Precipice

Britain in July 1914  was a very different place from what it would be later. The bright young high society individuals known collectively as the "Coterie" (or the "corrupt coterie" as the press liked to call them) lived a life of indulgence and risk. They spent wildly, gambled, danced, flirted or had affairs, drank copious quantities of champagne. Some of their names would become well-known to history, such as the Coopers, Cunards, Churchills, Bonham Carters and Asquiths among many others. All that was destined to end after August of that year. 

The Hon. Venetia Stanley, young daughter of Lord Sheffield, is 26 years old and should be one of the Coterie but she feels detached from many of their ridiculous hijinks as she is embroiled in a serious relationship with a man of 61. He is none other than the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, known affectionately as "Prime".

Prime is besotted with Venetia and sees her as often as his duties and decorum allow. He also writes highly emotional letters to her up to three times a day, often during Cabinet meetings. He shares intimate details of his work with her and, as the drums of war echo across Europe, he will share even more, including top secret telegrams and confidential messages. During their liaisons, he has the strange habit of throwing paperwork out of the window of his car. When members of the public discover them and hand them over to Scotland Yard, Detective Sergeant Paul Deemer is assigned to investigate the case. 

As the war intensifies, Venetia signs up as a nurse and decides to find a way out of Prime's obsession with her. Marriage to his effete protege, Edwin Montagu, may be the answer. Paul Deemer's undercover work intercepting the lovers' correspondence continues until it looks as if a major scandal is about to erupt.

Like the author's previous work Act of Oblivion about the hunt for the killers of King Charles I, the narrative can be tedious in places, with so many letters between the lovers in a similar vein. (Apparently it is quite true that Asquith wrote Venetia around 560 of them!) Why she involved herself with Prime in the first place is difficult to fathom - perhaps she enjoyed the risk initially, not realising the impact she would have on this increasingly vulnerable ageing man. Prime's desperate need for a soulmate with whom to discuss both lightweight and serious matters may be more understandable given his lonely position and problematic wife, Margot. 

The better parts of the novel are with respect to the politics of war, especially in the Cabinet machinations. The conflicts between strong characters such as Winston Churchill, Lloyd George, Jacky Fisher, Lord Kitchener and other prominent men of the time are portrayed brilliantly, as are the cover-ups relating to shortage of armaments and disasters such as the Dardanelles campaign. 

Four stars.

(With thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.)


amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

Big W (Australia)

---