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Available
Description
A novel set before, during, and after World War II follows the loosely parallel lives of an Austrian cellist, Meret Voytek, whose orchestra becomes part of the Hitler Youth, and Hungarian physist Karel Szabo, who is recruited by the Americans to help build the atomic bomb.
User reviews
LibraryThing member GarySeverance
John Lawton’s seventh novel in the British Inspector Troy thriller series is an interesting story of the interaction of World War II, music, and the development of the first atomic bomb. The time spans the years from the 1930s to the period just after the war when London was still recovering and
In the novel, Jewish and expatriate musicians and physicists come together following their separate destinies in the reconstructing British city. The intrigue of Russian imperialism involves the use of these almost lost souls as spies. This inevitably leads to betrayal, murder, and suicide, legacies of survival of extermination camp internment.
The first half of A Lily of the Field develops these themes leaving the characters in limbo. Inspector Troy’s work becomes the focus of the novel. He is a systematic and persistent member of the old Scotland Yard who dominates the story when murder occurs in a crowded Metro station. He is a young stoical copper at this time of the thriller series dedicated to his police. This is unusual because his family is wealthy enough for him to go into any occupation and he is better educated than most of his colleagues.
The second half of the novel is a police procedural and an abrupt change of pace and scope from the first half. The mystery of the Metro murder unfolds and remains interesting to the end. Characters from the beginning chapters are involved in the descriptions of Troy’s police work providing a good structure for the novel.
My impression as a reader is that Lawton has exhausted some of his enthusiasm for Inspector Troy. The character seems sketchy and is brought to the reader in a patchwork from previous novels. Because of prior knowledge, fans of the series may enjoy the novel more than the first time reader of Inspector Troy’s adventures.
I recommend that the reader new to Lawton’s work read one of the earlier novels in the series before reading A Lily of the Field. The book is well-written and entertaining, and obviously Lawton is a very talented writer. There is a good deal of period British slang and allusions that may put off the reader who does not have a fuller context for Troy’s motives.
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rations were limited. In post war London, Jewish immigrants with artistic and scientific talants tried to make new lives after the unspeakable horrors of Nazi actions. In the novel, Jewish and expatriate musicians and physicists come together following their separate destinies in the reconstructing British city. The intrigue of Russian imperialism involves the use of these almost lost souls as spies. This inevitably leads to betrayal, murder, and suicide, legacies of survival of extermination camp internment.
The first half of A Lily of the Field develops these themes leaving the characters in limbo. Inspector Troy’s work becomes the focus of the novel. He is a systematic and persistent member of the old Scotland Yard who dominates the story when murder occurs in a crowded Metro station. He is a young stoical copper at this time of the thriller series dedicated to his police. This is unusual because his family is wealthy enough for him to go into any occupation and he is better educated than most of his colleagues.
The second half of the novel is a police procedural and an abrupt change of pace and scope from the first half. The mystery of the Metro murder unfolds and remains interesting to the end. Characters from the beginning chapters are involved in the descriptions of Troy’s police work providing a good structure for the novel.
My impression as a reader is that Lawton has exhausted some of his enthusiasm for Inspector Troy. The character seems sketchy and is brought to the reader in a patchwork from previous novels. Because of prior knowledge, fans of the series may enjoy the novel more than the first time reader of Inspector Troy’s adventures.
I recommend that the reader new to Lawton’s work read one of the earlier novels in the series before reading A Lily of the Field. The book is well-written and entertaining, and obviously Lawton is a very talented writer. There is a good deal of period British slang and allusions that may put off the reader who does not have a fuller context for Troy’s motives.
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LibraryThing member krbrancolini
Two Russian spies liviing in London in 1948 are talking. Viktor is telling Andre Slotnik that he "wants out" and Andre is telling Viktor that "the Communist Party of the Soviet Union simply doesn't work that way." This scene is so important that author John Lawton uses it twice in A Lily of the
This book covers familiar ground for those who read World War II and Holocaust fiction, but with an interesting new twist. On February 14, 1944 -- her twentieth birthday -- Viennese cellist Meret Voytek finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. She is arrested and sent to Auschwitz; her arrest is eerily similar to the way in which Sophie ends up deported to Auschwitz in Sophie's Choice, by William Styron. Meret survives by playing cello in a women's orchestra in the camp. She survives the war and ends up in London with her former teacher and famous musician Viktor Rosen. "Austerity" is a fast-paced police procedural, with espionage at the center of a murder in the London Underground.
I found the characters to be fascinating, both the continuing characters from other books in the series, such as Inspector Troy and his MP brother Rod; and the new characters, especially Meret Voytek and Viktor Rosen. I knew that Russian spies were recruited in Great Britain -- this is the subject of another book in the Troy series, Old Flames, set in the 1950s -- but I didn't know that they were also recruited from those fleeing Nazi Germany and other occupied countries. Lawton does an outstanding job of weaving historical background and fact into a page-turner of a murder mystery. A Lily of the Field is atmospheric and tightly plotted. I've read reviews that found some of the plot elements to be far-fetched, but I was able to suspend disbelief sufficiently. I also enjoyed the whole world of musicians and classical music. By the end, the loose ends were neatly tied up and I found the conclusion to be extremely satisfying.
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Field, as the Prologue to part 1, called "Audacity,: and again as the opening chapter of part 2,called "Austerity." "Audacity" spans 1934 to 1946, introducing characters who will either show up or influence events in post-war London, the scene of "Austerity." "Austerity" picks up in 1948, with everyone trying to find a new normal in a city where there is still rationing and widespread deprivation. This book covers familiar ground for those who read World War II and Holocaust fiction, but with an interesting new twist. On February 14, 1944 -- her twentieth birthday -- Viennese cellist Meret Voytek finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. She is arrested and sent to Auschwitz; her arrest is eerily similar to the way in which Sophie ends up deported to Auschwitz in Sophie's Choice, by William Styron. Meret survives by playing cello in a women's orchestra in the camp. She survives the war and ends up in London with her former teacher and famous musician Viktor Rosen. "Austerity" is a fast-paced police procedural, with espionage at the center of a murder in the London Underground.
I found the characters to be fascinating, both the continuing characters from other books in the series, such as Inspector Troy and his MP brother Rod; and the new characters, especially Meret Voytek and Viktor Rosen. I knew that Russian spies were recruited in Great Britain -- this is the subject of another book in the Troy series, Old Flames, set in the 1950s -- but I didn't know that they were also recruited from those fleeing Nazi Germany and other occupied countries. Lawton does an outstanding job of weaving historical background and fact into a page-turner of a murder mystery. A Lily of the Field is atmospheric and tightly plotted. I've read reviews that found some of the plot elements to be far-fetched, but I was able to suspend disbelief sufficiently. I also enjoyed the whole world of musicians and classical music. By the end, the loose ends were neatly tied up and I found the conclusion to be extremely satisfying.
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LibraryThing member smik
"Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin"
Matthew 6:28
I think perhaps my reading of this book suffered from the fact that the series this is part of is already well underway. I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as my friend and fellow blogger at CRIME
In the first half of the book Lawton introduces us to a rich cavalcade of characters all affected by the rise of the Third Reich and the advance of Hitler's troops into Poland and Austria. Some, Jews, Gentiles, Viennese, Poles, flee to England as early as 1935 ahead of the advance. Others are snatched off the streets and put onto trains taking them to Auschwitz.
Some meet again in England when they are rounded up into internment camps and then shipped off to Canada. Others meet in Auschwitz. Some survive because of their talents, others because they sell their souls to the devil, some because they do both.
And then the war ends and we are back in England and the crime fiction part of the novel begins with the murder on a tube station platform of one of the refugees and the subsequent involvement of Freddie Troy of Scotland Yard, his own family Russian refugees just thirty years before.
I think the richness of the information in the first half of the novel made it hard for the reader to decide what was important and what wasn't, what did I need to remember for later reference? Looking at the two halves of the novel, I think perhaps the author had a problem in deciding what he was writing: a historical fiction about the dreadful events of the Holocaust, or a murder mystery set in a Britain still under rationing and full of very confused,damaged, and often eccentric people.
But where I am torn is that this is a novel that makes you think, and, as readers of this blog will know, this is something that I value highly in my reading. A LILY OF THE FIELD presents scenarios that were new to me, and situations that I have not given much thought to before. The historical detail is rich and authentic. I think perhaps it was because there was so much detail that I had a problem in achieving focus and I found myself wondering in the first half of the novel when the crime fiction was going to kick in. It seemed that in the face of such inhumanity an "ordinary" murder would be very low key.
Freddie Troy is an interesting and quirky character who really operates by his own rules and his own sense of justice. He's a maverick in a world that is trying to establish order.
Matthew 6:28
I think perhaps my reading of this book suffered from the fact that the series this is part of is already well underway. I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as my friend and fellow blogger at CRIME
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SCRAPS REVIEW.In the first half of the book Lawton introduces us to a rich cavalcade of characters all affected by the rise of the Third Reich and the advance of Hitler's troops into Poland and Austria. Some, Jews, Gentiles, Viennese, Poles, flee to England as early as 1935 ahead of the advance. Others are snatched off the streets and put onto trains taking them to Auschwitz.
Some meet again in England when they are rounded up into internment camps and then shipped off to Canada. Others meet in Auschwitz. Some survive because of their talents, others because they sell their souls to the devil, some because they do both.
And then the war ends and we are back in England and the crime fiction part of the novel begins with the murder on a tube station platform of one of the refugees and the subsequent involvement of Freddie Troy of Scotland Yard, his own family Russian refugees just thirty years before.
I think the richness of the information in the first half of the novel made it hard for the reader to decide what was important and what wasn't, what did I need to remember for later reference? Looking at the two halves of the novel, I think perhaps the author had a problem in deciding what he was writing: a historical fiction about the dreadful events of the Holocaust, or a murder mystery set in a Britain still under rationing and full of very confused,damaged, and often eccentric people.
But where I am torn is that this is a novel that makes you think, and, as readers of this blog will know, this is something that I value highly in my reading. A LILY OF THE FIELD presents scenarios that were new to me, and situations that I have not given much thought to before. The historical detail is rich and authentic. I think perhaps it was because there was so much detail that I had a problem in achieving focus and I found myself wondering in the first half of the novel when the crime fiction was going to kick in. It seemed that in the face of such inhumanity an "ordinary" murder would be very low key.
Freddie Troy is an interesting and quirky character who really operates by his own rules and his own sense of justice. He's a maverick in a world that is trying to establish order.
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LibraryThing member cfk
A well written mystery linking Hitler's extermination policies, Russian spies and the atomic age.
LibraryThing member maneekuhi
The last (??) of 7 in Lawton's series about Troy, a Scotland Yard cop/chief from the late 1930's to the early 60's with a heavy emphasis on the war years. Two question marks because there may not be an 8th book (what more is there to add?) and the second question mark because other books in the
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series leapfrog the action here, most of which takes place in the 40's. There are two story lines - the first part dealing with characters who wind up on the wrong side of the barbed wire. A lot of Holocaust stuff here, more than just story background. I have read an awful lot about about the Holocaust, and this book doesn't add anything new (can there be anything "new"?, I don't know). The second half is good Troy stuff, a bit of crime fiction, history, social mores, spying, development of the Bomb, and a lot of examination about why some of the characters did what they did, and perhaps not enough reflection on some of Troy's actions, e.g., escorting a confessed murderer to the border and waving bye-bye. A good book but not up to the usual. And I think Lawton gave the answer to my question above in Ruby's note to Troy. Show Less
LibraryThing member jtck121166
A worthy member of the Troy canon, although perhaps not one to start with: much of Troy's backstory is taken as read, and indeed his shenanigans and foibles are less to the fore than usual.
The main interest of the novel, for me, lies in its clever interplay between fact and (historical) fiction, as
Lawton as usual exploits his skill in the use of wry irony, as characters and their circumstances now well known are revealed in the novel not through the unfolding of events, but through Troy's super-sensitive reading of the situation.
Another special pleasure is Lawton's undoubted mastery of writing about music.
Happily, if rather surprisingly for Troy fans, our hero manages to contain his sometimes egregious sexual urges in this one.
The main interest of the novel, for me, lies in its clever interplay between fact and (historical) fiction, as
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in A Little White Death (a reading of the Profumo affair). Here Troy finds himself investigating a murder and the events in its wake which have to do with Soviet spies in England in the early 1950s. Yes, of course: Guy Burgess does make a cameo appearance.Lawton as usual exploits his skill in the use of wry irony, as characters and their circumstances now well known are revealed in the novel not through the unfolding of events, but through Troy's super-sensitive reading of the situation.
Another special pleasure is Lawton's undoubted mastery of writing about music.
Happily, if rather surprisingly for Troy fans, our hero manages to contain his sometimes egregious sexual urges in this one.
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LibraryThing member johnwbeha
My first encounter with Frederick Troy and with his author, John Lawton. This is clearly a slightly odd series, the order I'm which the books have been written and published is different from their chronological order. Given that I like to read books in the latter and that this is not the first in
The story is fine, but the set up takes 150 pages with only a fleeting glimpse of the protagonist. The writing is interesting without ever become compelling. I enjoyed it in a fairly passive sort of way.
By the way, I struggle with the comparison to Le Carre.
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either order, I was a bit wary of the "spoiler" effect, but thankfully there is only one real giveaway about previous stories; so I should be able to read more if the opportunity arises, but I won't be actively seeking them out!The story is fine, but the set up takes 150 pages with only a fleeting glimpse of the protagonist. The writing is interesting without ever become compelling. I enjoyed it in a fairly passive sort of way.
By the way, I struggle with the comparison to Le Carre.
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LibraryThing member ecw0647
Finally finished this. The early scenes with the young Méret as she studies with Vicktor are often lyrical, helped perhaps by the numerous allusions to classical music. If you love the classics you will enjoy those references. It's 1934 through the beginning of the war in Austria at the start. The
But I thought the book dragged once they all got to England and I just didn't find it as interesting nor comprehensible.
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Nazis have begun to show their true colors and some Jews who had already fled Germany were now trying to get to England. I love the way Lawton describes the English naïveté: "Think of them as children. Think of Europe as the drawing room and England as the kindergarten of Europe. They are innocents. They actually boast of not having been invaded since 1066. When in fact all that means is that they have lived outside the mainstream of Europe. They are innocents.. . .Good God, why London? Why not Paris or Amsterdam? What does London have to offer? The madman Thomas Beecham. Beecham waving his baton in the pouring rain for a nation of philistines in wet wool and false teeth!”But I thought the book dragged once they all got to England and I just didn't find it as interesting nor comprehensible.
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LibraryThing member jtck121166
A worthy member of the Troy canon, although perhaps not one to start with: much of Troy's backstory is taken as read, and indeed his shenanigans and foibles are less to the fore than usual.
The main interest of the novel, for me, lies in its clever interplay between fact and (historical) fiction, as
Lawton as usual exploits his skill in the use of wry irony, as characters and their circumstances now well known are revealed in the novel not through the unfolding of events, but through Troy's super-sensitive reading of the situation.
Another special pleasure is Lawton's undoubted mastery of writing about music.
Happily, if rather surprisingly for Troy fans, our hero manages to contain his sometimes egregious sexual urges in this one.
The main interest of the novel, for me, lies in its clever interplay between fact and (historical) fiction, as
Show More
in A Little White Death (a reading of the Profumo affair). Here Troy finds himself investigating a murder and the events in its wake which have to do with Soviet spies in England in the early 1950s. Yes, of course: Guy Burgess does make a cameo appearance.Lawton as usual exploits his skill in the use of wry irony, as characters and their circumstances now well known are revealed in the novel not through the unfolding of events, but through Troy's super-sensitive reading of the situation.
Another special pleasure is Lawton's undoubted mastery of writing about music.
Happily, if rather surprisingly for Troy fans, our hero manages to contain his sometimes egregious sexual urges in this one.
Show Less