Evoking shades of Casablanca
, Grayson (Waterloo Station
) spins a tale of spycraft and love in this lightweight period novel. In the summer of 1936, sheltered, lovely Carson Weatherell, privileged daughter of wealthy Connecticut parents, sets off on a European tour with her Aunt Jane and Jane's husband, Lawrence, a British intelligence officer. On the train from Paris to Lisbon, Carson meets the eye of dashing Alec Breve, a young British physicist who introduces the girl to the world of the intellect as well as the heart. Trouble is brewing, however, and Carson grows up in a hurry when her uncle confronts her with evidence that Alec is a spy for the Germans. She can't deny the suspicions planted by this news, but neither can she completely believe it. At first she is determined to have nothing further to do with Alec, but she must face him when he appears at her home. Reunited, they decide to return to England and clear Alec's name. But with war in the air, will they be believed? Grayson's handling of young love is touching, if rather prissy—"the train continued on along its tracks, unaware that on the platform at its very end, a young American girl—no, a young American woman—was falling in love"—but finely drawn characters are given too little to do in what could've been a more substantial story, given longer treatment. Agent, Peter Matson.
(May)
