Spies - Michael Frayn

Spies is a novel which draws on several different literary genres. The main part of the action of Spies follows two boys from the 1940s , Stephen Wheatley and Keith Hayward , as they try to unravel a mystery , which at first appears to be of their own making. When they begin to spy on Keith's mother (Mrs. Hayward) they are prompted by the fanciful notion that she is a German spy . As the narrative progresses , though , we realise that she really does have a hidden secret. As the boys follow and watch her , they uncover clues which are revealed to us at the same rate as they discover them. As in a traditional mystery novel, we are not given any privileged information ahead of the boys discoveries : the boys make deductions , and so do we , though ours are likely to be rather different and our paths of enquiry soon diverge. Even though we are likely to solve the mystery of Mrs. Hayward's secret long in advance of Stephen , we will probably still be surprised by the ending and the additional revelations of the narrator.

Spies is also a a historical novel , but with a difference , it is a retrospective account told in the present day. Despite the modern frame , the particular historical period in which the main action takes place is vital to the plot : the story could not be set at any other time. The social attitudes prevalent at the time , combined with the very specific situation of the Second World War , in which a man could be obliged to fly a fighter plane and court-martialled for cowardice if he lost his nerve, make the action of the novel possible.

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