The Unfortunate Englishman: Another historical hit from John Lawton
John Lawton's Unfortunate Englishman takes thief-turned-spy Joe Wilderness to Berlin at the height of the Cold War, where he is to mediate an exchange of prisoners between Great Britain and the U.S.S.R. The title character is a schlemiel nabbed for his ineptitude as a spy for the British, and the action consists of efforts to swap him for his opposite number and of flashes back and forward between the early and the mid-1960s.
Along the way, we see the Berlin Wall rise before our eyes and Wilderness encounter Nikita Khrushchev on the Soviet leader's (imaginary) solo tour of the city. Two supporting characters in the novel are shot by the Soviets for their activities, but the executions happen off-stage and they make their presence felt through the schlemiel's brief but intense reaction to them. The reticence of the portrayal makes the executions all the more chilling.
This character-based storytelling works in a kind of alchemy with Lawton's closely observed period detail to reinforce the status Lawton built in his Frederick Troy books as quite possibly the best historical novelist we have. Fans of those novels will be happy to know that Troy and his brother Rod make brief appearances in The Unfortunate Englishman.
© Peter Rozovsky 2016
Labels: espionage, Frederick Troy, historical crime fiction, historical fiction, Joe Wilderness, John Lawton, spy novels, spy stories
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 5:20 PM
6 Comments:
Have you read his Troy novels? I can say (and have said) much in Lawton's favor, but I offer no higher praise than saying that he loves P.G. Wodehouse.
I'm surprised you have not come across Lawton. He's intelligent, literate, funny, a fine prose stylist, and he offers great insight into English character. Scroll through my blog and lot my posts about him. I think he'd be right up your alley.
Thanks, Pete. Will get this one for him.
Patti, have you read Lawton? He's attended at least one Bouchercon (I moderated a panel that included him), and he'll turn up at events here and in ENgland from time to time. He's one of the best.And yes, this particular book in particular is timely, given your recent Berlin visit.
Peter, I enjoy reading espionage fiction, more so if it is set during WWII and the Cold War. Thanks for the review for it has introduced me to a new author.
I also liked the "Queen and Country" graphic novel series and I am enjoying a current series called "Velvet." The former is at least as much about office politics as it is about spying, and the latter has a fair amount of James Bond-like gadgetry, a dose of melodramatic personal motivation, and a female protagonist. You might like them if you have not read them already.
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