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Spies

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A subplot is also included in the novel, where Stephen finds comfort in Barbara Berrill– a girl Stephen's age living in his neighbourhood– who is used as a plot device for revealing very important information that helps Stephen understand the mysteries he is uncovering. Barbara is also an important part of Stephen's transition from the childish world that he shared with Keith to the adult world, filled with complications but also understanding. Uncle Peter – Auntie Dee's husband, a handsome young man currently fighting abroad. He has garnered a reputation as a war hero. The mystery isn't too big a mystery, only the exact details remain vague until the end, but Stephen and Keith manage to make more of a mess of things as they go along. Stephen begins bringing the story to a close, as (in the present) he revisits the tunnel and the Lanes and thinks about the hidden scarf. He describes what had happened after that night: he never played with Keith again, Uncle Peter had gone missing, and there was a falling out between Auntie Dee and Keith’s mother. Stephen finally reveals that he himself was the secret German, because he used to be “Stefan Weitzler.” He explains that his family had moved from Germany before the war had started and, since his mother was English, they all became the Wheatleys. He also reveals that they are Jewish, though Stephen hadn’t known this growing up. Stephen suggests various approaches to handle the situation, but Keith dismisses his ideas. Keith reveals an old knife and makes Stephen swear secrecy regarding his parents. Keith implies that he will confront his mother on the night marked with an X. Despite facing bullying at school, Stephen derives strength from the shared secret. At home, while his father attempts to engage him in conversation, Stephen remains distant and easily distracted.

The two boys start surveilling Keith's mother during her daily errands, taking notes on her interactions and growing suspicious of those she associates with. In their exploration of her sitting room, they find a diary marked with an X for each month. Startled by her return, they hide and retreat to discuss in the shrubs near Durrant's house. Stephen Wheatley ... Or just plain Stephen ... On his school reports S.J.Wheatley, in the classroom or the playground just plain Wheatley.This phrase seemed to resonate with me and summarise the feelings aroused when revisiting the past. Keith is a posh only child, Stephen a younger brother ashamed of his family. The relationship between the two is lightly but strongly drawn, like all the characterisation in this economical book: for Stephen, 'things start as a game, and then they turn into a test, which I fail'. If he has a dim sense of Keith's need of him, it can only be that 'without me there's no one for him to be braver than'. Stephen Wheatley – A shy boy who finds himself drawn into Keith's games and is a frequent target of school bullies. The book hints at that Stephen suffers from OCD, and seems to be sexually attracted to Barbara.

The plot is brilliant; no question about it. I couldn't put this book down, and those of you who know my distractible self will know that this says a LOT. I put down *everything.* I'd put down my own head if I could, I'm so bored with it. There are smells and sounds and words, and it's all enough -- too much ! too much ! -- to make a reader gag. Keith Hayward – A snobbish, domineering child with a worryingly vicious streak, possibly inspired by the cruelty his father bestows upon him whenever he misbehaves. His inherent snobbery has alienated most other children and his parents seem to largely ignore him, so in a sense he relies on Stephen for companionship, although he frequently condescends to and mistreats him.The following day, Stephen gathers provisions from his parents' pantry and embarks on his mission to deliver the groceries. As he approaches the entrance of the hideout, he hears the man coughing from inside. Stephen leaves the basket near the entrance, preparing to depart, when a familiar voice calls his name. The voice is British and reminiscent of someone he knows. Curiosity piqued, Stephen inquires about Keith's family. Frozen in place, he leaves only when the man hands him a piece of silk, instructing him to give it to Keith's mother. Stephen is a follower, not a leader, a second child prey to bullies at school, who is befriended by Keith, a lonely child from a better school. Keith develops a fantasy that his mother is a German spy, and co-opts Stephen into a scheme to spy on her. The game becomes more serious because she does indeed have secrets, and the nature of these secrets and their gradual revelation form the core of the book, along with what Stephen learns about his own family. Another strategic move is not to specify Stephen's age (until the end of the book, when Keith's going to boarding school more or less pins it down). Seen from the next century, no one age seems to be able to accommodate so much serious play, such extremes of information and ignorance - to account for a boy expected to know the ablative of quis and the principal exports of Canada, but having no inkling that a boy and a girl unsupervised might experiment not just with cigarettes but with kisses. This is innocence with a vengeance. This is childhood before market forces got to work on it. One day, while Stephen is in the lookout, Keith's mother attempts to approach him, possibly to request his assistance in delivering a letter. However, she stops when she notices Stephen with Barbara. None of them seem quite to fit" -- and old man Stephen knows exactly why but he won't say until the bitter end.

The final explanations are more than expected, and shed a new light on much that came before (from simple details like Stephen's fathers stance on bullies) -- but much of that was lost in Frayn's awkward narrative perspective. Spies was well-received by the literary community, with many critics praising Frayn for his creative and original approach. [2] Once published, Spies went on to win the 2002 Whitbread Novel of the year for achievement in literary excellence, and the 2002 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic literature. The idea of a pair of children acting as amateur sleuths in a mystery that is far over their heads reminded me a bit of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, though this was far more literary and memorable for me. It's also much more suspenseful, as the game of Spies gradually shifts from a charming, childish fantasy to something dangerous. The street in this quiet English town is full of secrets, and nothing is as it seems. The whistle of a father working in the garden has never been so sinister. Poor young Stephen, harassed by his fanatically bullying "friend" Keith and haggard in the face of forthcoming exams, feels that he is perennially being tried and found wanting: "It's like the War Effort, and the perpetual sense of strain it induces, of guilt for not doing enough towards it. The War Effort hangs over us for the Duration, and both Duration and the long examination board of childhood will last for ever." Little wonder that Stephen is easily cowed into Keith's covert commando raid against the fifth-columnist in their midst. The pace considerably hots up when Keith announces his mother is a German spy. The two boys begin to follow her, but she always mysteriously vanishes. This is the best part of the book when the mystery of the mother’s antics is hard to work out. It has the exciting intrigue of a brilliant thriller at this point. And I loved how he showed kids with a feverish imagination inventing an adventure and then having to suspend disbelief, just like readers, to sustain the narrative. Perhaps it doesn’t take too long to work out the nature of the mystery but I was still excited to see how it would play out. Then came the ending.Distressed by the realization that others have discovered his hideout, Stephen spends more time inside with Barbara. They develop another theory regarding the mysterious man, speculating that he is a wounded German soldier being cared for by Keith's mother.

Subsequently, Stephen rarely interacts with Keith or Keith's mother. Whenever he sees her, she is accompanied by her husband. Barbara theorizes that perhaps Keith's mother was caught having an affair, which explains why her husband restricts her freedom.Stephen shares his discovery with Keith the next day, and they investigate the tunnel together. To their dismay, the box has vanished. Keith becomes angry, blaming Stephen for their failure. As they hide from Keith's mother, they witness her destination, but Stephen resists following her, and Keith is too fearful to do so alone. Stephen all along only sees and understands bits of a much larger picture, and so the reader is left in the dark about much as well. Worse yet, first-person narrator Stephen switches largely to the third person in describing his younger self and his adventures -- perhaps appropriate, given that the young boy is an entirely different person from what the old man has become, but it's all done in a way that is terribly annoying.

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