"Independence Square" by A.D. Miller
A Review
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.
Kindle Edition, 240 pages
Expected publication: February 13th 2020 by Vintage Digital
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