Thursday, June 8, 2023

The Mask of Memory: Victor Canning

I read The Mask of Memory by Victor Canning in March of this year. Published in 1974, it is the 3rd book in a loose series called the Birdcage books. They all revolve around a covert security group in the UK, a branch of the Ministry of Defense. The agents are generally amoral, although they believe that their mission is important to the welfare of the country. 

In this book, there are two plotlines. One deals with an effort to expose nefarious activities of a left wing trade union movement before an election; the most experienced operative in the security group, Bernard Tucker, investigates this situation. 

The second narrative revolves around Bernard's wife, Margaret, who has been neglected by her husband and is growing more and more unhappy in the marriage. Margaret walks on the beach near her home frequently; she meets Maxie Dougall on one of her walks. Maxie had engineered the meeting, and has plans to ensnare her in a relationship. The reader discovers that Bernard has kept his wife and his home in North Devon from his boss and coworkers in the security group, and will probably lose his job if this is discovered. 

My Thoughts:

The story is very complex and there are twists and revelations throughout the book. Canning does a beautiful job of developing interesting characters. Margaret was the most sympathetic character, but all were interesting and I wanted the best ending for all of them. Thus the book was much more upbeat than the first two books in the series.

Another plus for me is that this novel had beautiful descriptions of the countryside and the birds in North Devon. Maxie is an artist, although not very good, and he supports himself selling his drawings of birds. 

I enjoyed the first two books in the series, Firecrest and The Rainbird Pattern,  but this one was my favorite so far. I will be moving on to the fourth book in the series, The Doomsday Carrier, soon. It is on my 20 Books of Summer list.


The blogger (Nick Jones at Existential Ennui) who introduced me to this series questioned whether the books were really a series after reading the first three books and not recognizing any connecting characters in the books. I had the same experience. The description of the series at the Spy Guys and Gals web site notes that there are some characters that occur in multiple books, and some of those show up in this book. Nevertheless, I think these books can be read as standalone books. 


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Publisher:   Collier Books, 1990 (orig. pub. 1974)
Length:       260 pages
Format:      Paperback
Series:       Birdcage books #3
Setting:      UK
Genre:        Espionage fiction
Source:      Purchased at Planned Parenthood book sale, 2019.



18 comments:

Kathy's Corner said...

Hi Tracy, great that you have already finished your first book in the summer series. Your review has me interested. I have to get into spy fiction more. Daniel Silva has a great series as I understand. My only concern and it's the same with science fiction is that if there is too much discussion of spy craft in a novel or too much science in the science fiction I can get lost. But I don't know either genre very well and so I need to investigate.

TracyK said...

Kathy, recently I have been trying to figure out why I like spy fiction so much. No answer yet. There is a lot of variety in spy fiction and in the style of the authors. Some is very thrillerish; some is slower and more thought-provoking. I like the latter better but I will read either.

JJH said...

I have written "A Birdcage Companion" which shows how the eight books in the Birdcage series are related. It can be ordered via www.marlodge.net/canning. Of course the books work well as independent reads, and the first four are rather lightly linked since the top members of the Birdcage department tend to die and have to be replaced by the next book.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I have read some Le Carre but that's about it for me with spy novels. My husband read all of it.

Cath said...

I think Canning must've liked Devon as it was featured in another book I read by him, Mr. Finchley Discovers His England. We used to live in North Devon in fact and now live in Mid-Devon.

Lark said...

I don't love espionage fiction, so this probably isn't the book for me, but I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. :D

TracyK said...

JJH, thanks for commenting. I have accessed your website in the past and it is a wonderful resource, but the link I had previously did not work. I am happy to now have the link you supplied.

I read the first three books in this series years apart, and could not remember the characters from earlier books. I enjoyed all of them and intend to read the whole series in order.

Today I have purchased a copy of your book on the Birdcage books and I look forward to when it arrives. I will also add a link in this post to pages on your website.

I already have a copy of your book, The Rex Carver companion, which I used when I read The Whip Hand and The Limbo Line.

TracyK said...

Patti, your husband and I must have had similar tastes in reading in that area. I have read a lot of le Carre books and have enjoyed most of them, but I still have a lot of his books that I have not read. And I am in the same situation with Len Deighton, since he wrote so many books. With some of my other spy fiction authors I have exhausted all their books and will have to start rereading.

Margot Kinberg said...

I'm glad you enjoyed this one, Tracy. Sometimes plots are so complex and convoluted that it's easy to lose the characters in it all. I'm glad that didn't happen here. And you've reminded me I need to get back to Canning's work...

TracyK said...

Cath, I think you are right. Per John Higgins' site, there are a good number of Canning's books set in Devon (see http://www.marlodge.net/canning/settings.html). Devon sounds like a beautiful place to live.

I have a copy of Mr. Finchley Discovers His England on my Kindle after seeing it at your blog. I may get a paper edition too.

TracyK said...

I did enjoy this book, Lark, but I sympathize with those who don't go for spy fiction. There are a lot of psychological elements explored here, both in Margaret's story and Bernard's, so it was more interesting in that area than most spy fiction I have read.

TracyK said...

Margot, I usually love books with complex plots that go back and forth between different settings and characters. This one was especially rewarding in that way. Canning is one of my favorite authors (even though I have only read five of his books so far), and I want to read other types of fiction that he has written too.

Sam said...

I'm reading more spy fiction these days than I have in a long time thanks to enjoying Herron's Slough House series so much (both the books and television), so thanks for what sounds like another really good writer from the past to take a look at. Like you, I enjoy a complex plot with a more personal one going on at the same time, so this one is promising.

TracyK said...

Sam, I hope you do find some spy fiction by Canning to read and that you find it to your taste. I don't remember Firecrest that well, but both The Rainbird Pattern and this one have two stories that come together eventually, one related to spy fiction, one not, and I have really enjoyed that format.

Todd Mason said...

RAINBIRD remains the only book I've read by Canning...and hadn't realized it formed even a loose series (with seven others)...good to know!

Also glad you're feeling at least a bit more energetic. Better times!

TracyK said...

Todd, the books I have read so far were very good. I hope that continues with the rest of them.

Today has been a day of low energy, and with no discernible reason I can think of. I seem to go up and down.

Neeru said...

Though I like The Whip Hand and Firecrest a lot too, this is my favourite of Canning read so far. In its depiction of the solitary, secret life of spies, it reminded me of Graham Greene's The Human Factor.

TracyK said...

I liked this one a lot also, Neeru. And it surprised me a lot. This one and The Rainbird Pattern both had two plotlines that merge eventually, but each book was a different kind of story.

I have a copy of The Human Factor by Greene, but haven't read it yet. I keep meaning to read more by Graham Greene.