Ann DiPietro: War weary

D

ear Great Book Guru,

While Sea Cliff’s annual MiniMart was wet and damp, it was still great fun, and I got to meet up with so many friends - old and new.  A group of us met outside Matt’s Deli and conversation turned to new favorite reads.  So many people mentioned a book set in 1950’s London - a spy mystery of sorts with an array of fascinating characters. Any thoughts?

MiniMart Maven

Dear MiniMart Maven, Kate Atkinson is one of my all-time favorite authors and her latest novel “Our Noble Selves” does not disappoint. The story opens in 1949 as Harry Flynn begins a new job at the Festival of Britain, a government sponsored endeavor meant to rally its citizenry after the brutal war years and numbing austerity of the post-war Britain. 

Resembling a world’s fair, it would highlight new inventions, cooking contests, literary accomplishments - all things to rally a demoralized country. Harry and his fellow teammates are a battered, eccentric bunch that we quickly grow to love so we are totally caught off guard when one of the characters disappears and foul play is suspected. 

Harry was the last to see Delphine Dubois - the missing woman - so he quickly becomes the central suspect.  As he tries to clear himself, he realizes there is much more to the Festival of Britain than first thought and we find ourselves amid an intricate spy novel.   

References to Barbara Pym and Alfred Hitchcock enrich this already deeply satisfying tale.  Highly recommended.

Would you like to ask the Great Book Guru for a book suggestion? Contact her at annmdipietro@gmail.com.