This is the first book of Mc Ewan's I have read in four years; I was on a Mc Ewan kick after having read his ATONEMENT and taught it three or four times. I read most of his earlier works, some shocking, others with twisted unexpected ends. He always was surprising me with a different genre, sometimes a mystery, other times a pastiche of a18th century novel. He is definitely one of the modern heavy weights, perhaps England's best living novelist. He has been nominated for the Booker Prize six times and won it once for his novel AMSTERDAM, not one of my favorite reads.
Anyways, SWEET TOOTH, set in a depressing1972 England did not totally surprise me because I knew it dealt with espionage work, in this case, the M15 spy agency. The protagonist, as in ATONEMENT is a woman, one Serena Frome, daughter of a Vicar, upper middle class, good at maths in her private school, but she takes a third at Cambridge, fairly shabby, suggesting she should have gone with her passion, books and English, as a major. The novel is told from Serena's point of view, so we get to know her quite well. As she anticipates graduation, her boy friend Jeremy, introduces her to Tony Canning, Jeremy's history tutor and their affair begins. Though married, Tony easily falls for Serena, as she does for him. They spend a summer frolicking on weekends, until Tony abruptly ends it one day, at a rest stop, with no explanation, just it's over. Propitiously, Tony had worked for M15 during the war and had recommended Serene to them before the break up. So she has something to fall back on after their affair.
She interviews with M15, takes the job and the novel really begins, leaving, Tony behind and she starts her career. Because of her interest in books, reading especially, she is asked to be part of a program which nurtures English writers, hopefully those with the right views, in this case anti Communist. Serena's is asked to interview Tony Early, a promising novelist, and if he is found intellectually sound (anti communist), the M15 will support him with a grant from a respectable Foundation, a front for the M15. Serena will then be responsible for running him along with other responsibilities.
She, of course, finds him perfect, is captivated by his stories, and falls in love with him, a 'no no' in any profession, especially in the spy or espionage world. As there affair progresses, Serena is caught in a Catch 22 situation; if she stays quiet, she lives a lie. If she tells him the truth, she most likely will lose him. With this conundrum, the affair moves from infatuation to love and we, the reader, fear the outcome as things at work begin to fall apart, Her boss, because she spurns him, to get revenge, tells Tony about the program, and weeks later, spills the beans, to the newspapers as well as the M15.
Thus, during the last four or five weeks of the affair, neither we, the reader, nor Serena know that Tony has been made aware of M15's involvement. Everything seems normal, in fact, he appears to be even more in love with her than ever and most importantly, he is working non stop on a novel, as if possessed. As the weeks go by, Serena feels more and more guilty but it will take the newspapers outing Tony's funding story to make her resolve to tell the truth, even though he must know from the newspapers. She calls him at his flat; he won't answer. She finally makes up her mind to go see him, knocks on his door, no one is home, an empty flat, but there is an envelope on the desk, left by Tony, addressed to Serena. It's a letter, which takes up the last chapter of the book. I won't tell you what's in it, leaving up to you to guess.
Overall, I was not taken with the novel. It took me longer than I thought to finish, and I was not engrossed in it, as I was in ATONEMENT. It was well written but seemed too cute, a bit long, and I lost interest in the couple after awhile but then that might just be me. It's worth reading for the writing alone and a couple of passionate love affairs. It's difficult to decide what genre Mc Ewan's imitating because there's not much spying, just lying, and no violence or James Bond kind of heroism.
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