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A review by komet2020
The Intrigues of Jennie Lee by Alex Rosenberg
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
The Intrigues of Jennie Lee is a historical novel loosely based on the experiences of one of the first women members of Parliament in Britain, mainly spanning the years 1929 to 1935.
The novel itself is true to events as they transpired during Lee's first 2 years in Parliament. But then the author bends the historical arc somewhat so that an in-house coup takes place in Parliament in August 1931, which leads to the readmittance into the ruling Labour Party of an ambitious, charismatic politician, who, once selected Party Leader, displaces the previous Labour Prime Minister, and steers Britain toward fascism.
On the whole, I was impressed with the way the author brought to life many of the real historical figures, as well as Jennie Lee herself, a committed socialist at heart, and someone determined to have a life largely on her own terms. And this at a time when women were expected to lead largely circumscribed lives subordinate to men. The only glaring fault I found in the novel was in the author's identification of MI-6 as a government agency charged with conducting intelligence and surveillance within Britain. He treats MI-6 and SIS (i.e. the Secret Intelligence Service) as two separate and distinct government agencies when they are actually one and the same. Hence, the 3.5 stars. (It is MI-5 that is responsible for conducting intelligence and surveillance within Britain, much like the FBI here in the U.S. MI-6, on the other hand, is charged with carrying out intelligence and espionage outside of Britain, the British equivalent of the CIA.)
The novel itself is true to events as they transpired during Lee's first 2 years in Parliament. But then the author bends the historical arc somewhat so that an in-house coup takes place in Parliament in August 1931, which leads to the readmittance into the ruling Labour Party of an ambitious, charismatic politician, who, once selected Party Leader, displaces the previous Labour Prime Minister, and steers Britain toward fascism.
On the whole, I was impressed with the way the author brought to life many of the real historical figures, as well as Jennie Lee herself, a committed socialist at heart, and someone determined to have a life largely on her own terms. And this at a time when women were expected to lead largely circumscribed lives subordinate to men. The only glaring fault I found in the novel was in the author's identification of MI-6 as a government agency charged with conducting intelligence and surveillance within Britain. He treats MI-6 and SIS (i.e. the Secret Intelligence Service) as two separate and distinct government agencies when they are actually one and the same. Hence, the 3.5 stars. (It is MI-5 that is responsible for conducting intelligence and surveillance within Britain, much like the FBI here in the U.S. MI-6, on the other hand, is charged with carrying out intelligence and espionage outside of Britain, the British equivalent of the CIA.)