Transcription was my book club’s choice for this month and after reading this, I thought about leaving the club for good. This has been one of the worst books I’ve read in the last months. I was excited to read Kate Atkinson cause I didn’t read her before. I never thought it would turn into such a big disappointment.
Transcription tells the story of Juliet, a young woman who worked as a spy in the Second World War. In 1940, at the age of 18, Juliet reluctantly starts to work for MI5. Her job is to monitor British fascist sympathizers. In the meantime, she learns a lot and sees how bad people are. Ten years later, Juliet gets a job at the BBC. Now the war is over and the life in England continues in full swing. Then one day Juliet is forced to face the people of her past. What she has done in the past has come to haunt her. There comes another kind of war.
When you look at the subject, the book sounds like an exciting novel. But the characters are so two-dimensional and the narration is so average that I am officially sorry for the time I spent on the book. If you admire the author and you want to read everything about the Second World War, I say read it. Otherwise, just read something else.
About the book: Transcription
‘An unapologetic novel of ideas which is also wise, funny and paced like a thriller’ –Observer
The magnificent new novel by bestselling award-winning Kate Atkinson
In 1940,
Ten years later, now a producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, on a different battleground, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat. A bill of reckoning is due, and she finally begins to realize that there is no action without consequence.
Transcription is a work of rare depth and texture, a bravura modern novel of extraordinary power, wit and empathy. It is a triumphant work of fiction from one of this country’s most exceptional writers.
‘How vehemently most novelists will wish to produce a masterpiece as good’ –Telegraph
About the author: Kate Atkinson
Kate Atkinson, MBE is an English writer of novels, plays and short stories. She is known for creating the Jackson Brodie series of detective novels, which has been adapted into the BBC series Case Histories.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
