Michael Frayn
Spies

Metropolitan Books, hc, Apr 2002
$23.00 buy

Sackler Museum
485 Broadway, Cambridge

"The latest book from the prolific Frayn, a British playwright (Noises Off!) and novelist (Headlong, 1999), is a compelling story about secrecy and betrayal. Stephen Wheatley returns to the neighborhood where he grew up during World War II and slowly pieces together a disturbing incident from his childhood. When his best friend, Keith, announces that his mother is a German spy, the two take to following her everywhere--to the post office, the market, her sister's house. They rifle through her desk, read her diary, and spy on her from behind the shrubs near Keith's house. What they don't realize is that Keith's mother does indeed have something to hide, but her secret is not what they think; their spying has far more personal and devastating consequences than they could have imagined. Frayn builds quite a bit of suspense, and the reader is always one step ahead of Stephen in discerning the nature of the secret. What is truly remarkable about this novel, though, is the way Frayn perfectly captures the dynamics of childhood friendships." -- Booklist