I loved Farthing, the first book in this series, despite avoiding alternate history and especially anything involving Nazis and WWII like the plague. In Farthing, Jo Walton took a classic British country house mystery and used it to divert the reader from all the subtly horrifying alternate history world-building going on at the edges, then brought all the alternate history aspects to the fore in the final third like a punch to the gut. It was one of the best books I've read all year.In this sequel, which takes place almost directly after the events in Farthing, Jo Walton uses the classic thriller novel as her starting point in continuing to explore her fascist England, and if it isn't quite as successful as Farthing was, it is still compulsively readable and raises questions that will linger long after the book is finished. It can be read as a stand-alone, but I have no idea why anyone would want to, as reading it first would spoilthe events of Farthing, and that would be a terrible shame. (Needless to say, this review will also spoil the events of Farthing, so read no further if you haven't read the first book yet!)This book has the same structure as its predecessor, alternating chapters between a tight third-person focused on Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard and a new female first-person narrator, also a woman born to the upper classes who has rejected (and been rejected by) her traditional aristocratic family. In this novel, the female narrator is Viola Larkin, who has been estranged from her family since she chose to take up acting as a profession. Carmichael is still reeling from his decision to compromise his ideals of justice to save his comfortable life with his man, Jack, and Viola has just agreed to take on the role of Hamlet in a production that will be attended by Mark Normanby (the new Prime Minister) and Adolf Hitler, who is coming to visit England to cement ties. Within the first couple chapters, Carmichael is investigating the accidental bombing death of an actress who was also going to be in the production of Hamlet, and Viola has been forced to become a part of the new assassination plot by one of her sisters, a card-carrying Communist.This structure works less well in Ha'penny, however, because the two protagonists are far less sympathetic here than the two protagonists were in Farthing, creating emotional distance and lessening the impact of events later in the book. Carmichael, though very much consistent with the character Walton set out in Farthing, has now fallen from grace; he does not deserve the same sympathy he received when he appeared to be the righteous detective on the trail of monsters. And while Lucy Kahn was a little person caught in a trap who had the wit to find a way to escape for herself and the man she loved, Viola has much more power in determining her own destiny and chooses to give that power away by swooning over her terrorist captor. A review I read advanced the notion that she was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, but to the best of my knowledge a person does not develop Stockholm Syndrome after a momentary fright -- and besides, Viola was strongly attracted to Connelly before he ever became her captor. No, to me Viola is just another one of those fantasy girls that gets hot and bothered when a man mistreets her, and while I have no problem with sado-masochism in principle and found it wonderfully treated in Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series, in this instance it simply rang false. (Underlining the falsity, later in the novel Viola is disgusted by Normanby's subtly sadistic treatment of his wife.)The novel also failed a little for me because I simply have no sympathy for terrorists. I reject utterly the notion that the ends can justify the means, so I had no problem rooting for Carmichael to discover the conspiracy and put a stop to it. That sucked some of the tension out of the middle of the novel, where in Farthing the middle section ratcheted up the tension by pitting Lucy against Carmichael when both were clearly on the same side.Still, despite those weaknesses, Walton pulled off an ending that had the power to devastate, and the fact that it raises so many questions about power (questions concerning both what the ethical assertion of power looks like and what power any individual has to change any larger system) makes this a novel that people should read and discuss. I would strongly recommend it to nearly anyone, and I will most certainly be reading the next book in the series.
After reading Jo Walton's , I was pleased to discover that it was #1 of a trilogy. This sequel is no less disturbing. It is set in a world that might have been , a society which has tried to trade freedom for security, but fails at both. One reviewer described this set as parahistorical , but while it can be viewed as an historical fantasy, aside from the alternate history and world, it is chilling and unfortunately very real. I will not dwell on the plot, nor the mystery associated with it, except to state how riveting the story is. Walton has successfully created suspense and tension to the final page. Her character development is convincing and vivid.The importance of this book, as in the previous setting, lies in the behaviors of the characters and their associated governments. The time period is 1949, purportedly 8 years after a "Peace with Honor" was transacted between Nazi Germany and Great Britian. This uneasy, odious, alliance is a major concern of many, but much of the populace is accepting of the facist dictatorship, blatant anti-semitism and anti homosexual practises. The erroneous beliefs and the callous, brutal language and actions toward the Jews and homosexuals are shocking, yet all too real.While reading this tale, which involves a bombing, frequent reference is made to the terrorists who want to destroy society, placing the onus for these actions on Jews and communists. Comparisons to today's attacks are easily viewed and disturbingly convincing to the reader.Walton has achieved an admirable accomplishment in writing this all too plausible, horrifying thriller.
What do You think about Ha'penny (2007)?
Set shortly after Farthing, Inspector Carmichael is once again drawn into a murder case with disturbingly political subtext. This is a disturbing, frustrating book because the situation is completely hopeless. Fascism and every possible form of modern intolerance continue to gain power, and nothing the smart, likeable main characters do makes any difference. It doesn't seem like the failures of the main characters (Lucy Khan in the first book, Viola Lark in this) and Carmichael's own compromises serve any purpose other than to depress the reader.
—Wealhtheow
I was completely charmed by Farthing, the first book in this series which featured a quaint, alternative-history murder mystery. This sequel continues to follow detective Carmichael, interleaved with the perspective of a woman connected to the investigation.I was distinctly less charmed by the continuation of this same formula. However, about halfway through the story evolved into something more weighty. By the end, it had built to a progression that has me eager to read the next book in the series.
—Adam Wiggins
This is the second book of this trilogy set in an alternate timeline where Britain has made peace with Hitler. This is readable enough, but it’s depressing as hell, and has a protagonist I didn’t believe in.This book takes place a couple of weeks after the events in Farthing. We’re introduced to another young aristocratic woman who has defied her family - this one has become a theater actress and changed her name. She’s plausibly uninterested in politics and more concerned with her upcoming play than in the recent sinister administrative changes.When her estranged sister asks her to participate in an assassination attempt, the actress answers the dangerous, outrageous proposal with a casual, polite refusal - until she finds herself sexually attracted to the man who will kill her if she doesn’t go along with the plot, so she agrees to do it.I just didn’t find any of her actions to be believable at all, and this nearly ruined the book for me.The other characterizations are mostly well done. The actress and her sisters are obviously based on the eccentric Mitford family, and this is kind of cool, except there’s an odd section of exposition that gives a synopsis of the lives of each sister - it feels like awkwardly inserted filler, adding nothing to the story.I do like Inspector Carmichael and continue to be interested in his predicament: feeling helpless and trapped in a job that he despises, trying to do a little bit of good with what little power he has. I’ll read the next book mostly for his story.
—Jamie
