Mystery at Geneva***
by Dame Rose Macauley
It's hard to say exactly why this novella is so charming, but it has a lot of it has to do with Dame Rose Macauley's breezy style and absurdist take on global politics between the World Wars--politics that are surprisingly (and sadly) still current.
My guess, having listened to the novel in audio format, is that reading the story aloud also makes Macauley's voice "pop" more than it might if it were read silently.
The novel follows Henry Beechtree, a reporter for the London Bolshevist, who investigates the gradual disappearance of a large number of delegates to the League of Nations in Geneva, possibly the most dysfunctional international body ever depicted in literature.
It all seems straightforward cloak-and-dagger stuff, but Henry is not who he appears to be--and neither is anyone else.
Comparing Macauley with Muriel Spark is tempting, but Dame Rose is a little less likely to hit an artery than Dame Muriel.
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