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Alternative History
What would have happened if the Nazis had been successful in invading Britain in 1940? It doesn't bear thinking about but Michael Cronin has tried to imagine it and the result is this exciting story.
Against the Day is set in the village of Shevington which is in the Southern Area Command, during the Nazi occupation. The people of the village have to make their own adjustments to the Nazi occupation.
First of all there are the two representatives of the extreme opposing viewpoints. Betty Firth is the Warden. A collaborator. She carries out the commands of the Germans who are now using Shevington Hall as their headquarters. The local headmaster, Mr Underwood, behaves in completely the opposite way. Mr Underwood bravely speaks out against the Nazis regardless of the consequences. The rest of the villagers occupy positions somewhere between these two. During the course of the story we see their positions and views changing and even realise that we were wrong about some them in the first place.
There is Rose who works up at Shevington Hall. She is fascinated by the splendour of the old house but her grandmother thinks she should not be working for the Germans. Is Rose beginning to accept the Germans? There is her brother Colin whose main interest is the Scouts - Scouts who now have two Nazi roundels stitched on the collars of their shirts. There is Les, the runaway who is just intent on "keeping his head down." Although they do not put it like that many of the other villagers are actually doing the same. Then there is Frank who believes that people should do something to pay the Nazis back. But what? He does not know.
But perhaps people are already trying to do something. Why does Nan, Frank's grandmother, still ride around the countryside on her bicycle? And why is she so upset when she hurts her ankle and has to stay indoors. And why is the gamekeeper Alex Thrale always so concerned about his precious apples? His russets which have such a special flavour. Even so it seems an awful fuss to make about a few apples. And when the school inspector comes why does he allow such an ineffectual, incompetent teacher as Peter Sims to remain in office?
Frank believes his father is dead then he hears some news which makes him believe his father is still alive. He takes the bus into Seabourne to try and trace his father. Les comes with him. While in Seabourne they run into Peter Sims - and find themselves involved in the incipient resistance movement.
The story races on to the climax and Hitler's birthday. A great celebration has been arranged. The villagers are all to gather on the village green where Hitler's speech will be relayed on loud speakers. Then the scouts are to be responsible for the flag ceremony. Colin is to play a major part in this. After this the school choir will sing a song which has been specially composed for the Day. Only after this is all over will the villagers be able to enjoy the refreshments which have been laid out. Up at Shevington Hall there is a gathering of important German generals and officials.
Despite everything the villagers manage to turn Hitler's birthday into a kind of a celebration - although not exactly the celebration the Germans meant. Colin, in particular, has a surprise for us. We also find out that there is no danger of Rose turning into a collaborator.
It is during the preparations for the Day that Warden Betty Firth starts to rethink her own position. Before the Day she is given instructions to make sure that all the villagers know that anyone aiding or concealing those concerned with acts of resistance will be punished by death without trial. Death without trial? But that is illegal. Later when she is talking to the local SS officer she remembers that he had been responsible for the Middlebury reprisals. (Earlier a grenade had been thrown at a German lorry and some Germans killed. Reprisals had been swift to follow. Four hostages had been seized at random and later shot). Now Betty Firth realises she is talking to a murderer. There is hope yet even for Betty Firth.
But all the time Frank has been hoping for something more. He is sure the resistance have been planning a bomb attack. Is it going to happen or has the attempt failed?
Frank has to wait until the night to find out.
Against The Day is about the first year of a possible occupation of Britain by the Nazis. Because it is the only the first year the true horror of the Nazi occupation is not brought out. But there are hints in the book of what is to follow in the way of reprisals.
A well told, exciting story which makes us thank our lucky stars for our narrow escape from a Nazi invasion.
A different way of looking at the Second World War.
12+
This is a sequel to Against the Day,
Michael Cronin's story of what things might have been like if
the Nazis had succeeded in invading Britain.
Against the Day ends on a note of hope with the British
partisans beginning to fight back. Through the Night is
set two years later and, because of the German reprisals, the
people are dispirited and demoralised. But the partisans are regrouping.
Frank still wants to fight the Germans but he has other things
to think about. He wants to try and find his father. His friend
Les also has family problems when he finds out that his sister
has been meeting a young German. And the young, academic schoolmaster
who is only interested in the remains of a local Roman villa,
finds himself drawn into the struggle. There is hope for the future.
News filters through to the partisans about the German defeat
at Stalingrad.
This book is very readable but I felt that it lacked some of the
mystery and tension of Against the Day. Even so it is still
an exciting read.
There are some loose ends at the end and there is probably a third
book yet to come. Something to look forward to.
Teenage
This is the last book in Michael Cronin’s trilogy.
After being separated working for the Resistance in different parts of the country Frank and Les are unexpectedly reunited. But this reunion does not last long. Frank is injured in an explosion. Believing him dead Les manages to escape.
But Frank is not dead. He is later found by a young girl who takes him to her home and hides him. She belongs to the Carey family -- a wealthy family of collaborators. Meanwhile Les finds a Resistance group and continues to work with them.
The two strands of the story are told in alternate chapters. The War is coming to an end. Germany is caught between the Americans advancing from the west and the Russians from the east. The young girl fails to hide Frank for long and he is discovered by the rest of the family. They are preparing to flee the country and are determined not to let Frank escape and reveal their plans to the Resistance. Les has quite different problems. He has difficulty accepting the necessary discipline of his group.
The story races towards an exciting climax with a confrontation between the partisans and a traitor in the grounds of the Carey’s mansion.
After this all the loose ends are neatly tied up and the reader finds out what happened to all the characters in the first book. Then there is the death of Hitler and a description of the victory celebrations.
An interesting what if series showing what might have happened if Hitler had succeeded in invading Britain.
Young adult
This book was first published in 1962. It is the first in the James III series. This whole series has just been reprinted and there is a new book added to it - Limbo Lodge.
The series belongs to the sub genre of alternative history. A note at the beginning of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase explains that the book is set in a period of English history which never happened - shortly after the accession of James III to the throne in 1832. Wolves have made their way from Russia across Europe to France and from there they have crossed to England by means of the Channel Tunnel which has just been completed.
This is the background for an adventure story involving two children, Bonnie Green and her cousin Sylvia. Bonnie lives a very comfortable life in Willoughby Chase, a large house in the north of England. Her cousin Sylvia comes to join her from London. All would have been well, but Sir Willoughby is about to take his wife on a sea voyage for her health. The ship is reported sunk and the governess left in charge destroys his will, takes over the house and banishes the two girls to a cruel boarding school. But they escape and set out to London to try to make known the crimes of the governess.
There is a detailed description of Sylvia's journey from London to Willoughby Chase, which I worked out to be somewhere in north west Yorkshire. The train proceeds at fifteen miles a hour through snowy landscapes. It is bitterly cold in the train which has sometimes to stop because of wolves on the line. Sylvia arrives at a small forest station where a carriage sent by Sir Willoughby is waiting for her. On the journey to Willoughby Chase James, the footman, has to fire his musket at packs of wolves.
Apart from the deep snow and the wolves this story has many of the stock features and characters of many Victorian novels. There is the large house with the secret passage. There are the faithful servants James and Pattern, the ailing wife lady Leticia, the poor but genteel Aunt Jane, the cruel governess Miss Slighcarp, the old lawyer Mr Gripe, and the headmistress of the female equivalent of Dotheboys Hall, Mrs Brisket. But there is also the highly original Simon who lives in a cave and rears geese and who helps Bonnie and Sylvia to escape.
The characters, like the landscape, are all either black or white. Sir Willoughby is all good while Miss Slighcarp is entirely bad without a single redeeming feature. Bonnie is a slight exception here. She is one of the good characters but she does have one fault - a quick temper, although she always has a good reason for losing it.
Joan Aiken manages to give vivid impressions of people and situations in very few words. Blastburn is a "dark and cobbled town" and when they come to the school Miss Slighcarp rings a bell whose echoes are heard far within "harsh and jangling" so the reader knows even before the door is opened that Bonnie and Sylvia have come to a dreadful place. The headmistress, Mrs Brisket, has "eyes as yellow as the stones in her rings, yellow as the eyes of a tiger."
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is an exciting and interesting Victorian adventure story with a few Dickensian touches. This brings a feeling of familiarity to a highly original idea.
I really enjoyed this book, but then I have always been something of a winter person. On the other hand, I also like wolves.
I look forward to reading the other books in this series.
10+
This book was first published in 1965. It is a sequel to The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and is the second in the James III series. The whole series has just been republished.
The story is set in the middle of the nineteenth century when good King James III is on the throne of England, which is still plagued by wolves. King James is an elderly Scottish gentleman who speaks with a broad Scots accent. He has a large black bird called Jeannie who sits perched on his wrist and who tastes his food for him so that he knows that it has not been poisoned. Jeannie can come up with the odd statement like,
"I winna say nay to a wee dram."
Although loved and respected by many King James has his enemies. There are those who would like to see the flighty Bonnie Prince Georgie of Hanover on the throne. This is the background to Black Hearts in Battersea.
At the end of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Dr Field tells the orphan Simon that if he comes to London he will be trained as an artist. Simon goes to the address which Dr Field has given him only to find that his friend has disappeared. Simon stays with the obnoxious Twite family and tries to solve the mystery. He also studies at the art college.
This is a fast moving adventure story involving a Hanoverian plot against the King and also a quite different plot to murder the Duke and Duchess of Battersea. There is a fire in their opera box and their barge nearly sinks. Simon finds a cache of guns in the Twite's cellar and is kidnapped and smuggled aboard a ship. There is a fire at sea and a shipwreck. Once again there is trouble from the wolves. But it all comes right in the end when there is a kind of fairy tale ending when Simon finds out who his parents really are.
The characters come alive -- especially Dido Twite, the eight year old daughter of the horrible Twites. At first Simon finds her a tiresome brat but later he comes to respect her for her courage and resilience.
I am still coming to terms with the idea of alternative history but Black Hearts in Battersea is an enjoyable read. It is good fun. I found it a pleasant relief after many of the grimmer books published today.
One last point. How many different uses can you think of for a large piece of embroidery? I shall give you one. To plug a hole in a hot air balloon.
10+
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