Persephone Books discussion

Spoilers abound.

Intend to start this later in the week - looking forward to it.
A few people have recommended it to me.

Finished this and in hindsight probably shouldn't have read it straight after Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil.

Had an inkling how it would end early on - no surprises there.

Lexa was strong, no doubt the strongest in that family.

Would have liked to know more of Michael.

Saw somewhere in my travels across the internet that there were two sequels written that Persephone were going to publish.

Just finished this so I'm quite breathless. The book was wonderful in its story and the time it was published. I fear that any sequels will be an anticlimax.

Finished this now too, I thought it was exceptionally powerful. I think one of the reasons for that was Carson's choice of setting and her focus on this very ordinary, familiar type of family - like characters from The Archers transported to 1930s Germany.

I liked the way that Carson toys with us at the beginning in her depiction of Lexa. At first Lexa has this breathless, naivety. She's very much an overgrown schoolgirl, like a figure who's migrated from one of the girls' school stories that were so popular at the time. And then she undergoes this devastating rite of passage which forces her to grow up almost overnight.

The other thing I thought worked so well was Carson's representation of the ways in which people respond to Hitler's success. The fanatics like Erich, Helmy who's increasingly conflicted and then people like his father who ends up going along with things because it's convenient and it's what everyone is doing/expects.

The most chilling aspect was the juxtaposition between these very normal domestic and social scenes and the violence taking place just out of the frame - although it finally takes centre stage towards the end. It made me think of the American South in the Jim Crow era. Whole families turning out to lynchings, Black people beaten and tortured, then the white people go home to their tea; South Africa under apartheid and so on...The atrocities that people will commit or tolerate or simply ignore as long as they're not the ones being targeted.

@ Alwynne,

I suspect it's so they won't be targeted.

Cphe wrote: "@ Alwynne,

I suspect it's so they won't be targeted."

What did you think about Lexa's character? What made her able to take a stand, was it just love? Or was she different in other ways?

Cphe wrote: "Finished this and in hindsight probably shouldn't have read it straight after Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil.

Had an inkling how it would end early on - no su..."

Btw I came across an ad for a first edition of the final book in the trilogy and, from the description, looks as if Michael will feature in the later books.

I finished my review which is here if anyone would like to read it:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Alwynne wrote: "Cphe wrote: "@ Alwynne,

I suspect it's so they won't be targeted."

What did you think about Lexa's character? What made her able to take a stand, was it just love? Or was she different in other w..."


@ Alwynne - it wasn't just love.

I think by the end she had realised just how far the family had fractured (especially with her brothers)
I never got the impression that she was that close to her mum.

Cphe wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "Cphe wrote: "@ Alwynne,

I suspect it's so they won't be targeted."

What did you think about Lexa's character? What made her able to take a stand, was it just love? Or was she diff..."

The mum was quite hard to fathom at times. I suppose I was wondering if there were any clues as to why Lexa could see what was happening and the people around her couldn't? Maybe the message was that she came to a political awakening too late?

If she, and others like her, had been involved in anti-fascist activism earlier then maybe there would have been enough resistance to stop the Nazis from taking over?

I thought that she saw what was happening with her brothers and couldn't go the same route, in fact it in some ways pushed her into the path that she ended up taking. Perhaps if her father had been stronger of character she may have had an ally at least at home.

just finished the Crooked cross. feeling a bit shellshocked! poor moritz and lexa of course it was inevitable really... it was very well written the way the noose tightens slowly until there is extreme violence happening to the neighbours and friends and how callously the family are largely ignoring it all to stay safe... I'd love to read the next 2 in the trilogy has anyone managed to find them perhaps?

Cphe wrote: "@ Alwynne,

I suspect it's so they won't be targeted."

I agree. Look at what happened to Herman, because he wouldn't salute the flag. Not so easy to laugh at the fanatics once they start to gain in power.

Alwynne wrote: "If she, and others like her, had been involved in anti-fascist activism earlier then maybe there would have been enough resistance to stop the Nazis from taking over? "

I wonder if this is what Sally Carson was hoping to achieve with the book, or was it a reaction against what she saw happening?

Kernow wrote: "just finished the Crooked cross. feeling a bit shellshocked! poor moritz and lexa of course it was inevitable really... it was very well written the way the noose tightens slowly until there is ext..."

I felt a sort of creeping dread while I was reading it, even though I had a pretty good idea how it was going to end.

As to the other two books, Francesca Beauman was on Front Row last week; she said the are bringing out The Prisoner in April next year. I believe they also plan on publishing A Traveller Came By.

I just finished the book also - and Tania, you phrased it very well! I definitely felt a creeping dread while I was reading it too.
Alwynne mentioned this also, that this book was so effective because Carson portrayed an ordinary family. And the way everything happened wasn't all at once, it was a series of events as things slowly escalated. Also, a little scary how relevant that concept is today - a series of events slowly chipping away at life as we know it.
I thought the ending was clever - you basically know what Helmy is going to say, but she ends the book right before then. I will be interested to read the two sequels!

Thank you. It shows how 'normal life' can be slowly eroded so that this becomes the reality. It is scary, I can see it happening here with fears over 'illegal immigrants', and the rise of Reform, (your Trump).(btw over here trump means fart - just thought I 'd point that out). I can see it happening again. That's why I think it's so important to read this sort of thing now. The whole 'immigrant' issue is misdirection from the media. I can see why Persephone decided to publish now. The sequel comes out in April.