Transcription
by Atkinson, Kate
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Near Fine
- ISBN 10
- 0857525883
- ISBN 13
- 9780857525888
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Doubleday & Co, 2018. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. Signed by author on title page. Stated First Edition w/ complete number line. A Near Fine copy in a Near Fine dustjacket. DJ has shelfwear, else Fine. Books has some smudges on the edges of the text block, else Fine. Interior is tight, clean, and unmarked. 8vo. - over 7¾' - 9¾'.
Reviews
On Oct 25 2018, a reader said:
Transcription is the fourth stand-alone novel by award-winning British author, Kate Atkinson. In 1940, eighteen-year-old Juliet Armstrong finds herself recruited into the Secret Service. Mostly it's fairly boring, typing up reports and transcribing recordings of agents meeting with British Nazi-sympathisers. But then she's given another identity and the work gets more interesting, for a while. After one exciting episode, arrests are made.
But there were some incidents about which Juliet doesn't like to think too much, and when the war ends, she's not sorry to leave it all behind. Five years later, Juliet is working for the BBC producing children's programs when a face from the past appears: the man who posed as the Gestapo contact passes her in the street. What is disconcerting is that he pretends not to know her.
On the heels of this, a somewhat threatening note is delivered, more of her former colleagues from MI5 flit in and out, and she feels sure she is being followed. Frustrated for information from official channels, Juliet decides to become the hunter rather than the prey.
Once again, Atkinson gives the reader a plot that is perfectly plausible, but filled with twists and red herrings. Her depiction of London during the war and in the immediate aftermath has an authentic feel, with the social attitudes portrayed appropriate for the era. Her protagonist is easily believable: Juliet is intelligent but still naïve, although perhaps not quite as innocent as she first seems.
Her descriptive prose is excellent, as always, and Atkinson no doubt delighted in dropping this piece of dialogue in the final pages: "Fisher clapped his hands, as if to signal the end of the entertainment and said, 'Come now, quite enough of exposition and explanation. We're not approaching the end of a novel, Miss Armstrong.'" Another Atkinson masterpiece.
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Arundel Books of Seattle (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 609794
- Title
- Transcription
- Author
- Atkinson, Kate
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- ISBN 10
- 0857525883
- ISBN 13
- 9780857525888
- Publisher
- Doubleday & Co
- Date Published
- 2018
- Keywords
- WHAR.803, , , , , , , ,
Terms of Sale
Arundel Books of Seattle
7-day return only if not as described (you must notify us immediately on upon receipt of any problem). We pack carefully.
About the Seller
Arundel Books of Seattle
Biblio member since 2005
Seattle, Washington
About Arundel Books of Seattle
Arundel Books stunning new store is located in Seattle's historic Pioneer Square, and has an eclectic stock that will satisfy both the avid reader and discriminating collector.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Number Line
- A series of numbers appearing on the copyright page of a book, where the lowest number generally indicates the printing of that...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Text Block
- Most simply the inside pages of a book. More precisely, the block of paper formed by the cut and stacked pages of a book....
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Shelfwear
- Minor wear resulting from a book being place on, and taken from a bookshelf, especially along the bottom edge.
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...