Ignorant Armies the second volume of the Jonathan Hare series was published by Melrose Books in the UK in September 2010. Readers reports are being received. Here is what one Reader said:
Jonathan’s
special skills, notably safe-breaking, have come to the attention of
Superintendent Henderson and Jonathan is dragged into a plot to bring down
an American Gambling den in Mayfair. In the previous novel, Jonathan had
helped bring to justice an infamous criminal gang and his skills are well
known to the police. The
backdrop of the novel is the class war of the post war period in Britain and
Jonathan’s rise through the classes due to his scholarship and the social
connections he develops through his adventures.
The work is elegantly written and captures the period perfectly and the two
main settings of London and Oxford are evocatively described. The characters
are well drawn, in particular Lord Galdraith and the Lady Hecate and
Jonathan himself is a fascinating personage. Jason, Jonathan’s porter is also particularly well drawn and
representative of a certain post war character no longer in existence. One
of the novel’s other strong points is its period setting and there is a
definite filmic quality to the descriptions of the goings on in Whitehall
and Scotland Yard.
The
work is well researched and the period artfully rendered, and thankfully the
dialogue and descriptions match the period perfectly without any historical
or cultural infelicities which is extremely rare.
The work is at times reminiscent of Waugh in its descriptions and
there is a definite Englishness to the work in both the characterisation and
setting and the sense of the old world passing into the new.
In
conclusion, this is a well written novel with a host of interesting
characters. The historical and social setting is fascinating and evocatively
rendered and deals with a particularly interesting period in British
History.
Special Services, the third
volume in the series is complete and in local readership.
The Hilary Term,, the fourth volume, is a work in progress.
Ocean Park Library, Monday April 4th, 10:00am - done!
White Rock Library, Monday May 9th, 7:00pm - done!
Black Bond Books, Semiahmoo Mall, May 14th 2:00 pm