Transcription (novel)
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''Transcription'' is a spy novel by British novelist
Kate Atkinson Kate Atkinson may refer to: * Kate Atkinson (actress) (born 1972), Australian actress * Kate Atkinson (writer) Kate Atkinson (born 20 December 1951) is an English writer of novels, plays and short stories. She is known for creating the Jac ...
, published in September 2018.Patrick, Bethanne (2018)
Kate Atkinson’s WWII Spy Drama Is Fall’s Must Read Novel
''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', 20 September 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018. The novel focuses on the activities of British orphan Juliet Armstrong throughout
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and afterwards. She begins a career as a low-level transcriptionist for
MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Go ...
, before rising through the ranks. After the war she moves to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.


Summary

In 1950, Juliet Armstrong, a producer of children's programmes at the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, sees Godfrey Toby, a man she knew during WWII. When she approaches him he denies knowing her. The incident causes Juliet to reflect back to 1940 when she was a young 18-year-old woman who had recently been orphaned. Hired to work at
MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Go ...
, she is quickly scouted for an operation run by the elusive Perry Gibbons. Working out of two flats, the MI5 team reveal that they are spying on a group of low-level Nazi sympathisers who report to MI5 spy Godfrey Toby, believing he is a secret spy for the
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
. The walls are bugged with microphones and Juliet's job is to transcribe the audio recordings of their conversations. Juliet develops a crush on Perry, who seems to encourage speculation that they are having an affair but does not return her affections. Instead he recruits her to ingratiate herself to a woman named Mrs. Scaife, hoping that she will lead them to the Red Book, a rumoured ledger containing the names of influential Nazi sympathisers. Juliet is given the false name Iris Carter-Jenkins. She is also approached by Oliver Alleyne, Perry's boss, who asks her to spy on Godfrey. Juliet does so, but despite noticing Godfrey acting suspiciously does not report back to Oliver. While searching for the Red Book in Mrs. Scaife's house Juliet accidentally leaves behind her handbag, containing her real identity card, and asks Mrs. Scaife's maid, an orphan named Beatrice Dodd, to help cover for her. A few days later, Perry proposes to Juliet, who doesn't realise he is gay. The following morning Juliet is sought out by the police who believed she was dead as they found the body of a young woman with her identification papers. Juliet realises that the body is Beatrice Dodd and is frightened as the location her body was found in was one mentioned by Godfrey Toby's Nazi sympathisers. A few days later, Juliet takes part in a sting operation during which Mrs. Scaife is arrested. By 1950, Juliet is working at the BBC after the operation, and her relationship with Perry, quickly dissolved. However, she still has MI5 ties and allows her apartment to be used as a safe house for Soviet defectors. At work she receives an anonymous note telling her that she will never be able to pay for what she has done. Juliet grows paranoid, believing the note comes from one of Godrey's recruits. After Mrs. Scaife's arrest, Juliet and Godfrey were involved in killing Dolly, one of the low-level Nazi sympathisers, after she accidentally discovered their operation. However none of the other living members of the circle ever discovered what Juliet had done. On her way home from the BBC Juliet is attacked, but is relieved to find that her attacker is a former spy named Nelly Varga who was persuaded to work for MI5 after they kidnapped her dog, a dog Juliet was put in charge of who later died. Returning home Juliet finds a mysterious visitor waiting for her, a friend of Godfrey's, and realises she was being spied on for years by MI5 as she was a double agent for the Soviets, recruited at her MI5 interview. Godfrey's friend persuades her to betray her soviet handlers. Juliet realises she will never truly be free of either party. She tries to escape but is quickly caught by MI5 agents. However, Nelly Varga attacks her a second time, allowing her to escape, and Perry helps to smuggle her to
Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...
. Thirty years later, MI5 forcibly repatriates her to help flush out other Soviet spies, including Oliver Alleyne. In 1981, shortly after being repatriated, Juliet is hit by a car and dies.


Characters


Main characters

*Juliet Armstrong, an employee of MI5 and later the BBC, spy name is Iris Carter-Jenkins. *Godfrey Toby, alias of an MI5 agent posing as a British operative for the
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
, under whom Armstrong works. His real name is John Hazeldine. *Peregrine "Perry" Gibbons, Juliet's and Toby's superior at MI5.


Other characters

*Oliver Alleyne, Gibbons' superior at MI5. *Myles Merton, hired Armstrong to work with Toby and Perry


Inspiration

Atkinson said in an author's note that she was partly inspired by the story of
Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in ''King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes fo ...
, an MI5 officer who spent the Second World War masquerading as a Gestapo officer in London, running a group of British fascists who believed themselves to be German spies, in what was known as the Fifth Column operation.


Reception

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...
called ''Transcription'' "Fall's Must Read Novel". Lisa Allardyce, writing for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', viewed it as continuing "the puzzle-making of a mystery with the historical settings of her other fiction".Allardice, Lisa (2018)
Transcription by Kate Atkinson review – second world war spying hijinks
, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 7 September 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018. Stephanie Merritt, reviewing it for the same newspaper, called it "a fine example of Atkinson’s mature work; an unapologetic novel of ideas, which is also wise, funny and paced like a spy thriller". ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
''s Kate Webb called it "a contemporary version of a ripping good yarn".Webb, Kate (2018)
Kate Atkinson’s new novel Transcription asks us how carefully we are paying attention
, ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
'', 22 September 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018. Jonathan Dee, reviewing for ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', commented on Atkinson's "witty, functionally elegant style". Jennifer Egan, for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', highlighted Atkinson's "unexpected and inspired" use of comedy in the first half of the novel, but viewed Juliet as becoming "cipherlike" in the later stages.Egan, Jennifer (2018)
A Novel of World War II Espionage With an Unlikely Heroine
, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', 25 September 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Transcription 2018 British novels Novels by Kate Atkinson Novels set during World War II MI5 in fiction Doubleday (publisher) books