Book Review - Farthing by Jo Walton

This is another book that I read for the Women in Science Fiction book club, now housed at Calico Reaction, and though not as long as my review for Connie Willis' Doomsday Book, it is a pretty long post, and it does contain spoilers, despite my best intentions. When I wrote that review, I don't think I mentioned how few of the books for this book club I've actually finished. It's nothing to do with the club itself, I have just found that the books have not been to my taste. I finished Elizabeth Bear's Dust, and was sorely disappointed. What looked to be a great adventure story set on a generational space ship, ended up being an exposé of gender issues and fanaticism (or was that only my interpretation?) and the incestuous relationships creeped me out. These are the three books I have finished, and I plan to attempt only one more, based on its synopsis. Although I didn't love this book in the way that I loved Doomsday Book, I didn't dislike it like I did Dust.  As usual, click on the picture below to read the review.

Farthing is a country estate in Hampshire where Lord and Lady Eversley are having a small weekend party in 1949, the guests of which include their friends, also known as the Farthing Set, and their daughter Lucy, and her Jewish husband David. It immediately becomes obvious that this is not our 1949, when the attitude of the Set toward David are explained. In this timeline, Hitler was not defeated, and instead was appeased - he could run rampant on the Continent unchallenged by England or her colonies, and in return, England would remain independent. The broker of this peace, Sir James Thirkie, is found murdered in his suite on Sunday morning while most of the guests are at church. Pinned to his chest by a dagger is a Jewish star, worn by Jews on the continent. Scotland Yard Inspectors Carmichael and Royston are sent to investigate the murder, for which the local authorities have already assumed David to be responsible.

This is an interesting opening, and the lead up to, discovery of, and initial stages of investigation into the murder occupy about the first third of the book. I found that this foundation was enough to carry me through to the end, despite an incredibly slow middle of the book, which consists mainly of the characters hypothesising the means, motive, and opportunity, of different characters in order to determine the murderer, and presenting the information necessary to illustrate the themes. It is only in the last 20-50 pages that the political plot behind the murder is fully unravelled (this is not much of a spoiler as the political aspects of the murder are suggested early and are constantly a focus of the investigation).

It is also in these last pages that I found myself rewarded for my perseverance with more than just the revelation of the identity and motive of the murderer/s. Because the suspicion falls on David, measures must be taken by the couple to ensure their safety. Alongside this, the government has passed legislation that, to anyone who has studied the development of the Nazi state into the horror it became, is disturbingly familiar. And this is where the use of an alternate history really impacts upon the reader. The physical war; the war of blitz bombings, troops, and fighter planes, has ended, but the war of ideas continues. This is a reminder that the sacrifices made by the soldiers of World War II were not just for our borders, but for our way of life. The Nazi regime was so evil because its goal was to separate groups from one another, to take away the fundamental rights of some of those groups, and to ultimately destroy the groups that were considered undesirable (along with anyone who disagreed with these policies).

In the last part of the book, there is a 'sense of impending doom', that the political reforms the government has passed are leading to the same situation seen in the Nazi regime. It is only upon further consideration that I now realise that these reforms weren't the first stage of the process either. In one of the first pages of the book, David is assumed by one of the guests to be a servant, simply because he is Jewish. We later learn that Jews have not been fully welcomed into England as they flee the mainland. This atmosphere is the first step, legislation will not hold if the people oppose it. Lucy's father is an example of how apathy is just as bad as support in this climate. The media also show the sensationalist mentality that drags people in, not just when labelling David the murderer before Carmichael has even finished his investigation, let alone filed a report, but with the constant reporting of a certain geographical region changing hands every day.

A second theme of the book concerns the difference between outward appearances and private realities, and how these things relate to power. At first I didn't understand why so many people in the book were homosexual. I have nothing against homosexuality in literature, but in a book like this, it felt as if the discussion of this was somewhat out of place, particularly in 1949. However, on further consideration (yup, this book's a thinker, people), I've finally realised that this is integral to the ideas of the second theme. Carmichael is in a relationship with his manservant, and at the end of the novel, he is blackmailed into secrecy because of this. David has had a relationship with another man (I think it's a bit odd that this was Lucy's elder brother) during his time in the war, and, although it is not focused on, one can imagine this would not serve him well in a reply to character witnesses in a trial. On the other hand, Normanby, the new Prime Minister, and one of the Farthing Set, has narrowly escaped charges of public indecency (mostly because of his powerful position), and Lady Thirkie has had a long-running affair with her lady's companion. Because of their powerful positions, these two do not need to fear repercussions of their actions as everyone is trained to look the other way. It is Carmichael's realisation of this that makes him assent to keeping quiet, that leads back to the first theme with the statement that this is how good men are silenced.

Overall, I think this is an intelligent book that is aimed at making the reader think about the 'small' injustices that occur, and a warning of how these can lead to extremes such as Nazism. This wasn't the novel I had expected, especially as the science fictional elements were completely nonexistent (there wasn't even a time machine in this one!), and if I'd known, I wouldn't have picked it up. That being said, I'm glad I did. After writing this review, thinking about the themes of the book, and realising why some plot devices were used, I find I am wholly satisfied with the story, though, while reading it, I didn't feel this way. It makes me quite angry in the way that watching the news often does, and I'm glad this was set in an alternate 1949, as it allowed some distance from the events that illustrated the themes. However, it would take very little effort to translate Jew to, for example, Muslim, and apply the same themes. When looking up the book on wikipedia, I found out that there are two sequels. I don't plan on reading them, simply because, for me, the story is finished, the point is made.

If I've inspired you to buy Farthing by Jo Walton, click here to buy it from Mighty Ape.  If you do, I get credit so I can buy more pretty things to tell you about!

Book Review - Connie Willis' Doomsday Book

I know I don't usually post this kind of thing, but I found I had a lot to say about this month’s Women in Science Fiction Book Club book – Connie Willis’ Doomsday Book - so I thought I would make a blog post about it where I can prattle on as I like without filling up the forum.  PLEASE NOTE I have put a lot of spoilers in this (and a lot of words), so if you haven’t read the book and would like to, and you like surprises when you read, then stop reading now until you’ve read the book.  I mean it, go read the book.  Read it?  Good, now let’s begin (Click on the image to show my review).

I hadn't heard of Connie Willis prior to signing up for the book club, and now that I've read this book, I intend to go on to read the rest of the books/stories set in the same universe.  As a reminder, this book focuses on two time periods and two intertwined stories as Kivrin, a young anthropology and archaeology student travels back in time to study the Middle Ages and the people who she leaves in our near future deal with the outbreak of a deadly influenza epidemic.  The confusion of the epidemic and the illness of the 'net' technician leads to Kivrin being stranded in the wrong year - the year the Black Death arrived in the small village she is studying.  While she attempts to protect those she has come to care about and to change the past, in the future Mr Dunworthy and Dr Ahrens attempt to discover the origin of the influenza and thus a cure, while trying to convince the acting head of the university department to go back and collect Kivrin.  The book is formatted as a chapter or two in a row in each time period - I found just enough happened in each time period to make me need to know more before switching to the other time period.  This really kept me motivated to read on.

The book club that I signed up to that recommended this book focuses on science fiction written by women.  I found this book to be a brilliant cross-genre story with elements from science fiction (the time travel technology is based upon and limited by a lot of complex physics, the medical technology) and historical fiction (the entire plot for Kivrin once she arrives in the Middle Ages).  I think the two genres were equally paired, though the science fictional influence was subtle.  For example, everything that occurred regarding the influenza outbreak, including the back story of a contagion outbreak in the recent past, had a technological basis.  One commenter made the point that none of the characters used mobile phones, instead relying on landline-based technology, and that this made it difficult to believe the setting was in the future, however I felt this omission made the setting very close to our own time (particularly because this book was written over 10 years and published in 1992).

At times I preferred the near future chapters, and at other times (particularly as the story progressed) I enjoyed the past chapters more.  Luckily (unlike the forum moderator) I had a book whose cover only hinted that Kivrin had been sent to the wrong time period, so, although I suspected it fairly early on, I was still shocked when my suspicions were confirmed.

I don't know enough about physics to judge how convincing the time travel aspect was, but I appreciated the fact that there were limitations, inconsistencies, variables, and that a whole lot of work had to go into the preparation for a trip. I thought this was very realistic, especially as the book is set in the not too distant future. I can imagine that time travel technology would be fairly complicated, and in this story, though it is well established as a research tool, it seems to be a relatively new tech.

I have a degree in anthropology and archaeology, so I found the motivation of all of the characters to be really convincing.  Kivrin seems to be a post graduate student and is naïve, eager to learn, and so motivated; just like most post graduate students she bites off far more than she can chew (I particularly loved that Kivrin had prepared and learned to speak all of the languages thought to be important, but that she couldn't understand anyone - one of my pet peeves is that we are so sure how ancient and historical languages were spoken, without first hand evidence).  Gilchrist reminded me of early archaeologists who cared little for anything other than the fmae and glory associated with the discovery of new artifacts and sites (while letting others do all of the work for them), while Dunworthy is the more cautious and careful kind who cares deeply for the safety and wellbeing of his students. I found myself identifying mainly with Dunworthy due to his reservations, his cautious and concerned demeanor, and his inability to give up on Kivrin.

Did I cry?  Oh yes, I cried when I thought Bahdri was going to die, I cried when I realised that black death had come to the village despite Kivrin's efforts, I cried when the little girls died, I cried when I found out Dr Ahrens died (so much that I had to put the book down), I would have cried when Roche died, but I so emotionally drained! I also cried at the end. This might make me seem like a crier, but honestly, I don't think I have ever cried so much in a book! This really surprised me because in the beginning, I found the story extremely difficult to get into and throughout the book found the characters quite clinical and not at all personal. It was only when people started dying that I realised that the story and the characters had such an impact on me.  This is the main reason I want to read the other books in this universe.

Lastly, the tension and quiet suspense that built up over the course of the story was great.  Until Dunworthy and Colin actually arrived in the Middle Ages, I was certain they wouldn't end up going back, that something would go wrong - Dunworthy would realise that Colin had jumped into the net and cancel the drop, for example. Until they actually found Kivrin I didn't think they would, that she would have already left for Scotland. I was convinced to the point that I didn't realise the boy in the kirkyard was Kivrin until after Dunworthy did.  But the one thing I would change about the book would be that we are left not knowing where the hell the head of the department is and why on earth noone could get in contact with him. It was a great plot device, but not tying that up at the end made it feel like it was JUST a plot device.

Spoiler-free again now.  To sum up, I strongly suggest reading this book if you like time travel, anthropology and archaeology, science fiction and health, or just a good adventure story about people struggling against forces outside of their control that does not have a necessarily 'happy ever after' ending (that is not a spoiler as there are so many possible endings that fit that criteria).