Spies

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One day, while Stephen is in the lookout, Keith's mother attempts to approach him, possibly to request his assistance in delivering a letter. However, she stops when she notices Stephen with Barbara. This phrase seemed to resonate with me and summarise the feelings aroused when revisiting the past. This is such a sensuous book that at times, while never trying to be poetic or melodic, it comes near to painting or music. (...) The distinction of this novel is in evocation of lost landscape.(...) As always, Frayn has made a usual subject entirely his own." - Jane Gardam, The Spectator Stephen Wheatley ... Or just plain Stephen ... On his school reports S.J.Wheatley, in the classroom or the playground just plain Wheatley.

The action is narrated by an old man revisiting the scene and remembering his childhood adventures in suburban England during the Second World War. The story is narrated from the childhood Stephen's perspective, with occasional interludes in which the older man reflects on the story, the nature of childhood memories and what he did and didn't know when. The Spies is about the power of a young boy’s imagination, the trouble it can cause or enlightenment it can offer. There are mystery and suspense in this book and more than a few stunning plot twists. That Frayn is also the author of the play Noises Off, one of the funniest British comedies of all time, amazes me. T)he framework does mar the ending of the book, when the wrapping-up of Stephen's intervening years is psychologically perfunctory. But all the rest of Spies actually improves upon re-reading, which is the true test of depth. It is cerebral and sensuous; extremely funny and yet deeply serious about the peculiar mixture of curiosity and profound incuriousness that characterises children -- and, Frayn suggests, adults too." - Caroline Moore, Sunday Telegraph Well, the time is World War II, and Stephen and his friend Keith become convinced that Keith's mother is a German spy. Spies draws much of its force from the narrative's subtly inverted echoes of other novels." - Jonathan Keates, Times Literary Supplement

It is equal parts compelling war story, painful love story and unraveling mystery." - Robert Allen Papinchak, USA Today Distressed by the realization that others have discovered his hideout, Stephen spends more time inside with Barbara. They develop another theory regarding the mysterious man, speculating that he is a wounded German soldier being cared for by Keith's mother. Following the incident, Keith no longer plays with Stephen, but he remains in the hideout, spying on Keith's mother and contemplating the evidence suggesting she is a spy. One day, Stephen visits Keith's house and notices the changes in Keith's father's behavior, witnessing him beating Keith and acting strangely when discussing his wife. Keith is beaten for losing a thermos, and Stephen knows it was Keith's mother who took it. Stephen finds Keith's mother in the tunnel and hurriedly informs her about Keith's mistreatment. An interesting point of the novel was the presentation of the characters and then how Stephen perceived them after the reader had already come to their own conclusions. For instance, the reader develops a distinct dislike for the men of the Hayward men right from the start, but it takes Stephen really up until the bayonet incident to truly recognise how better off he is without having them as a blood relation.

Mrs. Hayward – A mysterious character, implied as being very attractive. She vanishes for various amounts of time throughout the day for no apparent reason, leading her son to believe that she may be an undercover operative. She has a distant relationship with her husband and seems vaguely scared of him. It is an odd, original, haunting little tale in which the teller is the really interesting thing. (...) But the book's real merit lies in the way Stephen comes to understand the truth behind the mysteries of his world by beginning to understand something about the difference between men and women. This is achieved entirely without crudity. (...) (A) modest but memorable book." - Robert Nye, The Times Keith and Stephen grow up in Britain during WW II. When the two kids play a game of imagination that works on the premise that Keith’s mother is a German spy, the boys start following her around, but what they find out is certainly not what they expected and the consequences of their game get out of control. Barbara joins Stephen in the hideout, and they are discovered by Stephen's father, who instructs Stephen to take the basket with him. Stephen's parents take the basket, leaving Stephen feeling guilty, worried that the man will go hungry.One of those readers who recognised some lost social world of his own childhood wondered whether the A-level readers of today could understand that this world had once existed. Did the author worry about reaching out to younger readers? No: the materials from his past seemed powerful enough to him without worrying about whether others would find them so. One member of the audience who had been "teaching the novel for four years" for A-level had an intriguing disagreement about it with the author. "The protagonist is so silent through the novel … 'I say nothing, I say nothing', over and over again.""It hadn't occurred to me that he was silent," Frayn replied, though he conceded that there might be something in it when the reader produced chapter and verse. The plot is brilliant; no question about it. I couldn't put this book down, and those of you who know my distractible self will know that this says a LOT. I put down *everything.* I'd put down my own head if I could, I'm so bored with it. There was much discussion of the novel's form and characterisation. One reader wondered how much Frayn might have learned from his work for the stage. The author spoke of the sharp differences between the two forms, and the wholly different ways in which we come to know the thoughts of characters in plays and in novels. The essence of Spies, he thought, was undramatic: getting to know what Stephen thinks he is seeing, and knowing as readers that reality must be something different.

The idea of a pair of children acting as amateur sleuths in a mystery that is far over their heads reminded me a bit of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, though this was far more literary and memorable for me. It's also much more suspenseful, as the game of Spies gradually shifts from a charming, childish fantasy to something dangerous. The street in this quiet English town is full of secrets, and nothing is as it seems. The whistle of a father working in the garden has never been so sinister. Due to the stark contrast between the Haywards and other families, socioeconomic difference provides the only way that Stephen can compare his family to Keith’s. As such, Stephen regards everything that is associated with himself and his family as “wrong,” while everything that the Haywards possess and do is “right.” For example, Keith appropriately cycles to his “right local preparatory school” every day, while Stephen and his brother Geoff take the bus and attend the “wrong school.” Thus, the way Stephen uses economic status to create moral nuances in his descriptions of his family and Keith’s suggests that class was the main deciding factor in not only organizing English society but also determining how one introspectively situated oneself in the world at the time. Aside from the understated tact and ingenuity of its mystery plot, Frayn's novel excels in its rendering of the power of early impressions" - John Updike, The New Yorker Rant over and explanation of my initial negative colouring of this novel, I found the story interesting, if not what I would normally read. The style of writing is by no means conventional, as is especially expressed within the last chapter which almost gives spoilers of who Stephen was and who he became, leaving more questions than answers. For that, I did quite enjoy the book - as did my three highlighters spent on covering the novel.Stephen fast-forwards the narrative to when he and Keith create an official hiding spot where they can spy on Keith’s mother in the privet hedges that adorn the front of Miss Durrant’s bombed house. They swear to never tell anyone about their secret mission, and Keith erects a sign labelled “Privet” (“private” misspelled) at the entrance of their concealed hangout. Spies is a fitting title for the book, as it is a major theme throughout the novel where everyone appears to be spying on everyone else. It is a touching and charming story, told through the perspective of an older man who revisits the neighborhood he grew up in, recalling his childhood memories. One of my favorite quotations is: Stephen Wheatley – A shy boy who finds himself drawn into Keith's games and is a frequent target of school bullies. The book hints at that Stephen suffers from OCD, and seems to be sexually attracted to Barbara.