CJ Carey is a pseudonym for Jane Thynne, author of a series of spy novels set in 1930s Germany, and she clearly knows her Nazis. They have not forgotten the truth about the past and have something to teach Rose about books and resistance. Another task brings her into contact with inhabitants of “widowland” – a ghetto for childless women over 50 who are treated with official contempt and kept on short rations. Rose, who is having an affair with her boss in the ministry of culture, is assigned to rewrite classic works of literature to ensure they align with Nazi ideals. It’s 1953, and the war continues, but Britain is one of Germany’s allies. The story is seen through the eyes of Rose, who, being young, healthy and attractive to men, has the highest status permitted to women under the caste system designed by Alfred Rosenberg, Britain’s Protector. Britain under Nazi rule is a staple of alternate history, but CJ Carey’s Widow land(Quercus, £14.99) makes it fresh again.
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