The Report by Jessica Francis Kane

The Report by Jessica Francis Kane

Genre: Fiction
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 238
Challenges: Support Your Local Library #42
Source: Library





The Short Version:
An inquiry into a 1943 disaster at a London tube station used as an air-raid shelter looks at both the causes and effects for those involved.

Why I Read It:
Jen at Devourer of Books talked about this one on Twitter with enough enthusiasm to make me look for it at my library.

The Book:
In 1943 London an unfinished tube station is used as an air-raid shelter. On a March night 173 people die at the shelter but no bombs fell that night. It’s a devastating event for a neighborhood already weary of loss after years of war, bombs and death. After initially covering up the disaster, the government responds to an outcry for an inquiry.

Laurence Dunne is the well respected local magistrate who is assigned to conduct the inquiry. His investigation attempts to determine both what exactly happened and why. With conflicting witness reports complicated by the emotional damage suffered by the survivors and the whole neighborhood, Dunne’s task is a daunting one.

30 years after the disaster a young filmmaker is planning a retrospective film about the incident. His interviews with Laurence Dunne in 1973 are interspersed with the events of 1943 throughout the book.

My Thoughts:
This was another fascinating historical fiction book based on an actual event. While I knew before I started that it was a fictional account of a real tragedy, I avoided seeking out any information online about that real event until after I’d finished the book. Even though I don’t think that is necessary, I’m glad I didn’t really know anything ahead of time.

I liked the way the elderly Dunne’s conversations with the young filmmaker in 1973 are interspersed with the events of 1943. There are chapters told from the perspective of many of the people connected with the tragedy as well as chapters portraying Dunne’s formal inquiry and witness testimony.

It’s a story of an already emotionally devastated neighborhood hit with an unimaginable tragedy. While telling a wider story, Kane manages to keep the focus on a handful of individuals and families. The concepts of responsibility and guilt are touched on again and again. The story reads a bit like a mystery as Dunne’s investigation proceeds, but it’s also a thoughtful story of a few people and how this tragic event affected their lives. There are moments of sadness, heroism, love, strength, fear, and anger. There are also moments of peace and grace. Kane’s wonderful way of writing just adds to the story she tells in a beautiful way.



Rating 4.5/5