Set during the 1951 Festival of Britain, this historical novel follows Harry Flynn, a war-scarred former journalist trying to rebuild his career and life after a brutal stint in the Far East. He is haunted after one of his dates goes missing, and he's deemed the last person to have seen her alive, forcing him to wonder if he's somehow responsible. Surrounded by untrustworthy colleagues on the ragtag team preparing the Festival, Flynn must untangle both a mystery and his own guilt. Atkinson uses the Festival's optimistic, forward-looking spectacle as a backdrop for a nation still quietly grappling with its wartime past. It's a witty, sharply plotted story about how countries — and people — reinvent their own histories.
Set during the 1951 Festival of Britain, this historical novel follows Harry Flynn, a war-scarred former journalist trying to rebuild his career and life after a brutal stint in the Far East. He is haunted after one of his dates goes missing, and he's deemed the last person to have seen her alive, forcing him to wonder if he's somehow responsible. Surrounded by untrustworthy colleagues on the ragtag team preparing the Festival, Flynn must untangle both a mystery and his own guilt. Atkinson uses the Festival's optimistic, forward-looking spectacle as a backdrop for a nation still quietly grappling with its wartime past. It's a witty, sharply plotted story about how countries — and people — reinvent their own histories.
Image 1 of 1