Half a Crown

I just finished the third book on a plane. I kept delaying finishing the books because I did not want it to end. Through the whole series I was unable to predict anything coming. Most books are obvious where they are going but not this series. There is a wonderful feel to the books of London after the war. The characters are believable and varied. The ending was uplifting. After finishing it was hard to pick up another book. To anyone who has visited London the atmoshphere is perfect but the questions raised about security are well worth pondering. I kept asking myself what I would do in the character's situation. Much better than the author's fantasy books.

One shouldn't take the "alternate history" trappings of Walton's "pocket change" trilogy too seriously. Other, lesser, writers have created works based on counterfactual historical premises in which the whole point is to explore the ramifications of a world in which, for example, Napoleon wins at Waterloo, or someone uses a time machine to ship a load of AK-47s and ammunition to Robert E. Lee. Jo Walton's trilogy does rest on a historical counterfactual--that the United States refused to support Britain in 1940, and that Britain was consequently forced to make peace with Hitler. However, the counterfactual is not central to Walton's work; it is only a literary device that serves to set the story in a place that both is, and is not, here and now. Because the world of Walton's trilogy is a distorted version of our own, both recognizable and yet alien, what might have been an ideological diatribe becomes instead a most effective parable. Walton uses this dark mirror of our world as a stage-setting for a parable that illustrates compellingly the ease with which men can be seduced into accepting evil in return for an imagined safety, and how quickly ordinary and decent people can be made to descend the declivity of betrayal, corruption, fear, and self-hate. Walton writes as though she cares about her characters, and consequently makes us care. Most of them are neither totally evil nor altogether good; they are almost always interesting. Caught up in events they cannot control, these people must make decisions that entail compromises; some win through, while others lose their lives or--worse--their souls. Though Walton's story has clear parallels to the present day, she is never heavy-handed, obvious, or judgmental. While Walton's trilogy isn't an ideological sermon, it does disturb and--one hopes--gives rise to serious reflection. My one criticism of this work is that Inspector Carmichael gets off too lightly. The inspector has compromised too much of his integrity; I feel that there should have been a price required for that.

This loose trilogy of books are among the best books i've read in the last few years - wonderfully written, carefully crafted, and eminently credible characters and situations, set in an alternate what if scenario stretching from the 1930's to the 1960's in England. Jo Walton deserves to be at the top of the bestseller lists. 10/10!

In 1941 Britain and Germany signed the Farthing Peace accord, which allowed the English elite to continue to live an affluent lifestyle while "undesirables" like the Jews and any anti government protestors have been and still are shipped to Easton Europe in cattle cars. Nineteen years later, London hosts an international peace conference in which the three superpowers Britain, Germany and Japan plan to increase their respective spheres of influence. Peter Carmichael left Scotland Yard to become head of the Watch, a secret police whose midnight raids have terrorized much of the country. His mission is to weed out dissenters and traitors as well as Jews. However, he tries to sneak the Jews to safety when he can. He also knows his relationship with his valet Jack, if discovered will send him to the camps in the east as that behavior is unacceptable. However, everything will soon come to a head for Peter when teenage ward Elvira Royston overhears a conversation that if she reveals will destroy her guardian. One of the best alternate historical miniseries in recent years, the final tale is as terrific as its predecessors (see HA'PENNY and FARTHING) due to the strong characterizations. Readers obtain a taste of living under a totalitarian rule especially how the next generation, who were born after the Farthing Peace Accord, react; in many ways Elivra's simple acceptance of the inevitability of human brutality makes the tale and the saga. In all the bleakness as the let them eat cake affluent party thrives while many suffer; there remain slight flickers of hope, but slowly they are being snuffed out. Harriet Klausner

Walton's 'Small Change' Trilogy, begun with Farthing, and continued with Ha'penny is brought to a satisfactory, and somewhat surprising conclusion in this book. Unlike its predecessors it does not revolve around a crime. Instead it is focused on the actions of two characters, the commander of Britain's political police, the Watch, Commander Carmichael, and his ward, Elvira Royston, as they grapple with the political and social realities of this alternative Britain of 1960. Carmichael, and his partner/manservant Jack provide continuity with the previous novels, though mention is made of characters from both, and characters from both previous novels make appearances. Walton plays with alternative history like a musician, bringing in elements from actual history with a slight skew. In Farthing it was the Cliveden Set, in Ha'penny, it was the Mitford sisters; here it is Burgess, minus Maclean, Philby, and Blunt, but elevated. The novel concludes with a twist, as surprising as it is welcome, delivered by a character singularly appropriate for the role.