Transcription by Kate Atkinson

 

The story starts in England in 1940.  England has declared war on Germany after it marches into Poland and takes it over.  Everyone is worried, not sure what lies ahead but ready to do their part.  Juliet Armstrong is just out of school and not sure what to do with her life.  When she is offered a job transcribing after secretarial school, she jumps at the chance.

What Juliet is transcribing are the ramblings of a group of Nazi sympathizers in London, suspected of giving information to the Germans.  MI5 has an operative set up in an apartment and the sympathizers believe that he is working for the Germans and collecting their information.  But his apartment is bugged and next door is Juliet, her technician and her boss who transcribe the conversations and send them on to be analyzed.  It shouldn't be dangerous but as time goes on, Juliet is pulled deeper into operations and it becomes life or death.

Ten years after the war is over, Juliet is now working for the BBC in an obscure part which produces educational shows for children.  It's a living but not one she is crazy about.  Then she starts seeing figures from her time in MI5 although they pretend not to know her.  What does that mean?  Soon Juliet realizes that once you work for the government, they can pull you back in at any time.  Will she survive her second round of working for them with all the secrets she knows?

 Kate Atkinson is an English author who writes in both the literary fiction and mystery genres.  In this historical fiction, the reader is never quite sure what is true and what is a mask for what is going on behind the scenes.  Juliet is a sympathetic figure and it's difficult to figure out what is going on around her and if she has enough training and native intelligence to keep herself safe.  Although she can be callous, she shows her human side in various situations and does what she can to help others.  This book is recommended for historical figure readers.