Ha'penny (Small Change)

By Jo Walton

Book Overview

In 1949, eight years after the "Peace with Honor" was negotiated between Great Britain and Nazi Germany by the Farthing Set, England has completed its slide into fascist dicatorship. Then a bomb explodes in a London suburb. The brilliant but politically compromised Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is assigned the case. What he finds leads him to a conspiracy of peers and communists, of staunch King-and- Country patriots and hardened IRA gunmen, to murder Britain's Prime Minister and his new ally, Adolf Hitler. Against a background of increasing domestic espionage and the suppression of Jews and homosexuals, an ad-hoc band of idealists and conservatives blackmail the one person they need to complete their plot, an actress who lives for her art and holds the key to the Fuhrer's death. From the ha'penny seats in the theatre to the ha'pennies that cover dead men's eyes, the conspiracy and the investigation swirl around one another, spinning beyond anyone's control. In this brilliant companion to Farthing, Welsh-born World Fantasy Award winner Jo Walton continues her alternate history of an England that could have been, with a novel that is both an homage of the classic detective novels of the thirties and forties, and an allegory of the world we live in today.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765318539
• ISBN13: 9780765318534
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.1" x 1.2" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

suspense and moral ambiguity

Apolitical acress Viola Lark is reluctantly drawn in to a plot to assassinate Hitler. She becomes even more reluctant to get involved when she finds out who else is likely to be affected. Inspector Carmichael is upholding the law for a government he dislikes while investigating an explosion that killed a different actress. Both are sympathetic characters trying to do the right thing in morally ambiguous situations. Since this is an alternate history and anything could happen, Walton keeps the suspense high right until the end.

Thought-Provoking Alt-History!

Great alternate history and a gripping thriller. The two protagonists (a rebel aristocrat-turned-actress--with a gaggle of eccentric, high-profile sisters obviously inspired by the real-life Mitford women--and a police inspector with 'county' roots and a few secrets of his own) are well characterized throughout. I hope Walton has more of this series to come!

Challenging and chilling alternate history.

I read a lot of junk; I'll admit it. But every once and awhile, I have to read something that causes me to think. Ha'penny fits this category. A sequel to Farthing, this alternate history continues that fine book's exploration of what may have happened if the U.S. did NOT help Great Britain during WWII. Profoundly chilling, beautifully written--and challenging, Ha'Penny is a subtle and personal exploration of how individuals in postwar London are affecting by the wave of facism which has reached Britain's shore. Each successive tide strengthens the power of the wave, yet lessens the resistance. British citizens start to accept the unacceptable. The plot is complex; I won't reveal it here. But the resistance features a pitiable, almost laughable combination of military patriots, peers, terrorists and theatre types who try to assassinate the fascist leaders of England and Germany with inept plots, and amateur explosives. Fascinating. One of the things that amazed me is that I kept rooting for the "wrong" side! Like the protagonist, I did not know which side were the "good" guys. The Scotland Yard Inspector who becomes the "hero" realizes that he may have done more harm than good. I can not wait for the next installment of this literary jewel of a series, which combines alternate history, real history, mystery and social commentary.

A truly frightening thriller

Jo Walton's latest alternative history novel (the middle volume in a trilogy that will be completed next year) continues in the world of *Farthing* (and is set shortly after that novel). Where the first novel was, at its core, a country-house murder mystery, *Ha'penny* is a thriller, with its motivating engine being a race between Inspector Carmichael (who featured in *Farthing* as well) and anti-fascist plotters. The novel alternates between two viewpoint characters, Carmichael and Viola Lark (née Larkin) an actress and daughter of an aristocratic family modelled on, but not identical to, the Mitfords. This novel gripped me from the moment I started reading. Walton knows how to spin a story, and she manages, with a few deft touches, to give us a real sense of what this alternative world is like. I'm looking forward to the final volume, *Half a Crown*. I just wish I didn't have to wait a year.

terrific alternate historical police procedural

In 1941 the Farthing Group negotiated a peace deal with Hitler that gave the Nazis the continent and made Great Britain his ally. Now eight years later, the once proud English democracy is gone replaced by a repressive regime that persecutes minorities and dissidents through violent police state tactics. However an angry underground insurgency has caused problems for the government; culminating with a bomb exploding on the streets of London. Scotland Yard Inspector Carmichael, whose investigation into the murder of the Farthing group leader Sir James Thirkie has alienated him with the brass and the politicians, is assigned the lead because he is expendable. Pressure mounts once again for him to fix blame on some scapegoat person preferably a homosexual or a group like the Jews rather than find the truth. However as he did in the FARTHING affaire, he keeps digging. What he finds makes no sense as a vast conspiracy consisting of members of the NRA, the House of Lords, the Communist Party, and a number of other activist groups plot to assassinate the Prime Minister and Hitler with hopes of causing a revolution. Whereas FARTHING is a terrific alternate historical police procedural, HA'PENNY is more of a fabulous alternate historical suspense thriller. Walton's world is based on the premises that the British hierarchy "exiled" Churchill and avoided war with Hitler by appeasing the Nazis. Once again the conspiracy is over the top, but the investigation is clever as loner Carmichael struggles with the directions the clues take him even as his supervisors question his loyalty. These two tales are must reading for the Harry Turtledove fans who will appreciate another well written 1940s spin. Harriet Klausner