Spies

The National Bestseller

The sudden trace of a disturbing, forgotten aroma compels Stephen Wheatley to return to the site of a dimly remembered but troubling childhood summer in wartime London. As he pieces together his scattered memories, we are brought back to a quiet, suburban street where two boys--Keith and his sidekick, Stephen--are engaged in their own version of the war effort: spying on the neighbors, recording their movements, and ferreting out their secrets. But when Keith utters six shocking words, the boy's game of espionage takes a sinister and unintended turn, transforming a wife's simple errands and the ordinary rituals of family life into the elements of adult catastrophe.

Childhood and innocence, secrecy, lies and repressed violence are all gently laid bare as once again Michael Frayn powerfully demonstrates that what appears to be happening in front of our eyes often turns out to be something we cannot see at all.

Author: Michael Frayn
Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
Published: 01/18/2003
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780312421175

Review Citation(s):
New York Times 01/05/2003 pg. 16
Booksense '76 Reading Grp 04 05/01/2004 pg. 1

About the Author

Michael Frayn is the author of ten novels, including the bestselling Headlong, which was a New York Times Editor's Choice selection and a Booker Prize finalist. He has also written thirteen plays, among them Noises Off and Copenhagen, which won three Tony Awards in l999. He lives in London.