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!