![]() ![]() Like all of Atkinson’s novels, her latest defies easy categorization. These three are hard to shock and difficult to take unawares, and they have all endured experiences that make them want to live. The tone is set by Nellie, a woman who had the will and the smarts to create herself, and two veterans of the trenches-Gwendolen and Nellie’s son Niven, who survived deployment to the Somme. While the story unfolds over a period of weeks and is almost entirely contained to London, it sprawls across social classes and gives voice to a glorious miscellany of characters. And Gwendolen Kelling-currently on leave from her job as a librarian in York, lately a nurse serving in the Great War-has just emerged as something of a wild card. DCI John Frobisher is determined to bring her to justice. Would-be usurpers have infiltrated her inner circle. Just released from prison, she finds herself beset on all sides. Nellie Coker presides over an empire of five nightclubs catering to a diverse clientele and a brood of six children of various talents and aptitudes. ![]() ![]() ![]() The author of Big Sky (2019) and Transcription (2018) takes readers on a tour of London’s post–World War I demimonde. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |