James MacManus

Sleep in Peace Tonight feels more like a rant than a novel, fiction about history rather than historical fiction. The action takes place in early 1941, the darkest days of World War II for Britain, when the Luftwaffe unleashes terror bombing, day after day. This background is the only part that feels real, as you see fighter planes assembled in pieces in makeshift sheds, chosen because they don’t look target-worthy from the air. Or that's the gamble.

The novel purports to be about Harry Hopkins, whom FDR sends to London as his eyes and ears, while Congress debates Lend-Lease (the act that legalized military aid to Britain and effectively ended U.S. neutrality). I’ve always admired Hopkins, a New Deal wizard who ran the WPA, so I was looking forward to seeing him in action. However, it’s an empty story.

Even Churchill, the real protagonist, boozing and raging and summoning Hopkins at all hours, seems more like an unfinished sketch than a real person, while the supporting cast are cardboard cutouts or position papers. They seldom speak for themselves, the author preferring to summarize their thoughts and feelings like a conference agenda.

Indeed, most of Sleep in Peace Tonight feels like a series of meetings that repeat themselves. Even the love affair between Hopkins and his beautiful English chauffeur, Leonora Finch, reveals little about either of them, though it does allow Leonora to state the theme over and over: stop talking about how to win the war and get to the front lines.

Consequently, the novel never shows what these people are like when they’re not strutting on the world stage. Hopkins, for instance, has a fiancée in Washington, and his beloved, second wife died of cancer. He has four children. Does he ever think of them? Not really. They’re mentioned, of course, but they’re like figurines on a mantelpiece, dusted off occasionally.

Meanwhile, the history feels doctored, resectioned to suggest a tension that the narrative fails to deliver. To make characters (and the reader) wait while a legislature makes up its mind is pretty dull stuff, especially if that legislature never appears directly and is three thousand miles from the real action.

Lend-Lease, in fact, got through an isolationist Congress in about two months—not bad, considering—but in these pages, it’s a miracle, because of American selfishness and FDR’s inability to lead. He comes across as a craven, feckless Nero who plays with his stamp collection while London burns, and “whose physical paralysis had become a metaphor for his lack of political will.”

As for the First Lady, she’s so concerned about social programs at home to care what happens to the world—and her number-one program is to see her friend Hopkins married.

Given these portrayals–and that the other American characters are either philanderers, lushes, or both—I wonder whether the real theme of Sleep in Peace Tonight is anger at the war’s humiliation of England, directed against the American rescuers. Treated authentically, that could make excellent fiction. But that’s not this novel.… (más)

I thought I would start this review by mentioning that I previously read THE GENERAL'S WOMEN by Susan Wittig Albert, which deals with the same subject as this book, although Mamie Eisenhowever plays a larger role in that book. Nevertheless, in my opinion, one can't get enough books if the subjects interest you. So it was with eagerness I looked forward to reading this book.

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT target="_top">FRESH FICTION!… (más)

I thought I would start this review by mentioning that I previously read THE GENERAL'S WOMEN by Susan Wittig Albert, which deals with the same subject as this book, although Mamie Eisenhowever plays a larger role in that book. Nevertheless, in my opinion, one can't get enough books if the subjects interest you. So it was with eagerness I looked forward to reading this book.

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT target="_top">FRESH FICTION!… (más)

Dwight Eisenhower had an affair with his military driver, Kay Summerby, all during World War II, and according to some,, planned to divorcer his wife and marry her after the war was over. This plan was foiled by the military officialdom and Kay was left to basically fend for herself.

This book portrays Ike as an emotionally cold man &{ it’s hard to feel sympathy for him – especially in the cold way he ended things with Kay… As with so many novels of historical fiction, this one makes me want to head to the non-fiction section of the library and find out what really happened.… (más)