And I loved all the other characters as well (the ones during 1940, I need to be explicit about that), they were so fantastic as well. Now, don’t get me wrong, our main character, Juliet (also Iris Carter-Jenkins) is wonderful– she’s sharp, witty, clever, fabulously sarcastic with her wit, inner dialogue and comments. I was just getting very worried this was going to be a let-down like so many of my other hotly anticipated books this year. I took heart in seeing that A God in Ruins gained its momentum towards the end, per Elizabeth, so I remained patient with Transcription. But, as Elizabeth describes in her Goodreads review for A God in Ruins, this too was feeling more like a 3-star read rather than a swooning 4-or-5-star one. Transcription was, of course, a Highly Anticipated new novel from our beloved Kate Atkinson. I went back to Elizabeth’s review for A God in Ruins (one I still have not read!), or rather it was her Goodreads review I read where it perfectly summed up the similar feelings I was having towards Transcription. Her reassurances were that it takes a while to build enthusiasm with an Atkinson – nothing has been (and possibly will never be) like the instantaneous love we both felt for Life After Life. There were many exchanges with Elizabeth where I suggested I really wasn’t feeling all that enamoured with it. Like all of Kate Atkinson’s novels, it brought with it much discussion amongst the Hoarders. The novel is also a bit of a girls own adventure.I just finished Transcription last night. She didn’t feel she had the fortitude for all those Tudors, they were so relentlessly busy – all that bedding and beheading. I loved how Atkinson used Juliet’s inner commentary and it’s contrast to what she reveals outwardly to create tension and comedy. Transcription is a gripping spy story with a skillfully constructed narrative with emotional complexity book-ended by humour. People always said they wanted the truth, but really they were perfectly content with a facsimile.

Nothing is exactly as it seems in this slightly camp spy story that moves between 1961, 19, a device that contributes to the sense of obfuscation, along with the invisible ink and hidden cameras and microphones. Transcription is about the lies and inventions that can shape people’s lives and the consequences of those choices catching up with us. Women and the Jews tend to be first in line, unfortunately. The blame generally has to fall somewhere, Miss Armstrong. She applies to join the Women’s Armed Forces, but is summoned to a job in the secretarial pool of M.I.5 from where she gets selected to work on a special surveillance operation. Schoolgirl, Juliet Armstrong is orphaned just before the outbreak of the second world war.

Choice, it seemed, was one of the first casualties of war.

Kate atkinson transcription review