Back in 1987 I watched with pleasure a BBC TV series called The Fortunes of War. It starred Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, who met during the filming and got married afterwards. I'd never read the books it was based on, so when I was offered a NetGalley version of the first novel in what became a 6-part series I was intrigued enough to download a copy. The series is actually two trilogies, The Balkan Trilogy and the Levant Trilogy, and follows the fortunes of a Communist English University lecturer Guy Pringle and his wife Harriet. At the beginning of this first book, it is 1939, and they are newly married. They travel to Rumania where Guy has accepted a job teaching English Literature at a British Council educational institute in Bucharest.
Told from Harriet's point of view, the novel combines an account of her difficulties in adjusting to this new life in a strange country, to the threat of a German invasion, and, above all to the happy-go-lucky attitude of her new husband, who is delighted to surround himself with numerous hangers-on. One of these is the English-educated White Russian Prince Yakimov, who uses his rather tarnished charm to sponge endlessly off the rest of the expat community. Harriet is appalled when Guy offers to let him stay in their spare room, but as usual his wishes prevail and Harriet has to put up with it. She also has to put up with Sophie, an attractive young Rumanian girl who pursues Guy relentlessly - she's particularly disturbed when she discovers that Sophie had suggested to Guy that he could marry her so that she could get a British passport.
It's very hard at first for Harriet to find her role in this strange expat community, but she gradually makes friends with some of Guy's colleagues and his friends in the diplomatic service. She finally makes a good woman friend of her own, the beautiful Bella, an English woman with a Rumanian husband.
The last part of the novel recounts the events surrounding a production of Troilus and Cressida, which Guy decides to stage for the English community and his students. Harriet thinks it's a dreadful idea, but agrees to take the role of Cressida. However soon after rehearsals start, Guy announces that he has replaced her - with Sophie, of course - and Harriet is demoted to the designer. Everyone throws themselves in with amazing enthusiasm - Yakimov, in particular, shows real star quality - and Harriet is amazed and pleased when the one evening performance is a huge success.
Of course all this is taking place as the German army makes inroads in Europe - at first everyone is very optimistic, but the atmosphere changes at the news comes of the annexation of Paris. The British are anxious as it seems likely that they will not be able to stay in Rumania, and indeed the next novels in the trilogy will show Guy and Harriet moving around Eastern Europe, and then, in the Levant trilogy, the Middle East. The historical background makes this an interesting book to read for anyone wanting to know more about the politics of WW2.
Evidently all this is more or less autobiographical, as Manning herself did indeed marry a Communist English Literature lecturer and had what sounds to me a thoroughly unsatisfactory marriage, travelling round all the places that appear in the novels. I couldn't warm to Guy at all, and wished Harriet would stand up to him a bit more (though she does try, without success). She loves him in spite of it all, which I found a bit sad.
The novel is newly reprinted by Cornerstone, out today, 30 July. I'm not sure if they are going to follow up with the rest of the series. Meanwhile you can watch the whole thing on YouTube - well worth it. Here's a link to Episode One.