As readers of A Writer of History know, this is not a book review blog, but I do feature some of the books I read as the year unfolds plus an annual roundup at the end of the year. Today, it’s Precipice by Robert Harris.
As other Goodreads reviewers have said, this is not an un-put-downable book although I think it could have been. I’ve read others by Robert Harris with Act of Oblivion and Pompeii being two favourites. In those, the history comes alive as do the characters and the pacing is superb. When I became aware of Precipice and its intriguing premise – the love affair between a prime minister (Herbert Henry Asquith) and a woman more than thirty years his junior (Venetia Stanley) just as WWI begins – I bought it immediately.
I wasn’t disappointed until about the halfway point. In fact, prior to that I was imagining what a great movie Precipice would make. But then the story lost momentum – too many letters quoted in detail that were often quite similar in nature, too many Cabinet meetings with politician’s bickering, the promise of a mystery that seemed to dwindle away as an investigation into who might be giving away state secrets goes on too long, details about the war that seemed more a chronicle of historical events than critical to the story, a tragic death that seemed disconnected with the story.
Perhaps the story’s essence was the problem. Was it a love story? A mystery? A war story? A story of the dying days of Asquith’s political career? The story of a flawed politician?
Perhaps the balance was off. By that I mean the balance between the two main characters for Venetia Stanley almost disappears in the last quarter of the novel.
Perhaps I wasn’t in the right mood.
I certainly learned a lot about Asquith and the politicians and political dynamic in Britain before and during WWI. I now know more about the disastrous Gallipoli/Dardanelles campaign and Winston Churchill’s role in it.
For balance, I’ve included a few review excerpts from major publications:
- The Washington Post: “Precipice is both a harrowing story of the run-up to a terrible war and a fresh look at the much-maligned position of mistress to a powerful man.” The ‘fresh look’ comment works for me but not the ‘harrowing story’.
- The Guardian: “In this nuanced and poignant retelling of the affair between HH Asquith and Venetia Stanley, the novelist blurs the line between fact and fiction, illuminating love and power.” With only Asquith’s letters to Venetia Stanley to go on and the introduction of a fictional detective, Robert Harris definitely mixes fact and fiction and does so very well.
- Publishers Weekly: “Themes of national loyalty and the ravages of war permeate the novel, but Harris resists grandiosity, leaning on his background as a journalist to make the stakes feel at once personal and profound.”
Precipice by Robert Harris ~~ Summer 1914. A world on the brink of catastrophe.
In London, twenty-six-year-old Venetia Stanley—aristocratic, clever, bored, reckless—is part of a fast group of upper-crust bohemians and socialites known as “The Coterie.” She’s also engaged in a clandestine love affair with the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, a man more than twice her age. He writes to her obsessively, sharing the most sensitive matters of state.
As Asquith reluctantly leads the country into war with Germany, a young intelligence officer with Scotland Yard is assigned to investigate a leak of top-secret documents. Suddenly, what was a sexual intrigue becomes a matter of national security that could topple the British government—and will alter the course of political history.
An unrivaled master of seamlessly weaving fact and fiction, Precipice is another electrifying thriller from the brilliant imagination of Robert Harris.
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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads or on her website www.mktod.com.
