Human Voices is a novel by British author Penelope Fitzgerald. It is set in World War II London during 1940, from the Fall of France to the Battle of Britain.
Fitzgerald worked for the wartime Ministry of Food from June to November 1940. She then worked for the BBC until war's end.
Seymour "Sam" Brooks, RPDA brilliant technician, mid-40s, he is noted for having increased BBC's sound clarity. He surrounds himself with young female assistants, whom he uses for sharing his worries, but otherwise ignores. His main interest is the development of a portable windshield for microphones.
Jeff Haggard, DDPModest about himself, he is forceful in his job. He breaks rules to help other people and the BBC. He keeps Brooks focused.
Lise Bernard, an RPAIn love with (and pregnant by) Frédé, a free French soldier who has moved on.
Violet Simmons, an RPALise and Annie at times board with her family.
Annie Asra, an RPAOnly seventeen, the orphaned daughter of a piano tuner. She falls in love with Brooks, not that he notices. Her name is from the Heinrich Heine poem "Der Asra", about a tribe of slaves that die when they fall in love.
John "Mac" McVitieAmerican broadcaster, employee of NBS, friendly with Haggard.
John "the Halibut" HaliburtonSenior Broadcaster, with a distinctive hoarse voice, believed impossible for the Germans to ever counterfeit.
General Georges PinardFrench general, Anglophile due to horse racing, defeatist after his escape to London.
BBCBritish Broadcasting Corporation
BHBroadcasting HouseDGDirector General
DDGDeputy Director General
ADDGActing Deputy Director General
RPDRecorded Programmes Director
RPARecorded Programmes Assistant
JTAJunior Temporary Assistant
JPEJunior Programme Engineer
DPPDirector of Programme Planning
AD(E)Assistant Director (Establishment)
NBSNational Broadcasting System (fictional American broadcaster)
CBCCanadian Broadcasting Corporation
FLFrance Libre (Free French)
Fitzgerald, drawing on her own youthful employment at the BBC, brings time, place, and characters to life in a book remarkable for its dexterous and appealing prose.
The novel has a chapter of its own in Peter Wolfe Understanding Penelope Fitzgerald and Hermione Lee Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
