C J Carey_49
"The past had always been a minefield, but never more so than in 1953." Any suggestion that the past was better than the future is strictly outlawed in C J Carey's England in 1953; an England 13 years into the Alliance with the Third Reich, occupied in all but name. " Sentimentality is the enemy of progress. Memory is treacherous. The sentiments every half-diligent schoolchild knows by heart." Rose Ransom is a Geli—ASA Female Class 1 (a)—beautiful and privileged. Not a Leni (professional, dour), or a Klara (fertile mothers), a Paula (caring, teaching, nursing), a Magda or a Gretl (don't ask). Certainly not a Freida—a Freidhofefrauren ; a widow over 50 with no children, no reproductive purpose, who did not serve a man. Ah, you already know where revolution begins, don't you? This is a cracker of a book. Beautifully written, taut, moody, engrossing. Track it down.