Flight Without End by Joseph Roth

This book, for which I have kindly been sent a copy in return for an honest review (many thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin Press Classics), is a re-issue of a novel first published in 1927. It follows the story of Franz Tunda, an Austrian Jew who finds himself in Siberia after the end of the Great War and gradually works his way back to a society which believes him lost. 

Tunda’s travels (and his frequent sexual relationships) take him through revolutionary Russia, into Baku, back to Vienna, then to an unnamed university town on the Rhine and finally to Paris, where he at last encounters his long-lost fiancée. Readers used to a more modern novel might find the structure a little lacking and occasionally confusing (the narration switches between an abstract third person, Tunda’s diary, and a friend) but I didn’t find this off-putting.

I’ve always been fascinated by Europe between the wars, not just in terms of its political history, which can be complicated as well as dark, but with its society. This novel, written during the period, is overwhelmingly realistic and, though without the knowledge of the horrors was to come (like the author, the protagonist is Jewish). still contains hints at the darker forces that were stirring. As Tunda moved between spheres and adapts to them, always looking back with what feels like a curious detachment on the life he had, and the man he was, before, I was left with an overwhelming impression of the transience and brittleness of post-war European society.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I both enjoyed and feel enlightened by this bittersweet novel. 

 

Book Review: The English Wife by Anna Stuart

 

The English Wife tells the stories of two women during the Second World War. One of them, Clementine Churchill, was very much real and, as the wife of the Prime Minister Winston Churchill, unavoidably at the heart of what went on. The other, Jenny Miller, is an American broadcaster and is not real, though the authors’ note tells us that she was inspired by a real person (Janet Murrow, wife of the US broadcaster Ed Murrow). 

As far as my grasp of history tells me, it’s a faithful retelling of a critical and fascinating period in world history, and I really enjoyed seeing a well-known narrative told from a different point of view, showing us how Clementine’s sense of duty, sense of self-worth and love for her husband didn’t always overlap. 

I admit that I was particularly touched by the story and, as I read, it rang bells with me. My mother used to tell tell how, as a little girl living in South Wales during the War, she raised money for Clementine’s Aid For Russia fund, and received a letter from Mrs Churchill in response. 

I think there can often be problems in telling a true and widely-known story, and its always easier (I think) to tell them through the eyes of a fictional character, rather than a real one whose deeds are known, whose letters and diaries are public and so on, which means the truth can be a bit of a straitjacket for an author. Because of this, Jenny’s life story felt a little more real to me than Clementine’s and I would have liked to have read more about her and seen Anna Stuart’s imagination take wing. 

That said, Stuart’s talent and Clementine’s life story combined to make this less of a problem than I had feared. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book, which I read in return for an honest review.