of working as the miracle inspector and facing day in and day out of women fabricating miracles just so they can have some company. Soon they decide they will try to escape London throwing them into more conflicts then they had imagined.

Helen Smith writes novels with a wicked sense of humor; anywhere from dark humor to crude nothing is safe when Helen Smith begins a novel. This novel is a little different with a lot less of the absurd content, though it is not what I expected from the author I found myself falling in love with this story. Now granted, I am a sucker for a dystopian novel, but this novel is so realistic it is scary. The women are sheltered from the cruel world and the dangerous men who live in it they are not beaten or abused just sheltered to the point they are not allowed to leave the house. Unlike many dystopian novels this one does not lean towards the extreme or the science fiction making it unique and definitely an interesting read.

For More Reviews be sure to visit my blogs at:
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[Alice Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book surprised me.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. Dystopian is right, this future London is dark and oppressive and horrifying.

Women are confined to their homes and not allowed to leave except with their spouses or to approved family members houses. They cannot work, and when they do leave the home they must be fully covered.

Men disappear in middle age, never to be seen again.

Everyone watches everyone else. The fear of terrorism has taken over the entire city. Outside London, things are different. Not necessarily better, but different.

A couple decides to escape. He's going to leave his high-ranking job with the government and smuggle them to safety. Things don't work out as smoothly as planned.

This book is less action and more drama. The focus is on the personal development of the characters. Even still, I'd have perhaps wanted more depth in that, but that is not a criticism. The book is intense as it is. Recommended.

[Donna Fasano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is described as "A darkly comic literary novel set in the near future".

Dark? Surely. Comic? Absolutely. Enjoyable? Thoroughly! However, I do have to confess that I hope this author's reflection of the future is off--way off! I wouldn't want to live is such a world, but unfortunately, in this 'terroristic' day and age, such a society is all too easy to imagine. It's frightening, actually, how realistic Ms. Smith's musings are; she paves a path for the reader to envision a clear view of what could turn into a very scary destiny for us all.

I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Helen Smith is a talented author and I will be buying more of her work.

[Scott Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful book by Helen Smith. It's a bit darker than the other two, but just as good, if not better. Once again her sense of humor kept me chuckling throughout the book, even though the plot is about a futuristic England under some kind of martial law. Not something one would normally see as a humorous topic, but Helen's style and dialogue helped keep the mood a little lighter than it otherwise would have been. Again, I look forward to additional works, though I think I'll have to wait now instead of just buying another one immediately.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a smart well written book. I loved the dry witty humor of it and the dialogue between characters kept the story moving. The descriptive passages the author used filled my mind with images of a bleak future in London. Lucas and Angela on the same journey with much different paths to get there. I had no expectations going into this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it though.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Miracle Inspector by Helen Smith takes place 30 years in the future. London is no longer a democracy, but run by dictators. This future is misogynistic and patriarchal. Women are not allowed to leave their homes (unless visiting female relatives), must wear a burqa when opening the door (or at any other point where they can be seen by people other than their husbands), are not allowed to work, have no rights or education and must ask their husbands for permission for anything they do. A woman is not allowed to use contraception or have a drink without her husband's permission.

There are no schools, children must always be kept inside, men are the only ones who venture past their front doors with any frequency. Once they reach a certain age, men are taken away and never seen again, while women are left to slowly fade away behind closed doors. All these changes were put into effect as men believed it would keep women and children safe from pedophiles, rapists and terrorists. Those three things pushed the city into ruin. There are no planes and the only transport is by car, ship or train. The only people who have cars work for the government- who also police all other means of travelling. Some try to leave, but the possibility of escape is infinitesimal and no one is ever heard of again. The best way to survive is to keep your head down and not ask questions. Create safety out of anonymity.

Lucas works for the Ministry. After the change, divisions were set up for everything, some vital, some pointless. This way they hope to monitor everything. So there are Inspectors of Cats, of Women, of Flowers and then there's Lucas- who is the Inspector of Miracles. Miracles in this future are just as unlikely as in our world, perhaps even more so, but in the new legislation it was decided that "the right to believe in miracles was enshrined in the constitution. And if a miracle is to be believed in collectively, then first it has to be found." So now Lucas spends his days being called out to various "miracles", whether they be claims of the new Messiah or the Virgin Mary in a piece of toast.

Every night he comes home to his young wife, Angela, and they sit in silence. Occasionally, words will pass between them, but for the most part, their marriage is just as bleak as the world they live in. They love each other, but their communication skills are almost non-existent. Lucas claims, "their relationship was also about the silences." He believes they reach each other on a deeper level. This may be true, but there's a constant tension between them. Words go unspoken. As Lucas puts it, "he was too preoccupied with keeping his thoughts hidden, to worry about hers." He constantly fears he'll say the wrong thing, so ends up never saying anything at all.

Lucas' thoughts are written in an odd, almost disjointed style, that perfectly emulates how thoughts occur in the mind. Some don't make sense, are completely irrelevant and utterly nonsensical. We basically get every thought that pops into his head, which is more realistic than the edited thoughts we normally read. It's a hard thing to make work, but it matches the humour and tone of the story very well. There's this odd mix of a very dark world and plot, combined with light and sometimes very British humour. A lot of the lines have very dead-span delivery. For instance, there's a situation where three men are drinking Ribena. Apparently, Ribena has been found to increase a man's life span and his libido. Lucas decides the men must do it for the latter reason, as men don't survive long enough to have to worry about the former.

Meanwhile, Angela is a very lonely and bored woman (for understandable reasons). She spends all day at home and sees and speaks to almost no one, except Lucas- who barely speaks to her at all. Then one day an old poet by the name of Jesmond drops off his life story in her hands. He's famous for his rebellious poems and songs and was close to Lucas' father. But, Lucas doesn't want to see him, so Angela is the one he always visits. When he drops off letters and poems from his past, she can't resist reading them.

But Angela wants to get away. When she brings it up with Lucas, he suggests Cornwall (because he thinks he should say something, but doesn't really expect her to say yes). She agrees and begs him to get them out, take them to Cornwall to start a family and live a free life. The situation in London may be dire, but the rest of the world is as it is now. For the most part, it is a free world (depending on where you are) and a utopia to Londoners. This is the basic plot of the story. Getting to Cornwall. Why Cornwall, because all Londoners want to go on holiday to Cornwall.

Lucas, on the other hand, begins fantasising about other men's wives. Almost every other thought is about sex, almost to a distracting level. There's no point to it and it doesn't go anywhere. After a while, it gets a little irritating, but the story constantly switches between him, Angela and Jesmond. At least for a little while. So it's bearable. As we see more of his character, there is also this uneasy quality about it. He has such a desperate existence, that he feels very much like a man who could go over the edge at any moment. He cares for very little, but then that keeps you safe in this future. He is too young to know what freedom was like, he grew up with this oppressive regime, so I wouldn't be surprised if everyone was the same. Perhaps it's more noticeable with him because we're seeing his thoughts.

Jesmond gets small sections in the book, but for the most part he's unrelated to the plot. He is rallying up a rebellion with his underground poetry- where the androgynous look is all the rage. It's more than a fashion statement, it's a way for women to stay safe and men to show solidarity with them. Baggy clothes hide figures, women keep themselves thin to create a flatter silhouette. They keep their hair short, while men grow it long and keep themselves clean-shaven. This way women can pass as men in the right circles.

Half-way through the book, the situation changes. The story is told more and more through increasingly fractured thoughts. There'a good reason for it, but saying more would spoil it. The effect it gives is great. It creates the atmosphere, builds the tension and causes a growing sense of fear to develop.

The pace quickens exponentially. What starts out as quite a slow book, suddenly becomes a race to the finish line. It's hard not to give anything away, but if you read it you'll understand. So much happens in the second-half. Everything starts falling together and then falling apart.

I would almost say that the second-half of the book is an entirely different story than the first. They are connected through the main characters, but everything else changes. The book really comes into its own in the second-half. The first-half is almost irrelevant. The characters become more real and more important to the reader. In the first-half I was almost apathetic towards the characters, but when they reach the second-half, suddenly I was on the edge of my seat willing them on. Somewhere between the first and second-half, a switch is flipped and everything changes. The second-half will be what I remember of this book, it will be the reason I tell people to read it, it will be what makes me read it again. I will go through the slow, irrelevant first-half time and time again to reach the wonderful second-half.

Like I said before, the pace changes unbelievably quickly and the ending hits you before you know it. I loved the ending. It's very ambiguous, but brilliant. There are so many questions that appear throughout the story and you don't really get answers to any of them. That may annoy some readers, but I found it all the more gripping and all the more realistic. Life doesn't have all the answers. There are some things we will never know. The ending can be interpreted in a multitude of ways. There's no clarity and we don't really know what happened. I didn't know whether to feel happy or sad, empty or complete. Those unanswered questions, will keep the story and its characters with you, long after the final word.

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the author. This is not a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% my own.

[Robert Duperre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 4.7 out of 5

The most wonderful thing about being a reviewer is the opportunity to uncover little gems that I might have otherwise overlooked. For example, I don’t usually read literary fiction…not because I have anything against it, but simply for the reason that I enjoy reading other things so I don’t usually seek it out. Luckily though, authors and publishers send me books to review, which eliminates that particular variable from the equation.

Because of this, into my life steps The Miracle Inspector by Helen Smith, a generous morsel of science fiction/dystopian/literary goodness.

The “Miracle Inspector” of the title is a young man named Lucas, who lives in London with his wife, Angela. He’s called a miracle inspector because he, well, inspects miracles. You see, all of Britain has been segmented in this fascinating world Smith has created, with London being the apex of underhanded, dastardly government practices. Women aren’t allowed to leave the home exposed, men are considered pedophiles until proven…well, okay, they’re just all considered pedophiles, and naysayers who speak out against the ruling party – whether they realize they’ve done so or not – are quickly imprisoned and left to rot. With this knowledge, it comes as no surprise that there is a need of a miracle inspector. When everyone’s life sucks, there has to be an urge to do something – anything – to make it better, even if it’s only pretend.

Lucas is a complicated man. He loves his wife dearly and is overly protective of her, yet constantly pines for that which he can’t have. He’s immature and a bit bratty at times, utterly paranoid, and taken to bouts of underhandedness, himself. Thoughts of sex constantly invade his thoughts, and he knowingly plays his fellow government employees against one another, all the while promising his wife that he’ll do something that is nearly impossible – move with her to Cornwall, where supposedly people are free to live life as they choose. Does this sound like the thought pattern of a sound adult to you? If it doesn’t, that’s because Lucas isn’t a sound adult. He’s twenty-five, and yet he’s stuck in a state of arrested development. In fact, almost all the characters living in London are – mainly because with the threat of terrorism, after the borders were walled off, the older generation was henceforth eliminated, either stolen away in the night or killed outright. So what we have here is the majority of the populace being children who’ve raised themselves, and are therefore not completely evolved emotionally. It’s really quite sad.

This goes the same for Angela, of course. She’s a generally unhappy person, lonely, and a dreamer. When Lucas’s renegade uncle Jesmond – a beat poet bringing a message of revolution and freedom to the people and is therefore an outlaw – drops off a packet of letters at the house, Angela hides them and reads them, letting the words take her far away from the disappointment, solitude, and boredom that fills her every day. Her relationship with Lucas is a bit odd – they really only communicate through sex, like a couple of horny high-schoolers – and these letters only drive home the fact that she’s missing out on something huge in her life.

When Lucas meets an older woman named Maureen, whose daughter Christina suffers from some sort of mental disorder, his life is thrown into a tailspin. He develops feelings he doesn’t understand about both mother (who called up requesting a miracle inspection) and child, and he goes against the rules and brings Angela to meet with her. (Women gathering together is illegal unless they are family, which creates a lot of rather humorous discussions about falsified “familial” bonds.) Suddenly, Lucas decides to stop playing at promises and begins to formulate a plan, and it is this childish belief that “no one can hear me!” that gets him tossed in a prison cell while Angela, Maureen, and Christina flee London, finding adventure and horror (and still more depressing societal amalgamations) in the provinces outside the city walls while they attempt to reach Cornwall.

I’d be lying if I said this book was a bundle of happiness and joy. It’s rather the opposite – dark, depressing, and seemingly hopeless. But that’s all right, because Smith has her story to tell, her point to make, and it really is a doozy.

This is a tale of bleakness, of what would happen if the child within us never grew up. It focuses on the shadowy aspects of society and ponders a world where these low ideals are presented with a cheery demeanor. It examines the bonds between women, between mother and child, between husband and wife, and tosses gasoline on the simple fact that many take the lives they’ve been so fortunate to have for granted. It examines the role of women in society – any society – and dares to ask whether the right sex holds the power and questions if a driving force behind the subjugation of women is fear that they might actually make sense. And it is also a text that takes responsibility for its actions – there are no “convenient” plot contrivances here. Each and every word means something, must be read once and then again, mulled over, and then discussed.

In other words, this is an absolutely exceptional piece of fiction, a work of art befitting the best in socially-conscious literature.

The only real problem I had with the book is that the exact reasons for society’s collapse are never fully explained. In and of itself, that isn’t such a bad thing, but I did find myself being slightly disappointed come the end, when I’m still left in the dark. There were occasions where I kept asking, “Please tell me HOW!” This is the one and only reason I docked points, and to be honest it may have more to do with myself thinking of how I would write the book. But still, I couldn’t help but think that Smith could have made her many points even more affecting if she gone into more detail.

Overall, though, this is a great, great read. Helen Smith crafts a story like she’s the British lovechild of Kurt Vonnegut and Philip K. Dick, only with a feminist slant. And The Miracle Inspector is a powerful, insightful, darkly funny, and principled conception. It’s short on page length yet long in ideas, and each and every one of them will spit you out with your head spinning as you keep asking, “Why?” while making you come up with your own answer.

Trust me, that’s not a bad thing.

Plot - 9
Characters - 10
Voice - 10
Execution - 8
Personal Enjoyment – 10

Overall – 47/50 (4.7/5)

[Peter Boysen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The worst parts of human nature have been on display in literature since the very beginning. The cruelty of Agamemnon, the selfish envy of Cain, and the folly of Creon are three of the oldest impressions of human nature in the canon.

However, it took the progress of the twentieth century to take the darkest parts of our nature and make them the defining tenets of our future. Writers like George Orwell, Margaret Atwood, Aldous Huxley and Ray Bradbury made us wonder what the world would actually turn into if the same forces that brought us the Holocaust, the nuclear bomb, mustard gas, and the pogrom were given free reign to run the world.

These writers brought us tales about the settlement of Mars, life under the constant surveillance of Big Brother, a society in which all of us were segregated into different biological and psychological groups from birth, and a new America in which women were assigned as property, rather than free agents in their own existence. The works of these writers shocked their readers -- first, by their writings; second, by the elements of their tales that would come true, in their own way.

Dystopia now, of course, is still popular. If you turn on the program "Supernatural" or "Revolution" or "Fringe" -- if you go see movies like "The Box" or "The Adjustment Bureau -- you can see that we still enjoy looking at how awful we could become.

The problem with dystopian literature is that it loses its shock value over time. Helen Smith's "The Miracle Inspector" would have been an amazing story in 1960, or even in 1980. Lucas is the Miracle Inspector, in charge of going out into London, after an apocalyptic series of attacks that has seen the world partitioned and under tight UN control, to verify the existence of miracles. Usually these take the form of religious images appearing in odd places, like recently baked cakes. His wife is Angela, who is chafing under the burden of being forced to stay at home all day, all the jobs having been reserved for men, in order to eliminate unemployment. She is not sure what she wants in life, because she has never thought to want anything more than what she has. She and Lucas both have a vague desire to leave London and go to Cornwall which, in their minds, is an oasis where there would be none of the oppression, none of the randomly disappearing men -- just a place to start a family.

But then Lucas comes across Maureen, and her daughter, Christina. Whether you view the miracle girl, with her name a letter away from representing one of the world's major religions, as a picture of the ideal or not is strictly up to you. Maureen did nominate her daughter as a miracle, but other than an ability to smile when someone she likes is in the room, it is unclear why Maureen nominated her daughter; other than the fact that she is a child, it is unclear why Angela feels such an attachment to the two of them. Given that Lucas is trying to sneak himself and his wife out of London, it is also unclear why Lucas would take the dangerous step of taking his wife on a forbidden trip to visit Maureen every day.

The interrogations to which Lucas is necessarily subjected (this IS a dystopian novel, after all, in which the government operates a bunch of shadowy ministries) have the finality of Orwell's Room 101, but none of the thematic resonance. We do not know why Lucas' world is the way it is; we just know that we never want to end up in a prison like his. The beauty of the novel comes in its final chapters, and in the epilogue, even as the plot winds up in a way that is as unpredictable and inexplicable as it is lyric.

This novel is written on an interesting idea -- namely, that the governments of the world's superpowers are slowly discrediting anyone who opposes them, and that it is only a matter of time until the blanket of oppression covers us all, especially since the blanket is of our own knitting. However, the idea never populates the spirits of its characters to the point where they have a new story to tell us. Yes, we can be depraved; yes, we will do awful things to one another. Orwell had the advantage of surprise, though, when he told us this; before, we hadn't quite thought of it. For new dystopian works to be worth our time, though, they must plumb new ground. They must, in other words, confront the miracle -- not simply drag us through the same sandboxes that the writers before them have already plundered.

[Roger Manifold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interestingly different and enjoyable dystopian comedy, if you said Ben Elton had been involved I would not of been suprised, anyhow after finishing this I need to read more comedy inclusive novels, it's uplifting.
So yes, I enjoyed the story, reading was interesting and easy, even managed to laugh out loud on many occasions, yep I got the characters, storyline has me hooked and we get to a rather disappointing end??
Actually the ending was to a meaningful point even if I would have preferred it differently, I liked it

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Miracle Inspector is very different to Alison Wonderland and this is part of what makes it so enjoyable. There are some authors I enjoy because they stick to the same genre and offer the same style of writing whereas there are others who are equally enjoyable because they cover a huge range of different genres and writing styles, Smith is in the latter group. Before I get too rambly, here's a quick synopsis of the novel:

A dystopian thriller set in the near future. England has been partitioned and London is an oppressive place where poetry has been forced underground, theatres and schools are shut, and women are not allowed to work outside the home. A young couple, Lucas and Angela, try to escape from London - with disastrous consequences

Not the longest synopsis and not one that I'd suggest gives the novel the full credit it deserves. If I hadn't read the other book first I may not have given The Miracle Inspector a go based on this short description, however, I'm extremely glad I did. Dystopian fiction isn't usually the kind of thing I go for but in this context I really enjoyed it, particularly because of the dark humour Smith employs throughout. The Miracle Inspector introduces us to a London markedly different to the one we know today, walled off and kept as a separate state from others across the UK. In this strange dystopian London nothing is recognisable, women are not permitted to work outside the home and men are employed in faceless office jobs, with weird titles. The novel focuses on young married couple Lucas and Angela and from the off it's hard to tell whether their relationship is genuine or a product of their confused society. Lucas is the eponymous Miracle Inspector and he spends his days looking at pieces of toast which bear the face of deities and other far fetched potential miracles mainly hatched by women going slightly mad in their society-induced house arrests.

Lucas and Angela make the decision to try and escape London and make their way to the much dreamed of Cornwall but there's always a underlying feeling that neither knows what the other truly wants and indeed, society has made it so that they might not even know themselves. This results in disastrous consequences and tragedy.

Writing this review has made me realise this novel can sound extremely complex but this isn't the case at all, it's extremely direct and well plotted so the reader is kept engaged from beginning to end. The characters aren't particularly deep but they don't need to be as it's the society which is the most interesting element of all, for me anyway. Smith has created a fascinating and unnervingly believable world. This novel could have been deeply depressing, plunging the reader into absolute despair but in reality as Smith injects dark humour throughout the reader can thoroughly enjoy this novel as well as finding many unanswered questions to plague them at the end.

A great read.

[Marc Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's your favourite cause of dystopian society? Nuclear apocalypse? Viral pandemic? Economic crash and burn? The London of this book has contrived to put itself under a dystopian yoke through democracy! Entrusted with power, the people have demonstrated either apathy or irony in their chocies. Consequently London has saddled itself with a mad self-aggrandising bureaucracy of nonsensical jobs, such as Lucas' Inspector Of Miracles. Though there is a vague unstated threat of worldwide terrorism, more local threats of rapists and paedophiles at large, have led to women being prohibited from work, having no political rights, are being largely confined to the house and having to wear burka-like garments when outside in public.

Art too falls foul of this regime, since art offers outlets for protest and politicisation. In a world without art there is a diminished notion of love. The novel's husband and wife main characters struggle across the kitchen table to communicate to one another, let alone approach any notion of love. They cast their fantasies and desires outside of their shared house. Angela although she doesn't understand the concept, wants to be a poet's muse. Her mind flies with some love letters she's been entrusted with which like her, dream of escape beyond London. Lucas visits the wife of his security chief who has been under surveillance so that Lucas wants to put flesh on the fantasy figure he has been a witness to on screen. In the flesh however, she is covered up behind her burka-like raiment. In his job as the official investigator into claims of miracles, he becomes attached to a mute girl who only communicates by smiling. He knows she has no miraculous powers, yet something about her and her mother who was formerly a news reader means they are included in his plans to escape from London

The characters' thought processes are impressionistic and mainly inconclusive. After all, they are overwhelmed by trying to match their own analytical abilities with the thoughts and necessary conditions on their behaviour embedded by the system. Echoes of Orwell's "1984" here. Put this together with the feminist perspective suggested by the regressive legislation affecting women and you might conceive this to be a political novel. But Smith is far more subtle than that. The novel is more an investigation into the true nature and possibility of love. Characters come to empathise with others around them, make sacrifices, demonstrate an awareness of the 'other'. Verbal communication itself may remain stunted, but a real emotional mutuality is attained. The ending for Lucas and Angela is utterly heart-rending. The young poet who has the novel's final words makes your mouth fall open with the simple but poignant observation he offers.

I described Smith's previous novel as 'slyly subversive'. This novel is all that and more.

[Todd Fonseca · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Miracle Inspector – A Sobering tale of Dystopian London

Rating: 4 of 5
Author: Helen Smith
Format: Kindle, Paperback

On his way to the office, Lucas reflects on the silliness of some of positions employed by the ministry – The Inspector of Cats and The Inspector of Hedgerows and Grass Verges for example, and other such nonsense. Clearly there were those who wrote the constitution who had a vested interest in these areas. Of course with the restriction on women being able to travel outside of the home, there had to be some oversight hence the Office of Women’s Travel. Lucas himself, The Inspector of Miracles, had quite a busy schedule compared to most what with all the attention seekers claiming to have a bona fide miracle. Still, his life was unsettled even unfulfilled and his wife was clearly unhappy. There were rumors - rumors about places beyond London and certainly England where there was hope and opportunity for a better future and society. But thoughts like these were dangerous; those who had them would suddenly disappear or worse.

Helen Smith’s – The Miracle Inspector – is a disturbing peak into a dystopian world where the underbelly of society are those who create poetry and art that lament the lost past while stirring the insatiable hunger for change. Smith conveys in her characters a wonderful sense of realism in a world which from a distance might seem impossible, but as read feels all so believable. There are a number of small story arcs that felt left open to me which at first left me frustrated, but upon reflection I think now they add to the overall feel the novel is meant to convey. It is a world where many things are clear – the rules, the expectations, while at the same time it just does not make sense at a base almost unspoken level which drives the characters behavior. In many ways, I felt the same as a reader where not all the loose ends were neatly tied up – they aren’t supposed to be – just like the characters, there is something more there you just don’t exactly know what it is at a conscious level.

As I closed the final pages, I had mixed emotions. I wanted more and at the same time didn’t know what I expected if there was. I was definitely left with an emotional reaction that went well beyond the moments after closing the book. In this regard, I think the novel did exactly what it set out to do.

For fans of this genre, I suggest you pick up The Miracle Inspector.

Note: A complimentary copy of this work was provided in return for a review.

[Shalini Ayre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in a Britain where there are border controls between counties, Lucas and his wife Angela lead a hum-drum life. They live in a world where the government have either killed or imprisoned the majority of the population. The Arts has gone underground, zoo animals roam free and there are departments that investigate cats. Lucas, investigates miracles checking out the many reports which often result in the miracle being a strategically placed pepper in a flan. Fear of terrorists has closed the entry in and out of the country trapping its citizens, fear of pedophiles has closed schools, education is in decline, libraries in disrepair. Mortality is low, yet what can be done to lift people out of it?

In a society where women are no longer allowed to work, when they leave their homes they can only visit a relative (and even then they have to be covered up), Lucas wonders if his wife is bored at home. His law defying godfather, Jesmond, a poet and an infamous one at that, leaves a journal in which Angela escapes in to. But Lucas soon destroys it as it's evidence that he is connected to him. Acting older than their twenty something years, their life together is fragile, but Lucas suggests leaving London and heading to Cornwall; they dare to imagine a different life. It will be a difficult journey and they'll need passes. Will they be able to cross all the borders undetected?

Well written with a dark, wry humor that is quintessentially British, Smith's dystopian novel is an interesting read. Lucas, is sometimes pompous yet has an endearing trait to nurture and look after his wife. Angela is dreamy and almost a wallflower. Both are likable characters and whilst the premise of the novel is quite cheerless, the black humor doesn't make it too depressing. There's an almost disjointed feel to the chapters yet the story continues to flow.

Overall, I enjoyed reading The Miracle Inspector despite it being outside of my comfort zone. It's a tale of utter bleakness, mistrust and longing hope - but the moments of humor does stop it from becoming a dire read. It has an abrupt ending and there are hints of why the country fell apart but I would have liked to have read a prologue of sorts to aid the whole story. However, it's a recommended read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author to review. The opinions expressed are my own and I am not required to give a positive critique.

[Eyehavenofilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smith writes with such a dark humor, it's difficult to not laugh and cringe at the same time. It seems like familiar territory in the beginning of this book.Its a bleak future,for sure, especially for women. All jobs are held by men, but seriously?a Minister of Cats? to make sure there are enough cats and everyone that wants one has one? That's how absurd this world has become. ( I personally think it might be a good idea?)
What would it be like to live in a world, that controlled your ability to visit your neighbor, or even a member of your family? What if you could not leave your house without permission? That means paperwork, Mountains of paperwork. That's what it's like for Anglea. She feels like a prisoner in her own home. But that is what life is like in London. Even poetry has been forced underground, so an aged family friend, Jesmond, best known for setting all the animals in the London Zoo free at one point, drifts from one clandestine poetry slam to another looking for acolytes and alcohol, as he's been doing for decades.
Lucas, Angela's husband works for the Ministey as The Miracle Inspector, debunking "miracles" . He spends most of his time pushing paper and wishing there were a way that he and his wife could escape this bleak existence, and head for the coast, perhaps a nice cottage at the beach? Lucas has no reccollecrion of how life was before the partition, "It was difficult to imagine that the flaking yellow or red lines still visible along the edge of some of the streets he drove through, or the zebra stripes that spanned them had once had some purpose other than purely decorative" .
His co-workers frustrate him, Jones, head of security who secretly films his own wife at home, in the shower, and Jenkins who has the IQ of a bag of hair,who delt with the cat issue, just intensify his desire to " get out of Dodge". When he is sent to investigate a so called miracle his mind wanders so far he can't even figure out what the miracle actually is and somehow gets himself and Angela more involved with the situation than he should.
Lives collies in unlikely ways, and a permanent vacation to the beach isn't looking good.

[Kristin (Blood,Sweat and Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review Kinda,sort of,maybe:

The Miracle Inspector can only be described as a very British Dystopian. I imagined the lovely Helen Mirren narrating this in my head. Once I switched from my normal internal monologue to that with her narrating The Miracle Inspector transformed into quite an enjoyable read. Of course that is not to say that this book didn't have some hiccups along the way.

To me, The Miracle Inspector was part V for Vendetta part Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (minus the alien aspect). The Miracle Inspector's Dystopian elements were terrifying yet it had whimsy and humor about it. I found this mix to be odd and unsettling at times. It's really hard describing in detail without giving away to much of the premise.

On the other hand,The Miracle Inspector is so far left field of what I expected it to be that I'm not even sure how to write a proper review of it. Was the book good? Sure, the writing was lovely and I found the characters to be quite charming. However, the plot and all of the rules felt beyond excessive, downright crazy even. I'm all for Dystopians that push the barriers of society but the Miracle Inspector didn't just push its citizens it shoved them over the cliff. Then, when they hit bottom they made them get up and walk back up the cliff only to be pushed off again. Yes it was that bizarre. I think the Author pulled it off but then again with the way I'm struggling writing this maybe it wasn't as successful as originally assumed.

Overall, I'm really not sure how I feel about The Miracle Inspector. If it wasn't for the writing and of course imagining Helen Mirren narrating in my head, I don't know how enjoyable it would of been. I am not even sure who I'd recommend this one to or if I'd recommend it at all it was just so bizarre. I mean hell, I can barely even comprehend what I read myself as you can clearly see. Therefore, I am going to list this one as a read at your own risk. I won't dissuade you from doing so because some elements were worthwhile but I won't encourage you either. Think of me as Switzerland on this one. In the end, I will be rating The Miracle Inspector by Helen Smith ★★★.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As published at Layeredpages.com: A refreshingly original piece of literature, The Miracle Inspector will spur you to think in new ways. Helen Smith has created a world where women are so marginalized in futuristic London that they cannot leave their homes without full body coverings. Although the setting is in the future, the story is not set so far in the future as to be unbelievable or unrecognizable which only serves to further invest the reader in the journey.

While weaving the separate strands of this story into a cohesive tapestry Smith endears us to the main couple through her descriptions of their everyday lives, thoughts, and dreams. Simultaneously, an understanding of Lucas’s family history evolves among the pages revealing a tumultuous, if slightly scandalous, past. The details of Lucas and Angela’s planned escape from this new London smacks of accounts of refugee outflows from war torn third world countries. It is this rendering of a modern western society reduced to “an oppressive place where poetry has been forced underground, theatres and schools are shut, and women are not allowed to work outside the home” which spurs thoughts on how life could change in an instant if we allow fear to overcome rationality.

Smith has won a well-deserved Arts Council Award for The Miracle Inspector. I would recommend this book to readers looking for an unconventional love story, or those interested in themes about overcoming oppression. Also, for the descriptions of poetry and art, this book would appeal to those with an interested in performing and activist arts. Full disclosure: I have been provided a copy of the book for the purpose of providing feedback and a review; however the opinions presented are my own and not influence or dictated by publisher or author.

[Wendy Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the future in London, the government is run entirely different. Lucas has a job with the government as The Miracle Inspector. He hasn't found one yet, and isn't entirely sure what will happen when he does. But until then, he spends his days inspecting would-be miracles that are called into his office.

The women are to be protected at all costs, so they are not allowed out of their homes. They remain inside and cook and clean and take care of their husband's at night. They are allowed to visit with relatives, and it's humorous how many relatives each wife has with the other women.

There is Jesmond, who was a friend to Lucas's father who spends a lot of time in the undergrounds of London, speaking poetry. Lucas finds him to be a homeless old man with frivolous thoughts, but Angela, Lucas's wife, thinks his poetry is beautiful. His poetry puts thoughts into her head, and when Jesmond begins to mentor another poet, he leaves beautiful pieces of poetry on Angela's doorstep.

Angela and Lucas just want to escape the oppressive London and begin to make plans to escape. They envision a small house, white fence, two and a half kids, and freedom. But what ensues is not what they had planned.

Filled with dark comedy, a uniquely built world, and eccentric, yet unique and engaging characters, Smith's dystopian is enchanting, funny and engaging. There are some vivid fantasies and some cursing, but all in all, it's a really beautiful, yet dark read. If you love British writing, as Smith writes in true British fashion, as well as an off beat book about society's downfall and two characters just trying to survive, pick up The Miracle Inspector!

[Mike Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucas, a low level government lackey (Inspector of Miracles) has just had sex with his wife, whom he suspects might be a spy: "Angela," he said afterwards, "Let's go away to Cornwell together." It was the sort of thing people in London said to each other all the time these days.
And later, If you wanted to excite or flatter a woman, you were supposed to mention Cornwell.
Why Cornwell? We never really know, except that it must be better than London which is now under some form of martial law, run by idiotic inspectors such as Lucas, and a friend of his who is Inspector of Cats. The author, with no fanfare whatever, drops the reader directly into a new London, a new world order. There is the temptation to fall back onto the cliche, post-apocalyptic, but without all the drama.
We are given no hint of the catastrophe that has befallen the city and its inhabitants, only that they are in constant fear of being taken up by the government. People disappear with regularity. Women are not allowed outside the house unless properly covered.
Lucas himself falls prey to the system and is clapped into prison. His wife, Angela, escapes with another woman and her child, the "miracle" that Lucas was investigating.
How did this all come about? Don't know. How does it end? Don't know that either. A young poet has replaced the older poet who has been beaten to death, but nothing else has changed.
We know little if anything about the new ruling order except that it doesn't consist of vampires, zombies or aliens, thankfully.
A delightfully different sort of reading experience. I'll be looking for more of Ms Smith's work, for sure.

[Allizabeth Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review:

Helen Smith's The Miracle Inspector blew me away with its bleak and gnarled view of the future and its fear-driven inhabitants! The book blurb may seem somewhat unconventional, but this disturbing dystopian thriller's look into the fractured, chaotic, and desecrate future of Britain grabbed my attention at page one. I did not expect to be so intrigued by Helen Smith's well-placed prose, full of startling depictions as well as biting, yet somehow lyrical, humor. Her ability to create such a believable tale of paranoia and hopelessness is built on some of the most debilitating fears plaguing today's societies - terrorists, rapists, murderers, pedophiles, corrupt governments, abusers, etc... Everyone watches everyone else, but is helpless to stop what they see - and escape is futile. Aspects of the overall plot are eerily reminiscent of Lord of the Flies, 1984, and Brave New World, three of my favorite high-school reads; however, it is by no means stagnant or unoriginal. There is a lot less action than I had hoped for, but it makes up for it with vivid and well-developed characters and dialogue, especially where Angela and Lucas are concerned. This book is intense and leaves readers with more questions than answers, but it is well worth the read. Recommended for more mature audiences who enjoy a book that gets them thinking.

Rating: On the Run (4/5)

*** I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

[ILoveBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smith writes a breathtaking Dystopian world that revolves around suppression, fear, and two younger adults who have a chance at a better world. The Miracle Inspector is about London’s future. The arts have been concealed; women can’t go outside of their homes unless it’s directly for family; schools have been shut down because of rapists and murderers. The government takes total control by killing and imprisoning their citizens. It’s sad that fear is literally something people do nowadays, so this story is somewhat true in that sense. It seriously scares the crap out of me. The main characters of the story are a married couple, Lucas and Angela, who are about 20 or so. They take a chance to have a better life by going on an adventure out of London. It’s risky for them, great reading material for us.

As dark as this sounds, Smith writes humor (mostly with Lucas) to make light of certain situations, which really balanced out how awful the conditions are. At first, I didn’t really like Lucas and Angela because I didn’t relate to them, but after a while they grew on me. I started caring for the characters, and that got me more into the storyline. The pacing was nice… not too slow or too long. You don’t say to yourself “Get it over with!” or “Come on, when will he/she do it?”... it was easy and flowed nicely. I recommend this book for lovers of the Dystopian genre. It’s not just another story, this one digs deep into wounds and in the end makes you want to read more.