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In his masterpiece Brazzaville Beach, William Boyd combined erudition (parallel narratives about chimpanzees and pure mathematics) with a page-turning story, and told it effortlessly from the point of view of a woman. Moreover, he brought academic research into chimpanzees' taste for cannibalism to the attention of the lay reader long before it became a commonplace of nature documentaries.
He's turned a similar trick in his new novel, Restless (Bloomsbury, £17.99). It's based upon his research into the activities of the British secret service in America prior to Roosevelt's decision to declare war on Germany in late 1941. It's told from the point of view of two female narrators. And, again, Boyd has mined the seam before it has been exhausted by the armies of journalists, academics, and populist historians.
The heroine, Eva Delectorskaya, is a Russian-born ingenue who has been recruited to the British Security Coordination, a branch of the secret service putting out propaganda in America to persuade its
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tim auld applauds an intriguing blend of research and plot
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reluctant people and politicians to join the war. Interleaved with her narrative is the story of her daughter, Ruth, a hippy-ish single mother in Oxford, coming to terms with her mother's momentous past as it is revealed to her in the broiling summer of 1976.
By alternating between 1941 and 1976, Boyd creates enough mini-cliff hangers to keep things ticking along. But the factual basis of his tale eventually pulls the novel out of shape, and by the end it's clear that Ruth is simply a device to allow him to tell Eva's story. It's a shame because Ruth is rather intriguing, and Boyd sells her somewhat short. But he's still to be applauded for daring to write fiction that not only enthrals but also informs. 
FIRST POSTED AUGUST 24, 2006
 Last week: John Betjeman
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