 |
| (image from here) |
"After a sudden snowstorm from the west, Monday morning is cold and dreary; the pavements are slippery, the coats of the crowd crushed together in the trains reek of frying and wet dog, but Stephen is on his way to work with a lift of the heart, in spite of feeling a bit queasy. Monday mornings are good mornings now; they bring new hope and an end to the barren wastes of the weekend, which are devoid of Helen. Mondays used to weigh leadenly on him, but ever since one morning in October they have been as welcome as a lovers' reunion." - The Long Room, p. 29
The Sum of It:
I am a huge fan of the film The Lives of Others (a terrific German film about Secret Police spying on a "suspicious" couple and the effect it has on their relationship: 10/10 - would highly recommend!!), so I was very intrigued by the premise of one of our spring reads, The Long Room by Francesca Kay. Long Room is set in 1980s London, with Cold War drama still totally a thing, spies are also totally majorly sneaking about. One such spy is Stephen Donaldson: a single young man with a sweet old mom and a big old crush on a girl he [sort of] knows from work. However, this crush develops a bit differently than the usual boy-meets-girl. See, Stephen spends his days at the Institute (home base for spies such as himself), listening to tape recordings from wiretaps of potential baddies who are the "subjects" of the Institute's spying. Stephen has been given a particularly important listening assignment (codenamed PHOENIX) by boss Rollo Buckingham (his actual name, and thus far my favorite character name in my readings this year! #British) to listen in on a potential double agent within the organization (#gasp!) HOWEVER, Stephen has fallen head over heels in heart love with the wife of subject PHOENIX, named Helen. Stephen rushes through his everyday work, comes charging in first thing on Monday mornings, and even stays late at work (sometimes when he shouldn't...#oops) to "spend time" listening to Helen walk around or cook dinner or fight with her husband (#hmm).
If it sounds unhealthy (and frankly a bit creepy) it's because it IS. Boss Rollo determines Stephen's special investigation isn't really going anywhere and tells Stephen his days of listening in on the PHOENIXes are numbered AND STEPHEN CANNOT HAVE THAT, so he does what any other spy in love with one of their subjects' wives even though he has never met her would do: he starts making things up...
The YOA Treatment:
It was hard for both of us to get into this book at first. Emily read it on the beach in Mexico, and found some tricky dissonance between the sunny beach scene and the cold and misty London portrayed on the pages #hardknocklife, and the eerie tension of the Stephen's increasingly risky behavior was maybe not best suited for a beach read. I couldn't quite put my finger on the reason why it was tough to connect with- it's a slow read at first, but not necessarily boring. I finally discovered what it was making me feel: claustrophobic.
So much of Long Room is set in the close quarters of Stephen's mind: his obsessive thoughts about Helen, his at times pitifully lonely real-world existence, or his awkward social interactions. Francesca Kay has done a masterful job of painting the picture of Stephen's uncomfortable life, which makes his completely unrealistic crush on Helen totally believable. As we were both reading it, Emily and I kept texting each other about how we were so afraid Stephen would get caught in his ultimate web of lies and rule breakings, and while we shan't spoil anything, it is worth giving Kay kudos for her ability to keep us squirming until the last page.
To be completely honest, I did not end up loving this book, probably for the same reason. I did like the time period (it's one I don't know that much about, but would like to), and I appreciated and admired Kay's premise and plot, however, the experience of reading it was at times tough, and the ending felt a bit abrupt and predictable. Again, we don't want to give anything away, but after finishing it, Emily and I also texted about alternate directions we thought the story was going to conclude and wished our protagonist, after all the tense build up of the novel, had gotten a different wrap up. Kay showed her creative chops throughout, and I was expecting her to surprise me more than she did by the time it was all over. SO if you really love Cold War spies, don't mind some bleakness, and are in the market for some fiction that builds like an avalanche of tension towards the end of the tale, give this a try.
- A. (& E.)
Be First to Post Comment !
Post a Comment