Half a Crown

[sawyl]

I've finally made time to read Half a Cown, the last of Jo Walton's political novel set in a fascist version of post-war Britain. Although the novel isn't quite as successful as its predecessors — Farthing, in particular, is quite superb — it is still enjoyable and ties up a number of the loose ends left dangling in the previous books.

The book is set in 1960, in immediate lead up to a vast peace conference to allow the remaining world powers, Britain, Japan and the Third Reich, to divide up the world between themselves. As Commander of the Watch, the British equivalent of the Gestapo, it is Peter Carmichael's job to police the conference and maintain the political status quo. But when a British Power fascist riot breaks out, catching up Elvira Royston, Carmichael's debutante ward, in the process, Carmichael finds himself caught up in a political power play between his old boss at Scotland Yard, Prime Minister Mark Normanby, and possibly even the Duke of Windsor, Edward VIII as was.

The narrative unfolds gradually, as in the previous novels alternating third person descriptions of Carmichael's actions with a first person description of events from Elvira, contrasting both objective and subjective accounts. The Carmichael sections show both the horror of Farthing Britain, with its death camps and riots and routine anti-Semitic attacks, and the courage of the people opposing fascism, not least Carmichael's Inner Watch helping to smuggle the victims of the pogroms out of the country. The third person structure works particularly well with Carmichael's character showing how much he has been changed by his position, no matter how much he might wish to believe that he has remained unchanged. We see him casually friendly with Tibs Cheriton, now the Duke of Hampshire and Home Secretary; a person who wouldn't have given him the time of day in Farthing. We also see Carmichael as a smooth political operator, justifying the Prime Minister's worst excesses, and as a sinister monster, silkily threatening his former colleagues at Scotland Yard to get what he wants.

Elvira's sections, in comparison, are deeply partial and coloured by her social position. Protected by her uncle's wealth and political power, she sees the world a series of slightly tedious debutante balls and parties and social obligations. Having been grown up after the coup, she is thoughtlessly anti-Semitic, accepting of the endless requests to turn in anyone who shows the slightest signs of anti-state behaviour, and thinks that fascism is rather fun. But also has an idea of the darkness that exists underneath the surface: while at finishing school she has to help a friend get an illegal abortion — implicitly, the result of a rape involving large quantities of alcohol — and she also remembers enough of her pre-Pygmalion as an Cockney girl to know that the shallow society world isn't everything it is cracked up to be.

Despite having strong characters and good, driving narrative, there are a handful of elements that don't quite work for me. I couldn't quite convince myself of the coincidence that leads the Yard to arrest Elvira just when she has some information to give them, rather than a few hours before. I had slight problems with the character of Sir Alan Bellingham, who seemed to appear and disappear from the narrative more or less as required to move events forward. I also had my doubts about the slightly deus ex machina ending, although I liked the way it brought the whole story back, full circle, to Lucy Kahn's account of the events of Farthing.

But these are quibbles. On the whole Half a Crown is enjoyable and well written and well worth reading. The characters are good. The plot pushes forward at a pace. And there are even some moments of light relief: the Duke of Windsor's political intentions are betrayed be his naive belief that simply by putting his letters through a slot in his hotel room, they will automatically be posted unintercepted.

Required reading, then, for anyone who liked the previous novels and wants to see how events turn out.