Genre: Historical
fiction
Description:
The novel takes the form of two,
inter-connected, ‘memoirs’.
The first is from neutral Portugal during
World War II, between 1940-42. The second is from East Prussia, also in World
War II. There is then a third section which brings the two together, and which
is set during the recent pandemic. (The novel was released in 2023.) The three
parts are very different.
The first immerses the reader in the world
of espionage and glitterati of neutral Portugal during World War II. It is a
brittle world of anxious people – the Portuguese need desperately to keep their
country out of the war. Refugees stream into the neutral country, carrying what
little of their lives they have been able to save. Every café, restaurant and
casino is awash with people trying to sell or buy whatever they can. Information
is a valuable commodity. A newly minted spy is sent to take advantage of this,
as a member of the British Embassy in Lisbon. Now moving in exalted circles, he
becomes besotted with the daughter of a local aristocrat: Maria-Eduarda. He
takes (and manufactures) every opportunity to be with her. She finds him mildly
diverting. But it becomes apparent that they have very different expectations
of the relationship.
In the second the point of view is of Herta,
a young girl living in East Prussia in 1943. The hardships which the German
people are enduring for the Fatherland are laid out, as bare as their food
cupboards. Everyone is cold and hungry, and fed up with potatoes. Then word
goes round: “the Russians are coming!” They flee. But not quick enough. This
section follows Herta and her family to the end of the war and beyond. The
child grows into a young woman, the nightmares recede, she goes to university
to study languages, then to Berlin to work as a translator. The Berlin Wall
goes up. Berlin is another city full of spies trading information …
The third part relies on a bizarre
coincidence: that a descendant of a half sister of Maria-Eduarda happens to
live next door to the, now elderly, widow of that new minted spy who was sent
to Portugal, and who then bobbed up again in Berlin after the war. Despite the
passing of so many years restitution is finally made and we learn what happened
to Maria-Eduarda.
Author:
M G da Mota is Margarida Mota-Bull’s pen
name for fiction. She is a Portuguese-British novelist with a love for
classical music, ballet and opera. Under her real name she also writes reviews
of live concerts, CDs, DVDs and books for two classical music magazines on the
web: MusicWeb International and Seen and Heard International. She is a member
of the UK Society of Authors, speaks four languages and lives in Sussex with
her husband. She has photos and information on her website, flowingprose.com.
Appraisal:
The author is Portuguese, which informs the
section set in that country delightfully. The Portuguese part of the story
rattles along, the sexual avarice of the spy (Gerald Neale) for Maria-Eduarda
being ramped up all the time. The denouement is genuinely shocking. The morals
which underpin it feel historically accurate. Since #MeToo we don’t tend to
think like that any more.
The second part of the story, set in East
Prussia is a tough read. After the lushness of the first, warm, Portuguese part
it is like being doused in cold water. All the characters bear such deep scars.
And we are shown, graphically, why. How the family recovers after the war is a
miracle in itself. However, when Herta moves to Berlin her life becomes
tolerable, then pleasant.
Da Mota is ambivalent as to how much of the
book is based on facts. I cheated and read the explanatory notes at the end
early on. This was because the story is, from the start, bracketed with interventions
from Valeria, Maria-Eduarda’s descendant. And for some time it was not clear to
me who she was nor why they were there. You may wish to do the same. It does
slightly undermine the ‘memoir’ claim – which is a pity, because the first
two-thirds of the novel work well as such. Throughout, Da Mota’s prose holds a
hint of veracity (odd things are included, odd things are left out) as if she
is at times concerned to be truthful to her sources. Both tales feel as though
they have been translated in from other languages. It reads very much as a
novel of its time, and of Mitteleuropa.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
Graphic descriptions of sexual violence occur in the
two historical parts.
Format/Typo
Issues:
Rating: ****
Four Stars
Reviewed
by: Judi Moore
Approximate
word count: 135-140,000 words
