The Report

By: Jessica Francis Kane

Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm

A stunning first novel that is an evocative reimagining of a World War II civilian disaster. Jessica Francis Kane paints a vivid portrait of London at war.

On a March night in 1943, on the steps of a London Tube station, 173 people die in a crowd seeking shelter from what seemed to be another air raid. When the devastated neighborhood demands an inquiry, the job falls to magistrate Laurence Dunne. As Dunne investigates, he finds the truth to be precarious, even damaging. When he is forced to reflect on his report several decades later, he must consider whether the course he chose was the right one.

The Report is a provocative, beautifully crafted novel and a commentary on the way all tragedies are remembered and endured.

©2010 Jessica Francis Kane (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Kane] moves deftly among perspectives on the [Bethnal Green] catastrophe: We eavesdrop on war-battered townsfolk, the tardy policeman, the overburdened priest, the devastated shelter-chief who feels responsible. Kane's command of period detail is marvelous.... A deft, vivid first novel." (Kirkus Reviews)

One of the best narrators I've found.

Fantastic narrator, very strong acting skills but very subtle, trusts the listener to understand literature without overdramatizing it. Highly recommend

Interesting fictional examination of a true event

Historical fiction, focusing on a tragedy in the East End of London during WWII. The author wisely concentrated the story on how the people living in the area were affected by an accident at a bomb shelter that left over 170 people crushed to death. A very poignant story. I didn't love the narrator, but he did bring gravitas to the story.

Superb!

Excellent, complex, beautifully written story about the Bethnal Green bomb shelter disaster of 1943, focusing less on the event itself than on the lives of people involved in it..