It's 1940, London. 18 year old Juliet Armstrong is approached by the MI5 with a job offer: she is to transcribe tapes of conversations between spies aIt's 1940, London. 18 year old Juliet Armstrong is approached by the MI5 with a job offer: she is to transcribe tapes of conversations between spies and various fifth columnist, whose sympathies lie with Germany. She accepts, because the job seems easy enough - but is it?
Although Transcription tackles a very serious subject, it at the same time full of subdued and typically British humor, and the two mix together very well - if anything, it helps to illustrate how hopelessly incompetent supporters of the "New Germany" were at the time in Britain, and how their attempts at showing support amounted to little more than daydreaming and wishful thinking. It comes at no surprise then that the plot is often lighthearted and comic, and the serious interludes come at just the right moments.
Despite all that, I can't help but wish that the book had more substance - I enjoyed it and can easily see it being adapted into a film, but it left me wanting to learn more about that period in that particular corner of the world. To sum it up - there's not much to not enjoy in Transcription, but I don't think it will make a lasting impression on you either. ...more