Daphne is the sort of woman who lives alone because she can "no longer bear conversations". She has an orderly mind and she's proud of it. At 74 her faculties remain as sharp as they were 50 years ago when she worked in the War Office, interviewing suspected Fifth Columnists. By 1940s standards her work there was dutiful beyond reproach, but civil rights standards have moved on since then. When Rachel, her favourite son Oliver's girlfriend, suggests she take part in a programme about internment and deportations during the war, Daphne clams up. She knows better then to volunteer for trial by television. Even so, the clam of her self-imposed retreat has been disturbed and, just when she needs him most, Oliver disappears to film the latest war in a southern republic of the former USSR.

Francine Stock's first novel reads like a thriller and glitters with acidly observed asides. Nationalism, language and communication in an age of satellite technology are three important themes, and a former Newsnight reporter and presenter, Stock is well placed to explore a fourth: the tricks and vanities of modern-day journalism. Rachel doesn't really know anything about the Second World War, Oliver's interpretation of the conflict he is filming alters with each new development and with hindsight Daphne's work looks sinister. But Stock knows better than to judge her characters and, in this thorough and accomplished first novel, notions of right and wrong are always subject to debate. --Kate BinghamDaphne is the sort of woman who lives alone because she can "no longer bear conversations". She has an orderly mind and she's proud of it. At 74 her faculties remain as sharp as they were 50 years ago when she worked in the War Office, interviewing suspected Fifth Columnists. By 1940s standards her work there was dutiful beyond reproach, but civil rights standards have moved on since then. When Rachel, her favourite son Oliver's girlfriend, suggests she take part in a programme about internment and deportations during the war, Daphne clams up. She knows better then to volunteer for trial by television. Even so, the clam of her self- imposed retreat has been disturbed and, just when she needs him most, Oliver disappears to film the latest war in a southern republic of the former USSR.

Francine Stock's first novel reads like a thriller and glitters with acidly observed asides. Nationalism, language and communication in an age of satellite technology are three important themes, and a former Newsnight reporter and presenter, Stock, is well placed to explore a fourth: the tricks and vanities of modern-day journalism. Rachel doesn't really know anything about the Second World War, Oliver's interpretation of the conflict he is filming alters with each new development and with hindsight Daphne's work looks sinister. But Stock knows better than to judge her characters and, in this thorough and accomplished first novel, notions of right and wrong are always subject to debate. --Kate Bingham

Thoughtful, intelligent, reserved, 10 Jun 2000
I enjoyed this novel, based on the quotation that the past is a foreign country where people behave differently.

Francine Stock has written an original and interesting story, in which the past (the rounding-up of London's Italians in World War II, and the sinking of a ship filled with those being sent away to internment camps) collides with the present (a contemporary TV documentary seeks to examine the whole episode).

The past proves more compelling and focused in this book; all the same, the unresolved tension between decision-making and subsequent loss is well-drawn. And the opportunity to write wartime history from the memory of survivors diminishes daily.

A Foreign Country is a book worth reading.

Wartime tale fails to engage, 28 Apr 2000
The story line of Francine Stock's first novel promises much, in particular the juxtaposition of the Second World War and modern-day Soviet conflict. The author's undoubted expert media knowledge combined with careful research into the treatment of Italians in Britain in 1940 mean that the factual content and descriptive passages of the novel are convincing and effective. Where the reader is let down, however, is in the portrayal of the characters. I felt unable to understand the feelings or actions of any of them... This novel is well written and the story idea a good one, but the lack of real emotion in any of the characters left a rather hollow feeling. I persevered to the end but didn't really care what happened to the protagonists.

Thoughtful, intelligent, reserved, 10 Jun 2000
I enjoyed this novel, based on the quotation that the past is a foreign country where people behave differently.

Francine Stock has written an original and interesting story, in which the past (the rounding-up of London's Italians in World War II, and the sinking of a ship filled with those being sent away to internment camps) collides with the present (a contemporary TV documentary seeks to examine the whole episode).

The past proves more compelling and focused in this book; all the same, the unresolved tension between decision-making and subsequent loss is well-drawn. And the opportunity to write wartime history from the memory of survivors diminishes daily.

A Foreign Country is a book worth reading.

Wartime tale fails to engage, 28 Apr 2000
The story line of Francine Stock's first novel promises much, in particular the juxtaposition of the Second World War and modern-day Soviet conflict. The author's undoubted expert media knowledge combined with careful research into the treatment of Italians in Britain in 1940 mean that the factual content and descriptive passages of the novel are convincing and effective. Where the reader is let down, however, is in the portrayal of the characters. I felt unable to understand the feelings or actions of any of them... This novel is well written and the story idea a good one, but the lack of real emotion in any of the characters left a rather hollow feeling. I persevered to the end but didn't really care what happened to the protagonists.

Evocative but left me cold, 08 Jul 2003
Francine Stock does a fine job of setting the scene and period of the book, although she seems to have over-Americanised England in her novel. It is crisply written and holds the reader's attention but the characters are not constructed well enough and the reader has very little sympathy with any of them. Did Patsy really just sleep with Jonny? They must have talked about stuff. Perhaps in being sparse with her detail Stock wanted to leave the reader's imagination to make up the rest but I don't think she gave us enough bones to flesh out. Still, worth reading.

Thoughtful, intelligent, reserved, 10 Jun 2000
I enjoyed this novel, based on the quotation that the past is a foreign country where people behave differently.

Francine Stock has written an original and interesting story, in which the past (the rounding-up of London's Italians in World War II, and the sinking of a ship filled with those being sent away to internment camps) collides with the present (a contemporary TV documentary seeks to examine the whole episode).

The past proves more compelling and focused in this book; all the same, the unresolved tension between decision-making and subsequent loss is well-drawn. And the opportunity to write wartime history from the memory of survivors diminishes daily.

A Foreign Country is a book worth reading.

Wartime tale fails to engage, 28 Apr 2000
The story line of Francine Stock's first novel promises much, in particular the juxtaposition of the Second World War and modern-day Soviet conflict. The author's undoubted expert media knowledge combined with careful research into the treatment of Italians in Britain in 1940 mean that the factual content and descriptive passages of the novel are convincing and effective. Where the reader is let down, however, is in the portrayal of the characters. I felt unable to understand the feelings or actions of any of them... This novel is well written and the story idea a good one, but the lack of real emotion in any of the characters left a rather hollow feeling. I persevered to the end but didn't really care what happened to the protagonists.

Evocative but left me cold, 08 Jul 2003
Francine Stock does a fine job of setting the scene and period of the book, although she seems to have over-Americanised England in her novel. It is crisply written and holds the reader's attention but the characters are not constructed well enough and the reader has very little sympathy with any of them. Did Patsy really just sleep with Jonny? They must have talked about stuff. Perhaps in being sparse with her detail Stock wanted to leave the reader's imagination to make up the rest but I don't think she gave us enough bones to flesh out. Still, worth reading.

Evocative but left me cold, 08 Jul 2003
Francine Stock does a fine job of setting the scene and period of the book, although she seems to have over-Americanised England in her novel. It is crisply written and holds the reader's attention but the characters are not constructed well enough and the reader has very little sympathy with any of them. Did Patsy really just sleep with Jonny? They must have talked about stuff. Perhaps in being sparse with her detail Stock wanted to leave the reader's imagination to make up the rest but I don't think she gave us enough bones to flesh out. Still, worth reading.

Thoughtful, intelligent, reserved, 10 Jun 2000
I enjoyed this novel, based on the quotation that the past is a foreign country where people behave differently.

Francine Stock has written an original and interesting story, in which the past (the rounding-up of London's Italians in World War II, and the sinking of a ship filled with those being sent away to internment camps) collides with the present (a contemporary TV documentary seeks to examine the whole episode).

The past proves more compelling and focused in this book; all the same, the unresolved tension between decision-making and subsequent loss is well-drawn. And the opportunity to write wartime history from the memory of survivors diminishes daily.

A Foreign Country is a book worth reading.

Wartime tale fails to engage, 28 Apr 2000
The story line of Francine Stock's first novel promises much, in particular the juxtaposition of the Second World War and modern-day Soviet conflict. The author's undoubted expert media knowledge combined with careful research into the treatment of Italians in Britain in 1940 mean that the factual content and descriptive passages of the novel are convincing and effective. Where the reader is let down, however, is in the portrayal of the characters. I felt unable to understand the feelings or actions of any of them... This novel is well written and the story idea a good one, but the lack of real emotion in any of the characters left a rather hollow feeling. I persevered to the end but didn't really care what happened to the protagonists.

Evocative but left me cold, 08 Jul 2003
Francine Stock does a fine job of setting the scene and period of the book, although she seems to have over-Americanised England in her novel. It is crisply written and holds the reader's attention but the characters are not constructed well enough and the reader has very little sympathy with any of them. Did Patsy really just sleep with Jonny? They must have talked about stuff. Perhaps in being sparse with her detail Stock wanted to leave the reader's imagination to make up the rest but I don't think she gave us enough bones to flesh out. Still, worth reading.

Evocative but left me cold, 08 Jul 2003
Francine Stock does a fine job of setting the scene and period of the book, although she seems to have over-Americanised England in her novel. It is crisply written and holds the reader's attention but the characters are not constructed well enough and the reader has very little sympathy with any of them. Did Patsy really just sleep with Jonny? They must have talked about stuff. Perhaps in being sparse with her detail Stock wanted to leave the reader's imagination to make up the rest but I don't think she gave us enough bones to flesh out. Still, worth reading.

Evocative but left me cold, 08 Jul 2003
Francine Stock does a fine job of setting the scene and period of the book, although she seems to have over-Americanised England in her novel. It is crisply written and holds the reader's attention but the characters are not constructed well enough and the reader has very little sympathy with any of them. Did Patsy really just sleep with Jonny? They must have talked about stuff. Perhaps in being sparse with her detail Stock wanted to leave the reader's imagination to make up the rest but I don't think she gave us enough bones to flesh out. Still, worth reading.