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Artis-Ann
Features Writer
7:06 AM 30th May 2020
arts

Review: Heads You Win By Jeffrey Archer

 
Those of you who have read my other articles may remember one on False Impression by Jeffrey Archer where I said I was looking forward to reading his latest novel, the New York Times bestseller Heads You Win, said to be his ‘most ambitious and creative novel since, Kane And Abel’. Well, this week I read it and had I written this review when I was even two thirds of the way through it, I would have said I loved it. As you have guessed, however, there is a bit of a ‘but’ coming.

The concept is original - for this reader at least - although you could maybe think of the film Sliding Doors. The opening, set in Russia, describes the happy family life of a gifted boy whose father is brutally murdered by the KGB, for planning to set up a trade union contrary to the ideology of communist Russia at the time. This, and the brutal treatment of his mother, by an abusive army officer, result in the need for Alexander and his mother, Elena, to make a hasty exit from the native land which now threatens their lives. Arrangements are hurriedly made for them to be smuggled out, in a crate, on a freight ship and it is a toss of the coin which decides whether they climb into one bound for America or one bound for England.

That is where the novel takes an unusual twist, each chapter alternating thereafter between two stories: the newly named Sasha arriving in England and Alex in America. One test of a novel is how greedy I am to read it and time certainly passed remarkably quickly as I turned the pages, ever eager for more: Archer is a good storyteller.

As in several of Archer’s novels, the protagonist rises from the depths of poverty and communist oppression to grasp the chance of a new life, and makes the most of it. The characters and their relationships are believable and the writing, clear and engaging. I can’t speak for the accuracy of some of the historical and political details because, although I recognised several names, my knowledge of British politics is not sufficiently assured. However, I did look up the name Gudanov (I had to smile at the line ‘Gudanov’ - which I read as good enough – ‘was magnificent’), and there he was on good old Wikipedia: Gudanov, a celebrated ballet dancer who danced with the Bolshoi. Real or not, it did not matter because the story was a work of fiction anyway.

There are clear links between the two differing lives as the boys embark on their education, love lives and ultimately, careers, but for me, once Alex returns from Vietnam, there is some loss of credibility. Twists and turns stretch credulity beyond the limits of even this kind of fiction. Writers on time travel seem to agree that you cannot meet yourself in other time dimensions, but Archer hints at just this as each boy is recognised fleetingly by a character from the life of the other and, in my opinion, it jars. Nor could I understand how anyone, no matter their position in society, could even contemplate returning to Russia for any reason, having left it in the manner and for the reason they did. Or maybe that is because I am a child of the Cold War, who spent years fearing the Russian threat.

As for the ending, well, I cannot spoil it for you because I am not sure what happened; I cannot tell you who lives and who dies although the final line reveals the identity of one character who has been alluded to throughout. It might be churlishness on my part, but I just did not see that coming. Perhaps Archer was being just a little more profound in trying to suggest we cannot escape our fate, that wherever the path of life takes us, the ultimate destination is pre-ordained – not, it has to be said, an original concept.

To summarise, if that is possible: it was a great read with a slightly questionable ending – perhaps there was a publisher’s deadline looming?



Heads You Win is published by Pan Macmillan