Sleep in Peace Tonight by James MacManus

Published by Thomas Dunne Books on October 7, 2014

Most of Sleep in Peace Tonight takes place in the months leading up to Pearl Harbor. All but one of the significant characters are real people. I can't say whether the novel is historically accurate but in a work of fiction that really doesn't matter, as long as the broad strokes are rendered faithfully. I suspect, however, that the novel hews closely to history -- perhaps too closely, as it sometimes reads like an academic text. At other times it reads like a biography. Although the novel is written with admirable elegance, it only partially succeeds at breathing life into history.

Harry Hopkins, a special envoy from FDR, travels to England in 1941 to act as "a back door to war diplomacy." As Hopkins tells Ed Murrow in a hotel bar on his night of arrival, FDR opposes America's entry into the war. Churchill wants to change Roosevelt's view. He labors to enlist Hopkins in that cause.

Most scenes in Sleep in Peace Tonight focus on Hopkins as he interacts with Murrow, Churchill, or FDR. A few focus on FDR as he interacts with his advisors (who tend to resent Hopkins' influence) or on Leonora Finch, who has been assigned to Hopkins as a liaison officer and protector. Finch, who normally works as an assistant to British spies, has been charged with learning what she can about Hopkins' view of the war and reporting his feelings to the British government. Murrow's affair with Churchill's daughter-in-law and an affair between Hopkins and Finch seem like an attempt to add spice to a story that is surprisingly lacking in drama. A late section of the novel gives closer attention to Finch as her desire to join the front lines is fulfilled.

James MacManus' descriptions of London during the war -- the desperate attempts to overcome fear, to ignore the bombs and hardships -- are vivid. In addition to those scenes, the novel's greatest interest lies in Churchill's efforts to manipulate Hopkins, and thus Roosevelt, to support Britain's cause. Roosevelt, who feels pressure from voters and influential isolationists who see no reason for Americans to intervene in a European conflict, is no fan of Churchill's desire to maintain the British Empire. Even the controversial Lend-Lease legislation is unappealing to voters who see it as a giveaway of tax dollars to British imperialists. Roosevelt feels similar pressure from his wife Eleanor, who does not want to sacrifice domestic reforms for another foreign war.

I admire the elegant style in which Sleep in Peace Tonight is written, although occasional biographical passages about key characters are too expository. Every American dispatched to London seems to have an affair but that information is presented so clinically that it adds little to the story. The ending is probably intended to have a strong emotional impact but I felt too detached from the characters to be moved by the story's resolution. A key passage at the end is nevertheless inspirational in its summation of greatness and personal sacrifice. To a large extent, the novel's strengths outweigh its weaknesses, but its failure to involve me in the lives of its characters prevents me from giving it an unqualified endorsement.

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