Spies

The National Bestseller

The sudden trace of a disturbing, forgotten aroma compels Stephen Wheatley to return to the site of a dimly remembered but troubling childhood summer in wartime London. As he pieces together his scattered memories, we are brought back to a quiet, suburban street where two boys--Keith and his sidekick, Stephen--are engaged in their own version of the war effort: spying on the neighbors, recording their movements, and ferreting out their secrets. But when Keith utters six shocking words, the boy's game of espionage takes a sinister and unintended turn, transforming a wife's simple errands and the ordinary rituals of family life into the elements of adult catastrophe.

Childhood and innocence, secrecy, lies and repressed violence are all gently laid bare as once again Michael Frayn powerfully demonstrates that what appears to be happening in front of our eyes often turns out to be something we cannot see at all.

Urmarea brusca a unei arome tulburatoare, uitata, il obliga pe Stephen Wheatley sa se intoarca la locul unei veri din copilarie slab amintite, dar tulburatoare, in Londra de razboi. In timp ce isi aduna amintirile imprastiate, suntem readusi pe o strada linistita, suburbana, unde doi baieti - Keith si colegul sau, Stephen - sunt angajati in propria lor versiune a efortului de razboi: spionarea vecinilor, inregistrarea miscarilor lor , si isi dezvaluie secretele.