7.8 /10 1 Votes
Country United States Series Small Change Media type Print (Hardcover) Preceded by Farthing Publisher Tor Books | 3.9/5 Goodreads Language English Publication date October 2, 2007 Originally published 2 October 2007 Genre Alternate history Followed by Half a Crown | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pages 320 pp (hardcover edition) Similar Jo Walton books, Prometheus Award for Best Novel winners, Science Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ha'penny is an alternate history novel written by Jo Walton and published by Tor Books in October, 2007. It is the second novel of the Small Change series.
Contents
Plot summary
The book is a mystery thriller set inside an alternate history in which the United Kingdom made peace with Adolf Hitler in 1941.
It's 1949 and Britain has slid into fascist dictatorship. When a bomb explodes in a London suburb, Scotland Yard Inspector Peter Carmichael is assigned to the case. He finds a web of conspiracy and a plot to murder both Britain's new Prime Minister and Adolf Hitler, during the latter's Friendship visit to London. Carmichael's professional ethics became compromised during a previous case involving the aristocratic and political establishment, which may affect his ability to handle the case at hand. Life is also complicated for Viola Lark, who abandoned the upper class environment of her family and lost touch with her five very different sisters (inspired by the real-life Mitford sisters) when she chose to become an actress. Viola is given the role of a lifetime and hard decisions to make, as she becomes caught up in family politics.
The first "Small Change" novel, Farthing, was released in August 2006 by Tor Books. A third novel in the series, Half a Crown, came out in September 2008, also from Tor.
Awards and nominations
The Los Angeles Times named Ha'penny one of their ten Favorite Mystery Books of 2007.
The novel has been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award for LGBT-themed fiction.
Ha'penny tied with Harry Turtledove's The Gladiator for the 2008 Prometheus Award.