Restless - William Boyd

In offering a review of a novel by William Boyd I could certainly be accused of bias. I would proudly plead guilty, since I regard him as one of just four or five British writers who are capable of constructing supreme works of fiction, written in a framework that is both informative and thought-provoking and all this set within a continuum of contemporary or historical events which themselves become re-interpreted by the fiction. In Restless, Boyd’s latest novel, he has re-stated this ability and, if anything, written it larger via a smaller form. The historical element in Restless is supplied by the activities of an offshoot of World War Two intelligence. ...  Read the complete review

This is another book from the Richard and Judy Book Club 2007. I read this book while I was on holiday; it is the third book that I have read from the Richard and Judy selection and the first I have read by William Boyd. ~ The Author ~ William Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana, on 7 March 1952. He has written many novels and won many awards. His other work includes, ‘An Ice-Cream War’, ‘A Good Man in Africa’ and ‘Brazzaville Beach’. Restless is his latest novel, published in 2006. ~ The Book ~ This novel is about a female spy in World War II. Eva Delectorskaya was recruited for the British Secret Service by an Englishman named ...  Read the complete review

picked up this book because I was drawn to it by the blurb on the back, and was not disappointed by this part of the story. I was, however, disappointed by the fact that episodes were alternated with incidents in the life of Eva's daughter. I can see why this was done - so that the reader could discover things at the same time as the daugher - but I found it annoying. I also felt patronised by the way chapter headings denote which time-frame is being described. Having said that, I did like the book. I am not a fan of twentieth century history, and was surprised how interesting I found it. The parts set in 1976 didn't tell the reader anything at all about that ...  Read the complete review

Ruth Gilmartin is a single mother, working on her Masters thesis and teaching English as a Second Language in Oxford. Her mother, Sally, has decided to write down the story of her experiences during WW2 and give them to Ruth. This is when Ruth discovers that the woman she grew up with was actually Eva Delectorskaya - a Russian who moved to Paris and was recruited to be a spy for England in 1939 after her brother was found dead. The problem is, Eva is certain that her story didn't end there, and now she feels its time for her last job. But without her daughter Ruth's help, her mission can't be accomplished. This is the story of William Boyd's novel ...  Read the complete review

In ‘Brazzaville Beach’ (1990) Boyd wrote a 1st-person narrative from a woman’s point of view, & the novel won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In ‘Restless’, his 9th & most recent novel, he employs a parallel narrative structure, & writes from 2 women’s viewpoints. The book opens with Ruth Gilmartin, a single ESL teacher who lives in Oxford with her young son, visiting her retired widowed mother, Sally Gilmartin, during the long hot summer of 1976 (‘that summer when England reeled, gasping for breath, pole-axed by the unending heat’). Her mother lives in rural Oxfordshire & is acting strangely, nervously scanning the dense woods behind her ...  Read the complete review