7.6 /10 1 Votes
Language English Publication date 2006 Dewey Decimal 823/.914 22 Adaptations Restless (2012) OCLC 64289453 | 3.8/5 Goodreads Publisher Bloomsbury ISBN 1-59691-236-7 Originally published September 2006 Genre Spy fiction Country United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback) Similar William Boyd books, Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Restless is an espionage novel written by William Boyd, published in 2006. It won the Costa Prize for fiction.
Contents
The novel depicts the tale of a young woman who discovers that her mother was recruited as a spy during World War II. The book continually switches between time periods and, in doing so, from first to third person.
According to the author, it is one of the first novels to deal with the British Security Coordination service in New York. The book gained general public interest when it was chosen for inclusion in 'Book Club 2007', on the UK television show Richard & Judy.
Plot summary
In the novel, Boyd tells the story of Eva, a young Russian woman, who is recruited after her brother's death to work for the British secret service. During this time she falls for her mentor and boss, Lucas Romer. But all is not as it seems as Romer is working as a double agent which ultimately leads to the attempted murder of Eva, alongside the deaths of other agents.
The tale is interlinked with the story of Eva's daughter in the 1970s and how she comes to terms with the discovery of her mother's secret life. The setting of the novel is in London, Oxford, Scotland, Europe, and the United States.
Adaptation
In December 2012 the BBC aired a two-part TV adaptation based on the novel. It was produced by Hilary Bevan Jones and directed by Edward Hall.