A. D. Miller

Some years back I had enjoyed A.D. Miller’s first novel, the Booker-Prize-shortlisted Snowdrops. Set in Russia after the fall of Communism, it charted the moral downfall of a young English lawyer. I had been particularly impressed by the beguiling mixture of grit and poetry, its marriage of hardboiled crime and nostalgic coming-of-age fiction.

Independence Square has certain elements in common with Miller’s debut, although it is closer in spirit to spy fiction than to crime. Its protagonist is Simon Davey, a senior British diplomat stationed in Kiev during the febrile days of the Orange Revolution. Davey is entrusted with the delicate task of trying to bring a reconciliation of sorts between the Government and revolutionary factions. These momentous events should have been the making of his career, and yet, they turn out to be his undoing. Thirteen years later, with his personal and professional life in shambles, Simon comes across Olesya, a figure from that Ukrainian winter, whom he blames for his downfall. He decides to follow her and question her about the events which have haunted him for over a decade. He soon learns that things are rarely what they seem.

I had high expectations of this novel but, unlike Snowdrops, it did not particularly impress me. Perhaps I’ve grown older and my tastes have changed. Or perhaps my issue is with Simon Davey, who comes across as a self-pitying whinger with whom I found it difficult to sympathize. Of course, there is no rule that a protagonist of a novel should be likable. However, when, as in this case, the initial chapters are deliberately cryptic and rather confusing, it helps to care for the main character. Once the story gets going, it becomes quite gripping, with the narrative switching feverishly between Ukraine 2004 and London 2017. Yet I could not shake off the impression that there was little more to Independence Square than an exciting yarn. Unfortunately, the cynical view of politics which Davey espouses by the end of the novel, will seem natural to many readers. What I find surprising is that Davey, supposedly a senior diplomat, should have needed to learn this through bitter experience.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2019/12/independence-square-ad-miller.html… (meer)

Interesting read about a London banker living in the recently "opened" economy of Moscow. But I struggled with the book's treatment of women. First, the concept that the protagonist, back home in London, is telling his fiancée about his time in Moscow, including his love for Masha.....including details of their sex life. The arrogance of that man to expect her to deal with such details about another woman. And the Russian women in the novel were lying con artists in mini-skirts, gullible old ladies or strippers. So there wasn't much here I could identify with. On the bright side, the protagonist Nick does seem to come to question what is really happening in Moscow even as he fails to act on his knowledge. So, this one character has some nuance and depth.… (meer)