Gripping . . . . One of Harris’s many admirable qualities as a novelist is his boldness. He ranges through the past to take on big subjects, whether the end of the Roman republic or the Dreyfus affair, and now one of the biggest puzzles of the 20th century, the outbreak of the first world war. As always, he has done his research to recreate a long-gone world, and yet again he tells a good story. ” — Financial Times
“If all good novelists are good magicians, able to create terrific characters and scenes out of thin air, then Robert Harris is a Houdini . . . . His new book, Precipice, takes the true story of British prime minister H. H. Asquith and his affair with the much younger socialite Venetia Stanley and spins that fact into a wondrous web of intrigue, love, and treachery during the early days of World War I. Harris fans will be enthralled as usual.” — Air Mail
“Precipice by Robert Harris is a masterly historical novel . . . . Highly entertaining . . . . Precipice is both a harrowing story of the run-up to a terrible war and a fresh look at the much-maligned position of mistress to a powerful man.” — Washington Post
"I’m not fond of the word masterpiece, but this is a masterpiece." — Nigella Lawson
"The strength of the novel lies in that central, almost unbelievable, relationship between Asquith and Venetia . . . . Precipice is historically literate, politically astute and gripping to the last page." — The Times (London)
“Bestseller Harris (Act of Oblivion) fictionalizes the real-life love affair between British prime minister H.H. Asquith and 26-year-old aristocrat Venetia Stanley in this fascinating historical thriller. . . .Themes of national loyalty and the ravages of war permeate the novel, but Harris resists grandiosity, leaning on his background as a journalist to make the stakes feel at once personal and profound. Stanley, in particular, emerges as a fascinating historical figure, caught between a life of easy luxury and an intoxicating love for a desperate man several decades her senior. Readers will be astonished.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The novel’s brilliance lies in the way the author has written into the void, giving life and voice to Venetia, bringing her to dazzling life through her imagined letters to Asquith and Harris’s portrait of a bright, unconventional and complex young woman seeking to escape the strictures of her aristocratic upbringing . . . . Asquith is presented with great tenderness and sympathy, as is his hard-edged but vulnerable wife, Margot. It’s the character of Venetia, though, that turns Precipice from a very good novel into a great one." — The Observer
"Robert Harris’s enthralling new novel may be one of his three best . . . . Harris’s cleverness lies in his psychological sophistication, carrying the reader along the twists and turns of this dubious love story, while the greater drama of the war in the trenches, vast casualties and the disastrous landing at Gallipoli plays off stage . . . . Harris is masterful at authentic dialogue, across all classes. There is not a false note in this novel." — The Independent
"A riveting tale of politics, war and erotic obsession." — Sunday Times (London)
“A World War I novel of love, politics, and a continent gone mad. . . . A foolish affair and a horrible war that will grab and hold readers’ attention.” — Kirkus Reviews
"Robert Harris is a sort of genius . . . I am knocked out by the assurance of his portrait of a time, a relationship, and the perils to which Britain’s leader exposed himself amidst a supreme historic catastrophe. The book is yet another triumph for the author." — Max Hastings
"A very good thriller which sails through the Downton Abbey test with the grace of a dreadnought cruising down the Channel. It feels realistic enough for us to suspend disbelief over the occasional bit of hokum, and makes us care enough about the characters to keep turning the pages." — The Spectator
"A beautifully crafted novel . . . . Harris deploys his plot with the dexterity one has grown to expect from him. He blends war, news, politics, arguments about strategy and the daily lives of his characters deftly together." — The Scotsman
"Compulsively readable . . . . The minor characters are sketched in superbly." — The Telegraph
"Drawing on original love letters and deploying a fictional detective to bring the threads of the story together, it is a jaw-dropping episode in British history. Nobody does this sort of yarn better." — Mail on Sunday
“As an experienced writer of historical fiction, Harris has a good eye for period detail and the telling anecdote that will create believable, almost overpowering drama. In a great many thrillers, you may not care all that much about the characters, but in this one, you must. It’s a terrific book.” — Crime Fiction Lover
"A wonderful book." — Dominic Sandbrook
"Few have mastered the alchemy of the popular historical novel quite like Harris." — iNews
"Spellbinding." — Daily Kos
2024-07-19
A World War I novel of love, politics, and a continent gone mad.
In 1914, British prime minister H.H. Asquith, a 61-year-old married man, carries on an affair with 26-year-old Venetia Stanley. Those surrounding the two know of their friendship but not of its depth, though some wonder. Asquith harbors an obsession with Venetia—when they’re apart, he writes her letters up to three times a day, expecting and generally receiving prompt responses. Meanwhile, DS Paul Deemer investigates the accidental drowning of Asquith’s son. Since Venetia was listed as a witness, he questions her. But with a war in the offing, he’s told by higher-ups at Scotland Yard to also quietly investigate the odd relationship that some suspect. “Prime,” as Venetia calls her lover, feels the constant need to tell her what’s happening at the office. When war breaks out, he shares secret information with her: troop requirements, battle losses, ammunition shortages—all by regular mail, reminding her not to share what she learns. “The enclosed telegram from our Ambassador at Petersburg wh. came on Friday night will interest you,” one note says. The narrator notes: “A thin sheet of Foreign Office paper was a poor exchange for sweet verbena, but it was the only bouquet he had. What greater proof could he offer of his love, of his dependence on her, of his absolute confidence in her loyalty and discretion?” Never mind dependence; the man is nearly driven to distraction. Meanwhile, Deemer steams open the intercepted envelopes, reports to his boss, and sends the letters on their way. German spies are thought to be everywhere in Britain. Fortunately, Deemer is not one of them. A grisly war is on, to which politicians and generals send young men to die by the tens of thousands, to the benefit of no one. Over 100,000 soldiers on both sides perish at the Dardanelles in Turkey because of Churchill’s insistence on attacking there. The world has indeed gone mad, but Venetia hasn’t. She wants to become a frontline nurse, but to do that she must extricate herself from her needy lover. The pair are real historical figures, while Deemer is fictional. The letters from Asquith are genuine, while the author invented those from Venetia. Asquith apparently burned them.
A foolish affair and a horrible war that will grab and hold readers’ attention.
