CANR
WORK TITLE: THE WORDS I NEVER WROTE
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.janethynne.com/
CITY: London
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
LAST VOLUME: CA 390
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born April 5, 1961, in Venezuela; immigrated to England during childhood; married Philip Kerr (a writer); children: three.
EDUCATION:Attended St. Anne’s College, Oxford University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Freelance journalist and writer. Has worked for British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), BBC Radio 4, Sunday Times, and Daily Telegraph.
MEMBER:Society of Authors (member of broadcasting committee).
WRITINGS
Novels have been translated into French, German, Greek, Turkish, and Italian; also author of the nonfiction book Tips for Meanies, 2014.
SIDELIGHTS
Jane Thynne is a freelance journalist and novelist. She studied English at St. Anne’s College, Oxford University, before beginning a career with the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Telegraph. Her historical novels have attracted an enthusiastic readership.
In Thynne’s debut novel, Patrimony, Elsa Meyers is planning to make a documentary film about obscure World War I poet Valentine Siddons. But her researcher suddenly disappears with all his notes, leaving Elsa with the task of researching Siddons’s life and work. Not much is generally known about the poet except that he served in the war and was a posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross for valor.
Elsa is able to contact Siddons’s biographer and grandson, Dr. Oliver Eastway, who agrees to speak with her. From him, she learns that the poet’s life may not have been heroic. The question becomes whether Elsa can assess the biographer’s perspective objectively after she has fallen in love with him.
A summer holiday is the catalyst for an investigation of a decades-old mystery in The Shell House. Jessica Leigh, a Westminster lobbyist, comes along when her lover, Stephen, hosts a conference at Fallings, a beautiful country home once owned by the late geneticist Sir Lewis Appleby. Jessica hopes to make the occasion a holiday for herself and Stephen, and she is annoyed when his brother Alex shows up as well. But she finds herself spending time with Alex, exploring the grounds around Fallings. They are intrigued to discover an odd ruined building on the estate, constructed of shells. A gardener tells them that Sir Lewis had been restoring this building to honor his wife, Katherine, but that she had disappeared before the shell house was finished, after which Sir Lewis abandoned the project.
Jessica senses that there is more to this story than what these bare facts reveal. Her efforts to find out what really happened to Katherine are complicated by a plot involving a biotech conspiracy and the romantic attentions of Alex. A parallel narrative, set in the 1930s, uncovers the mystery of Katherine’s disappearance.
Set in 1920s London, The Weighing of the Heart tells the story of London socialite Iris Barrington, the daughter of a wealthy American industrialist. Although Iris participates in upper-class nightlife, she is bored with parties and nightclubs and longs for something more. It comes in the shape of Samuel Dux, who has just returned from Egypt where he was doing archaeological work at the Valley of the Kings.
Iris is thrilled with the handsome young archaeologist. Reciprocating Iris’s feelings, Samuel is reluctant to tell her about a secret he harbors that is connected to the excavation of Tutankhamen’s tomb and that, if exposed, may derail his future.
Black Roses introduces protagonist Clara Vine, an aspiring young actress who travels from London to Berlin in 1933 to find work at the famous UFA studios. In Berlin, she is drawn into a social circle that includes Magda Goebbels, the wife of Reich minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels. She also meets Leo Quinn, an undercover British agent who realizes that Clara’s gifts as an actor should make her an effective spy. He urges her to gain Magda’s confidence so that she can discover information about Nazi plans. But Clara feels torn when Magda shares sensitive information with her and asks for her help. In the end, Clara must decide whether to obey her head or her heart.
The series continues with The Winter Garden. Clara is troubled by the murder of Anna Hansen, a pupil at one of the German schools in which young women are groomed to become SS officers’ wives. She is also troubled by the authorities’ determination to cover up the story. Her efforts to find out who killed Anna, and why, take place against the much-hailed Berlin visit of newly abdicated Edward VII and his wife, Wallis, and of the glamorous Mitford sisters. On the Historical Novel Society website, a reviewer admired The Winter Garden as a “gripping and fast-paced historical spy thriller” that mixes political tension and danger with moments of real tenderness.
The Scent of Secrets, published in England as A War of Flowers, brings the action to 1938. Clara is in Paris to appear in a film. There, she meets British agent Guy Hamilton, who asks her to insinuate herself with Eva Braun, Hitler’s lover, and to pass along to the British embassy whatever she can learn from Braun about Nazi secrets. Clara is committed to Britain’s safety but knows that Joseph Goebbels already suspects her and will be watching her behavior very closely. To perform the mission that Hamilton has asked of her, she must put herself into grave danger.
A writer for Kirkus Reviews said that The Scent of Secrets “paints a horrifying portrait of the madness that was Hitler’s Germany from the viewpoint of women.” Making a similar point, Fredericksburg.com contributor Sandy Mahaffey praised the novel’s rich details and its “fresh approach” in revealing “the inner workings of the Third Reich from the inside.” Julia Jones, writing in Bookbag, found reading this novel “an immersive experience,” adding that “the joy of the book is in location, description, comment.” A reviewer for the Historical Novel Society website found the novel “a superb spy story, a subtle romance, and a book that holds history a ready captive within its pages.”
In The Pursuit of Pearls, published in Britain as Faith and Beauty, Clara has returned to London, where British Intelligence assigns her to investigate reports of a planned pact between Hitler and Stalin. But when she learns that Lottie Franke, a young student at an elite finishing school for Nazi girls, has been found dead, Clara focuses on finding out what happened to the young woman. Returning to Germany, Clara begins working in a film directed by Leni Riefenstahl while searching for clues about the killing. Clara finds out why the Nazis wanted Lottie dead, but this knowledge puts her own life in jeopardy.
A contributor to Kirkus Reviews concluded: “Darkly brooding horror hangs over Germany; an irresistible page-turner packed with historical detail and told from a most unusual perspective.” Booklist contributor Jen Baker noticed that “the novel holds our interest with steadily building suspense leading to a surprising denouement.” Writing on the Historical Novel Society website, Beth Turza commented that “the political atmosphere is charged, and we learn a great deal about how a country prepares its citizens and officers for an inevitable war to come.”
Solitaire is the fifth novel in the “Clara Vine” series. Now in the summer of 1940, Clara has broken all connections to the British intelligence service in an effort to survive after having a close call. While also trying to keep her godson safe, Clara travels to Occupied Paris at the request of Joseph Goebbels to identify a potential spy there. Meanwhile, blonde-hair and blue-eyed orphan Katerina Klimpel is worried that her lame leg may just cost her her life in the face of Nazi attempts to weed out the weak.
A Whispering Stories contributor lauded that “Thynne has done her research meticulously. She brings together all the elements of what the war was like with her vivid descriptions and scenery. She then injects the harsh life of a woman, but one who is most certainly headstrong and brave, to create this wonderful, mesmerising book.” Writing on the Historical Novel Society website, Jasmina Svenne admitted that she “liked seeing the female perspective on the workings of Hitler’s closest allies, through Clara’s friendships with their wives and girlfriends. Thynne is superb at depicting the sense of claustrophobia” of living in a totalitarian regime.
Thynne published the novel The Words I Never Wrote in 2020. After buying a vintage typewriter, Juno discovers a work-in-progress by the previous owner that details the harrowing experiences of two English sisters living in Berlin during World War II. Juno attempts to find out more information about the sisters and find out if the story is fiction or a memoir.
A contributor to Kirkus Reviews claimed that “this is a satisfying book, filled with vivid historical detail and surprisingly nuanced characters. It effortlessly integrates real-life figures.” The same reviewer found it to be “an engrossing, suspenseful page-turner that defies expectations.” A Publishers Weekly contributor observed that the “elegant narrative immerses the reader in war-torn Europe.” The same contributor reasoned that “fans of WWII fiction with strong female characters will be immersed in this magnetic novel.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 1, 2016, Jen Baker, review of The Pursuit of Pearls, p. 36.
Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2015, review of The Scent of Secrets; March 15, 2016, review of The Pursuit of Pearls; November 15, 2019, review of The Words I Never Wrote.
Publishers Weekly, October 7, 2019, review of The Words I Never Wrote, p. 123.
ONLINE
Adventures with Words, http://www.adventureswithwords.com/ (July 5, 2013), Kate Neilan, review of Black Roses.
Bookbag, http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/ (May 7, 2015), Julia Jones, review of A War of Flowers; (April 2, 2016), review of The Winter Garden.
BookLoons, http://www.bookloons.com/ (April 2, 2016), Hilary Williamson, review of The Scent of Secrets.
Compelling Reads, http://compellingreads.co.uk/ (September 15, 2014), review of The Winter Garden.
Daily Mail, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ (March 28, 2013), John Harding, review of Black Roses.
Fredericksburg.com, http://www.fredericksburg.com/ (September 20, 2015), Sandy Mahaffey, review of The Scent of Secrets.
Historical Novel Society, http://historicalnovelsociety.org/ (April 2, 2016), reviews of A War of Flowers and The Scent of Secrets; (August 1, 2016), Beth Turza, review of The Pursuit of Pearls; (August 1, 2017), Jasmina Svenne, review of Solitaire.
Jane Thynne, http:www.janethynne.com (December 21, 2019).
Mysterious Reviews, http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/ (April 2, 2016), review of The Scent of Secrets.
NewsTalk 1010, http://www.newstalk1010.com/ (September 23, 2015), Justine Lewkowicz, review of The Scent of Secrets.
Night Owl Suspense, http://suspense.nightowlreviews.com/ (January 1, 2016), review of The Scent of Secrets.
Novel Pathways, http://novelpathways.org/ (November 10, 2015), review of The Scent of Secrets.
Our Book Reviews, http://ourbookreviewsonline.blogspot.com/ (February 20, 2014), review of The Winter Garden.
RT Book Reviews, http://www.rtbookreviews.com/ (April 2, 2016), Kathe Robin, review of The Scent of Secrets.
Suncoast’s Book Reviews, http://www.suncoastbookreviews.com/ (March 15, 2014), review of The Winter Garden.
We Love This Book, http://www.welovethisbook.com/ (March 26, 2013), John Lloyd, review of Black Roses.
Whispering Stories, https://whisperingstories.com/ (December 15, 2017), review of Solitaire; (July 4, 2018), “The Writing Life of: Jane Thynne.”
Wild Thistle, http://www.wild-thistle.net/ (September 21, 2013), review of Black Roses.
Write Note Reviews, http://writenotereviews.com/ (July 5, 2014), review of The Winter Garden.
Jane Thynne
(b.1961)
Wife of Philip Kerr
Jane Thynne was born in Venezuela in 1961 and grew up with her parents and two brothers in London. After school in Hampton, she spent a year working at the Old Vic Theatre before reading English at St Annes College, Oxford.
She then joined the BBC as a production trainee, but after a few years succumbed to a hankering for Fleet Street and moved to The Sunday Times. She spent many cheerful years at The Daily Telegraph as media correspondent, but her single most exciting moment was getting a publishing contract for her first novel.
In particular she has a passion for historical fiction and loves the research that involves.
As well as writing books she now freelances as a journalist, writing regularly for numerous British magazines and newspapers, and also appears as a broadcaster on Radio 4.
Genres: Historical Mystery
New Books
January 2020
(hardback)
The Words I Never Wrote
Series
Clara Vine
1. Black Roses (2013)
2. The Winter Garden (2014)
aka Woman in the Shadows
3. A War of Flowers (2014)
aka The Scent of Secrets
4. Faith and Beauty (2015)
aka The Pursuit of Pearls
5. Solitaire (2016)
Novels
Patrimony (1997)
The Shell House (1998)
The Weighing of the Heart (2010)
The Words I Never Wrote (2020)
Non fiction
Tips for Meanies (2014)
Thank you for visiting my author page. It's great to be able to say hello to readers and thank you for your support and interest in my books. I really appreciate feedback so do please get in touch via twitter @janethynne or on my Facebook page Facebook.com/AuthorJaneThynne/ or my website Janethynne.com.
I was born in Venezuela, went to school in London and then to Oxford University where I read English. After that I had an absorbing time as a BBC journalist, before moving to Fleet Street and working at the Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent, as well as numerous magazines. I also broadcast on Radio 4. I have three children, a cat and a dachshund and we live in London.
Black Roses, the first novel featuring Clara Vine, an Anglo-German actress and British spy in pre-war and wartime Berlin, was a number 1 bestseller in Kindle historical fiction. My aim was to set thrillers around a character who mingles dangerously with the Nazi elite and to provide a glimpse of the private life of the Third Reich. I also wanted to take a look at the side of wartime Germany that gets so much less attention - the lives of the women.
It's been exciting to trace the development of Clara Vine from the moment she steps off a train at Friedrichstrasse station in 1933 at the age of 26, through the mounting tension of the pre-war years and right into Germany at war. Writing the series has been a revelation to me and I hope you'll come with me on Clara's journey.
Jane Thynne was born in Venezuela and educated in London. After graduating from Oxford, she worked for the BBC, The Sunday Times, and The Daily Telegraph. She continues to freelance as a journalist while writing her historical fiction. Her novels, including the Clara Vine series, have been published in French, German, Greek, Turkish, Italian, and Romanian. The widow of Philip Kerr, she has three children and lives in London, where she is working on her next novel.
Jane Thynne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Jane Thynne
Born
5 April 1961 (age 58)
Venezuela
Occupation
Novelist, journalist, broadcaster
Language
English
Education
BA, English Literature
Alma mater
St Anne's College, Oxford
Period
1997–
Genre
Historical fiction
Spouse
Philip Kerr
Children
3
Website
www.janethynne.com
Jane Thynne (born 5 April 1961) is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster.
Contents
1
Biography
2
Career
3
Bibliography
4
References
5
External links
Biography[edit]
Jane Thynne was born in Venezuela on 5 April 1961. She attended Lady Eleanor Holles School in London.[1] She read English at St Anne's College, Oxford, gaining a BA degree. She is married to fellow novelist Philip Kerr; the couple have three children.
Career[edit]
Thynne has worked as a journalist for the BBC, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, and The Independent, for which she was the radio critic from October 2008 to November 2011.[2] She has been a panellist on the BBC Radio 4 literary panel game The Write Stuff on many occasions.
Thynne was a member of the judging panel for the Oldie of the Year award in 2010, won by Joanna Lumley,[3] and in 2011, won by Barry Humphries.[4] She was also a judge for the Best Online Only Audio Drama award of the first BBC Audio Drama Awards in 2012, won by Tim Fountain for Rock.
Her first novel, Patrimony, was published in 1997. This was followed by The Shell House (1999), The Weighing of the Heart (2010) and Black Roses[5] (2013).
Bibliography[edit]
Thynne, Jane (1997). Patrimony. London: Fourth Estate. ISBN 978-1-85702-656-6.
Thynne, Jane (1999). The Shell House. London: Fourth Estate. ISBN 978-1-85702-902-4.
Thynne, Jane (2010). The Weighing of the Heart. Byline Books. ISBN 978-1-907560-00-2.
Thynne, Jane (2013). Black Roses. London: Simon & Schuster UK. ISBN 978-1-84983-983-9.
Thynne, Jane (2014). UK: The Winter Garden (USA: Woman in the Shadows). London: Simon & Schuster UK.
Thynne, Jane (2014). UK: A War of Flowers (USA: The Scent of Secrets). London: Simon & Schuster UK.
Thynne, Jane (2015). UK: Faith and Beauty (USA: The Pursuit of Pearls). Simon & Schuster UK.
Thynne, Jane (2016). UK: Solitaire (USA: ). Simon & Schuster UK.
The Writing Life of: Jane Thynne
by whisperingstories · Published 4th January 2018 · Updated 11th January 2018
1
Save
Jane Thynne
This week on ‘The Writing Life of:‘ I am thrilled to be interviewing author Jane Thynne. Jane will be sharing with us detail of her writing life, telling us all about her latest book ‘Solitaire‘, which was released on 18th May 2017, and answering a few fun questions too.
So without further ado I’ll hand you over to Jane
Jane Thynne was born in Venezuela and educated in London. She graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English and joined the BBC as a journalist.
She has also worked at The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent, as well as for numerous British magazines. She appears as a broadcaster on Radio 4. Jane is married with three children and lives in London.
1) As a child what did you want to do when you grew up?
I had passionate desires to be a doctor or a politician, and I regret both those lost careers, but writing for a living was always the dream.
2) Who were your favourite childhood authors?
Frances Hodgson Burnett and Charlotte Bronte. I also loved My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, due to an early survivalist streak.
3) At what point in your life did you realise you wanted to be a writer?
At fifteen I began writing and circulating stories featuring my school-friends, which they seemed to enjoy, and it struck me that people liked the idea of being transposed into a fictional setting. I suppose I’m only doing more of the same today.
4) How did you go about following that dream?
I knew I needed a job associated with writing so I became a journalist, first at the BBC, directing films and reporting, then in Fleet Street.
5) What is your writing day like? Do you aim for a certain amount of pages or words before you stop for the day?
I sit at my desk at 8am, and try very hard to write a thousand words. It doesn’t always work!
6) Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
I don’t, but I have thought about it, especially if I wrote in two different genres. The strange thing is, I can name any number of characters but I simply can’t think up another name for myself.
7) Do you have any strange habits before starting, or whilst in the midst of writing?
Sitting down and trying to create an entirely fictional universe is probably strange enough.
8) Do you write longhand, typewriter, or on a computer?
Apple Mac. My work-in-progress standalone novel features a 1931 Underwood typewriter, but personally I’m relieved to be free of the Tippex and the carbons and the ribbons.
9) How many books have you written? Do you have any unpublished work?
Ten to date, but there’s not a writer in the world who doesn’t have unpublished work in their drawer.
10) Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I love a plot. I like to have it entirely structured before I begin writing, then extra ideas and twists emerge organically, which is part of the joy.
11) Do you read all the reviews left for your book(s)?
I think I read most of them. My only coping mechanism is angst.
Concerning your latest book:
Solitaire
Author – Jane Thynne
Publisher – Simon & Schuster UK
Pages – 464
Released – 18th May 2017
ISBN-13 – 978-1471155819
Format – ebook, paperback, hardcover, audio
TO SAVE HER OWN LIFE, WILL SHE SACRIFICE ANOTHER?
June 1940: the first summer of the war. Berlin is being bombed and nightly blackouts suffocate the city. Then France falls and a shadow descends.
A shadow has fallen over Clara Vine’s own life, too. She is an Anglo-German woman in a country that hates England. Then she is summoned to meet the Propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, who has decided that Clara should adopt a new role – as his spy.
Much as she dislikes the idea, Clara realises this might be the chance to find an escape route to England. But Goebbels has other ideas and soon Clara is drawn into a web that threatens to destroy her. As everything she holds dear is taken as ransom, she must fight to protect her family – and to survive…
12) How long did it take you to get from the idea’s stage to your date of publication?
Solitaire is the fifth in a series of Clara Vine novels, so that makes things easier. When you write a series you already know your protagonist and their back history, you just need to find a new plot to entangle them. That said, it took around a year to write.
13) How did you come up with the names for your characters?
Most of the people in the novel are real people who lived in Germany during the Third Reich. Clara is fictional, but I had always loved that name, and conveniently it sounded both English and German, as is Clara herself.
14) Can you give us an insight into your main character(s) life?, What makes them tick?
Clara Vine is an Anglo-German actress who arrives in Berlin in 1933 just as Hitler comes to power and witnesses the rise of fascism at first hand. She is not especially brave or political, and it is pure chance that she gets involved in espionage when she falls in love with the man who recruits her. Yet as time goes on, Clara’s access to the Nazis’ VIP ranks is increasingly valuable – and increasingly dangerous.
15) Which was your hardest scene to write?
I probably worked hardest on the scene I loved writing, when Clara attends a garden party given by Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor.
16) How did you come up with the title of your book?
The title, Solitaire, echoes a couple of plot strands. Firstly, Clara is on her own, because her lover has been killed. Also the storyline involves diamond smuggling, and thirdly, card playing and especially the game of Solitaire became hugely popular among German women left behind after their husbands had gone to war.
17) Did you get a family member/friend to read your work before sending to the publishers?
My first reader is always my agent, Caradoc King. His gracious manner makes the harshest criticism sound entirely reasonable.
18) What process did you go through to get your book published?
The novel was pre-commissioned, so I had only to write and deliver.
19) What did you do once you had written the final word in your book?
Made a cup of English Breakfast tea.
20) What’s next for you, writing-wise?
I’m just finishing a standalone novel, provisionally called The Typewriter. It’s a split time narrative set in the 1930s/40s and the present day and features two sisters, divided by war.
1) What’s your favourite food?
Does anyone not say chocolate?
2) If you had a box of crayons and you could only choose one, which colour would you choose?
Yellow always. The colour of sun and happiness. I painted my study primrose yellow so it would give me a lift every time I walked in.
3) What movie could you watch over and over again?
Withnail And I
4) What would be the top song on your playlist?
Nina Simone, He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands
5) If you won millions on the lottery, what would be your first purchase?
I’d like to think I’d help out some relatives, but it would almost certainly be an addition to my daughter’s extensive wardrobe.
6) A talking duck walks into your room wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, whats the first thing he says to you?
Probably the same thing everyone asks when they walk into my room. ‘What’s for supper?’
You can find out more about Jane Thynne by visiting the website/social media sites below.
www.janethynne.com
@janethynne
Facebook
Goodreads
I would like to say a big thank you to Jane for sharing with us details of her writing life, and for a wonderful interview.
Blog posts straight to email via Bloglovin – Like us on Facebook – Follow us on Twitter
I was born in Venezuela and moved around the world with my parents and two brothers before settling in London. After school in Hampton, I spent a year working at the Old Vic Theatre before reading English at St Anne’s College, Oxford.
I then joined the BBC as a production trainee, learning to direct and produce all kinds of TV programmes from drama to current affairs. But after a few years, I succumbed to a hankering for Fleet Street and moved to The Sunday Times. I also broadcast on BBC Radio 4, where I had my own series. I spent many exhilarating years at The Daily Telegraph as media correspondent, but my single most exciting moment in that time was getting a publishing contract for my first novel.
In particular I have a passion for historical fiction and love the research that involves. The first in the Clara Vine series, Black Roses, became a number One Kindle Bestseller. In the UK the series is published by Simon & Schuster. Outside Britain, my novels have been translated into French, German, Greek, Turkish and Italian. In France the series is published by J.C Lattes and in Greece by Kedros. In the US and Canada the series is published by Random House. The TV rights have been optioned by Hillbilly Films who are producing the pilot for an eight part series.
The Words I Never Wrote is published in the US by Ballantine.
As well as writing books I now freelance as a journalist, writing regularly for numerous British magazines and newspapers, and also appear as a broadcaster on Radio 4 and Sky. I have been a guest reader at the Arvon Foundation and sat on the broadcasting committee of the Society of Authors. I’m a patron of the Wimbledon Bookfest and live in London with whichever of my three children happens to be around.
I also have an active Facebook page where I love to interact with readers. Do please follow me on GOODREADS and add the Clara Vine novels and The Words I Never Wrote to your ‘Want To Read’ list. Get in touch. It’s great to talk!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Are all the Clara Vine novels available in the States?
A: The second, third and fourth in the series are available, published by Ballantine Books. I’m hoping that Black Roses and Solitaire will be published in the USA and Canada soon.
Q: Will Clara Vine ever appear on the screen?
A: Fingers crossed! The series is currently under option for a TV series to Hillbilly Films.
Q: Is there a sixth Clara Vine novel in the pipeline?
A: Yes, Clara’s adventures will continue in a story set in Hamburg, London and Vienna in both 1941 and 1937. But I have another novel to finish first.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I’m writing a standalone novel, provisionally titled The Typewriter, with a narrative split between the 1930s/40s and the present day.
Q: Is Clara Vine based on a real person?
A: No, but I was inspired by the diaries of several contemporary women who visited Berlin in the 1930s and recorded their impressions of Nazi Germany.
Q: Why do you like to write about espionage and spies?
A: All the elements of life that novelists usually address – love, loyalty, betrayal, hope, sacrifice – are compressed in the universe of the spy. We all, to some extent, live double lives and present different faces to the different people in our worlds. But spies live a constant double life. They are always on stage, always acting a role, and there is always a marked gap between what they think and what they say. It’s this gap that interests me.
Thynne, Jane THE WORDS I NEVER WROTE Ballantine (Adult Fiction) $28.00 1, 21 ISBN: 978-1-5247-9659-4
Two English sisters become estranged during the Second World War while, in present-day New York, a photographer pursues the dramatic story behind their rift.
When Juno Lambert buys a vintage typewriter previously owned by esteemed newswoman Cordelia Capel, she finds an unfinished manuscript inside. Intrigued, Juno reads the novel (or is it a memoir?) and resolves to uncover what happened between Cordelia and her older sister, Irene. The chronicle begins in 1936, when Irene marries a German industrialist and moves to Berlin. At first, Irene is entranced by her handsome husband and the glamorous life they lead. Soon, though, she develops misgivings about him and his attachment to Nazi bigwigs. Cordelia, meanwhile, lands a job at a Paris newspaper and falls for the bureau chief, who leaves her, and his job, to fight Franco in Spain. The sisters correspond at first, but Cordelia becomes disillusioned with her sister's sunny reports--unaware that Irene is not free to write what she wishes. Cordelia eventually returns to England to train as a spy while Irene's life in the war-ravaged German capital deteriorates--though she too finds a way to undermine the Nazi effort. The book begins awkwardly, and the many hairpin plot turns are a little dizzying. It also covers some familiar turf--author Thynne (Solitaire, 2016, etc.) herself has written books with a similar setting--and flirts with melodrama. But this is a satisfying book, filled with vivid historical detail and surprisingly nuanced characters. It effortlessly integrates real-life figures, including the notorious double agent Kim Philby, who plays a small but pivotal role, and Martha Dodd, daughter of America's ambassador to Germany, who befriends Irene.
An engrossing, suspenseful page-turner that defies expectations.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Thynne, Jane: THE WORDS I NEVER WROTE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2019. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A605549531/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e2b28c94. Accessed 9 Dec. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A605549531
The Words I Never Wrote
Jane Thynne. Ballantine, $28 (400p) ISBN 978-1-5247-9659-4
In her latest, Thynne (the Clara Vine mystery series) memorably portrays how the bond shared by two sisters can be fractuted by politics and war. In 2016 New York City, photographer Juno Lambert purchases a 1931 Underwood Portable typewriter as a photo prop and discovers inside it an unfinished manuscript written by deceased WWII reporter Cordelia Capel. The manuscript tells the story of Cordelia and her sister, Irene, who married German lawyer and industrialist Ernst Weissmuller in 1936 England and moved to Germany. After the wedding, Cordelia moves to Paris and works for journalist Torin Fairchild. As the Nazi party gains more control in Germany, Cordelia and Irene continue to write to one another. Irene's letters are filled with information about parties with high-ranking Nazi officials, and she never answers Cordelia's questions in her letters about the brutality of the Nazis. After Torin leaves Paris to rescue a fellow journalist in Spain, Cordelia returns to London where she is recruited to prepare British agents to go undercover in France. After reading the partially finished manuscript, Juno is determined to find out more about Cordelia and takes an assignment in Berlin, where she is able to uncover more about Irene and Cordelia. Thynne's elegant narrative immerses the reader in war-torn Europe while potently showing the division that forms between Cordelia and Irene. Fans of WWII fiction with strong female characters will be immersed in this magnetic novel. Agent: Caradoc King, United Agents. (Jan.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Words I Never Wrote." Publishers Weekly, 7 Oct. 2019, p. 123. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A602487926/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=679ff157. Accessed 9 Dec. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A602487926
Thynne, Jane THE PURSUIT OF PEARLS Ballantine (Adult Fiction) $16.00 5, 3 ISBN: 978-0-553-39386-6
A movie star faces the nightmare of living in Nazi Germany in this second volume of a planned trilogy. Clara Vine is an Anglo-German actress who has thus far succeeded in hiding the fact that she's of partially Jewish heritage. Her English lover, Leo Quinn, a passport control officer in Berlin, recruited her to spy "on the private life of the Third Reich" (The Scent of Secrets, 2015), and then shortly afterward, he disappeared. Clara travels to London in 1939 to attend a ball she's been invited to, given by a man she's never met, and finds that she's been summoned by a newly hatched espionage agency. British intelligence asks her to try to discover whether Hitler is planning to make a deal with the Soviets--and warns her to forget the missing Leo, who she refuses to believe is dead. Despite the assurances of the Fuhrer, many Germans know that war is near. Back in Berlin, Clara--who's afraid her own apartment is being watched--is staying at a friend's house near the Faith and Beauty Society headquarters, where Aryan girls are groomed to marry high-ranking Nazis. Clara is deeply disturbed when Lottie Franke, the most beautiful, talented, and unorthodox girl in the training program, is found murdered nearby. As an actress, Clara knows all the top-ranked Nazis and their wives and has opportunities to meet foreign reporters and travel abroad. On a trip to Paris for a photo shoot, she mistakes the handsome, wealthy Conrad Adler for Leo even though she'd already met the charismatic Obersturmbannfuhrer at a party in Germany. She's upset by both his pursuit of her and her physical response to him. On her return to Germany, she starts shooting a film under the direction of Leni Riefenstahl, looks for Lottie's killer at the behest of the girl's best friend, and tries to find out Hitler's plans for war. The paranoid pressure-cooker atmosphere of Berlin forces her to make dangerous decisions every day. Darkly brooding horror hangs over Germany; an irresistible page-turner packed with historical detail and told from a most unusual perspective.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Thynne, Jane: THE PURSUIT OF PEARLS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2016. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A446003952/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=cd2c3a3a. Accessed 9 Dec. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A446003952
The Pursuit of Pearls. By Jane Thynne. May 2016. 464p. Ballantine, paper, $16 (9780553393866).
Thynne steps up the pace in this second in a trilogy, following The Scent of Secrets (2015). Actress and British intelligence agent Clara Vine again mixes with Nazi leaders just prior to WWII, risking both career and life to find out who killed a seemingly innocent young woman from the Faith and Beauty School in Berlin. Clara pines for her British lover, who may be missing or even dead, and is forced daily to claim a fully German identity, while knowing that, at any moment, she may be unmasked as half-English, Jewish, and a spy. The narrative often reads like a walking-tour guide, filled with the lengthy names of streets, neighborhoods, and city sights--rendered auf Deutsch--and that serves more as a distraction than a scene-setter. Still, readers will appreciate the author's impeccable research. Combining love story and murder mystery, and featuring cameos by the Nazi nefarious, the novel holds our interest with steadily building suspense leading to a surprising denouement, with satisfying hints of more to come. Claras story compares well with those of Susan Elia MacNeals Maggie Hope and Rebecca Cantrell's Hannah Vogel.--Jen Baker
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Baker, Jen. "The Pursuit of Pearls." Booklist, 1 May 2016, p. 36. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A453293662/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=19a523af. Accessed 9 Dec. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A453293662
Solitaire by Jane Thynne – Book Review
by whisperingstories · Published 15th December 2017 · Updated 15th December 2017
7
Save
Solitaire by Jane Thynne – Book Review
Solitaire
Clara Vine Book Five
Author – Jane Thynne
Publisher – Simon & Schuster UK
Pages – 464
Released – 18th May 2017
ISBN-13 – 978-1471155819
Format – ebook, paperback, hardcover, audio
Reviewer – Stacey
I received a free copy of this book
TO SAVE HER OWN LIFE, WILL SHE SACRIFICE ANOTHER?
June 1940: the first summer of the war. Berlin is being bombed and nightly blackouts suffocate the city. Then France falls and a shadow descends.
A shadow has fallen over Clara Vine’s own life, too. She is an Anglo-German woman in a country that hates England. Then she is summoned to meet the Propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, who has decided that Clara should adopt a new role – as his spy.
Much as she dislikes the idea, Clara realises this might be the chance to find an escape route to England. But Goebbels has other ideas and soon Clara is drawn into a web that threatens to destroy her. As everything she holds dear is taken as ransom, she must fight to protect her family – and to survive…
Although this book is the fifth book in the Clara Vine series, it was the first book that I had read. Now, judging by the fact that I didn’t even realise that it was book five, that should let you know that it works perfectly well as a standalone.
The book opens with the prologue – Lisbon 1940 and Clara being arrested. We then jump back in time to chapter one and Berlin, 1940. Clara is living in Germany and working as an actress. As World War II is in its infancy, Clara feels very vulnerable. Not only was she a spy, although now she tries to keep her head down, she is also half English, half German, and Jewish by descendant.
Clara is an exceptional woman. She is grieving for her lover Leo, whom she had been told was shot and killed trying to flee the country, a lover than no-one knew about. She wants to leave Germany for the safety of England and her family, but that door has been shut tight. She has now found herself in a difficult situation, having to spy for the Germans.
Whilst I’m not a great lover of historical novels, there is something about the World Wars that intrigues me. Most books that I have read, barring one earlier this year, have all been set in the UK during the war, so it was nice to be able to see the life of those outside the UK.
The main story interweaves itself with numerous secondary plots, the main one being that of Katerina, a young girl living in a children’s home, with a crippled leg. Unless her sister Sonja can be found, Katerina is in serious danger of being killed by the Nazis. I love how these two plots fused with one another.
The prologue did its job perfectly and had me hooked. I wanted to know how Clara found herself in the situation she did in Lisbon. I wasn’t disappointed with the answer.
Ms. Thynne has done her research meticulously. She brings together all the elements of what the war was like with her vivid descriptions and scenery. She then injects the harsh life of a woman, but one who is most certainly headstrong and brave, to create this wonderful, mesmerising book.
Reviewed by Stacey
Solitaire
Written by Jane Thynne
Review by Jasmina Svenne
Summer 1940. As war tightens its grip on Berlin, Anglo-German actress Clara Vine has severed her ties with the British intelligence service and is trying to keep her head down and survive for the sake of her godson Erich. But Joseph Goebbels has other plans for her, as he “asks” her to go to Occupied Paris to report on a suspected spy. Orphan Katerina Klimpel is also trying to survive in a Nazi-run children’s home, while worrying about the unexplained disappearance of her half-sister. But a greater danger threatens her because, although she is blonde and blue-eyed, she is hampered by a lame leg in a society in which any disability is regarded as “undesirable”. One false step and Clara and Katerina are equally in danger…
What I loved about this atmospheric thriller is that it deals with some of the forgotten aspects of the Nazi regime, like the treatment of orphans and children snatched from their parents in occupied territories because they matched the Aryan ideal. I also liked seeing the female perspective on the workings of Hitler’s closest allies, through Clara’s friendships with their wives and girlfriends. Thynne is superb at depicting the sense of claustrophobia and paranoia engendered by living under a totalitarian regime, and the terrible dilemma adults faced when confronted with the dangerous naivety of teenagers who have been brought up on a diet of Nazi propaganda. But the book is also laced with dark humour.
Although this is the fifth novel in the Clara Vine series, I had no difficulty in picking up the back story—though I would advise others to read the books in sequence because, inevitably, this novel reveals the outcome of some earlier plotlines. I’m certainly planning on reading the previous books—and the next one(s).
Find & buy on
Details
Editors' Choice
PUBLISHER
Simon & Schuster
PUBLISHED
2017
GENRE
Thriller
PERIOD
WW2
CENTURY
20th Century
Review
APPEARED IN
HNR Issue 81 (August 2017)