Blair's Reviews > Spies

(3.5) Living in a sleepy cul-de-sac during the Second World War, two adolescent boys pass their time playing make-believe games. Stephen is in thrall to his domineering friend Keith, who has a habit of spinning tall tales – including, pivotally, the claim that his mother is a German spy. Many years later, Stephen returns, reflecting on the events of his childhood and how this foolish lie ultimately upended the whole community. The narrative is crafted to not only convey, but embody, the ways in which memories become distorted – both by the layering effect that makes it seem as though many significant events occurred together, and by a child’s lack of full understanding being filtered through an adult’s recall. Frayn’s writing here is wonderfully nostalgic: it seems to conjure up not just the time and place of this particular story, but also something ineffable about childhood itself.