Farthing
Like most of Jo Walton's books, this was a slow burn that grew on me as I read it. It gained depth as it went, until it finished as an entirely different sort of story than when it started.
Farthing (and it's two sequels which I may or may not read at some point) takes place in an alternate version of 1949, just outside London. In this world, England has reached a truce with Hitler and let him have the continent. America never entered the war, becoming increasingly isolationist. And fascism is on the rise in all sorts of insidious little ways.
Lucy and her husband are spending the weekend with her parents at the estate, something that has been increasingly rare since Lucy went against their wishes and married a Jewish man. When a man is murdered, it quickly becomes apparent that the real murderer is trying to frame Lucy's husband, David. And politics being what they are, there's not much anyone can do about it.
This starts a cozy murder mystery, with the point of view alternating between Lucy and the detective assigned to the murder. But when the rich and powerful start pulling strings above the detective's head it becomes something else entirely. The detective knows that David is being framed, but he can't prove it. So he sets his sights on catching the real murderer. Meanwhile Lucy is seeing her family more clearly than ever.
I ended up liking this book, even though a few plot twists really seemed to come out of nowhere. And a few things were shaded just a little shallowly. But it shows that slow slide into fascism that, like Lucy, I'm just now waking up to. It's easy to see how this alternate history could have happened, and a good reminder to stay vigilant and engaged now.
Farthing (and it's two sequels which I may or may not read at some point) takes place in an alternate version of 1949, just outside London. In this world, England has reached a truce with Hitler and let him have the continent. America never entered the war, becoming increasingly isolationist. And fascism is on the rise in all sorts of insidious little ways.
Lucy and her husband are spending the weekend with her parents at the estate, something that has been increasingly rare since Lucy went against their wishes and married a Jewish man. When a man is murdered, it quickly becomes apparent that the real murderer is trying to frame Lucy's husband, David. And politics being what they are, there's not much anyone can do about it.
This starts a cozy murder mystery, with the point of view alternating between Lucy and the detective assigned to the murder. But when the rich and powerful start pulling strings above the detective's head it becomes something else entirely. The detective knows that David is being framed, but he can't prove it. So he sets his sights on catching the real murderer. Meanwhile Lucy is seeing her family more clearly than ever.
I ended up liking this book, even though a few plot twists really seemed to come out of nowhere. And a few things were shaded just a little shallowly. But it shows that slow slide into fascism that, like Lucy, I'm just now waking up to. It's easy to see how this alternate history could have happened, and a good reminder to stay vigilant and engaged now.
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