description Half a Crown Overview
Half a Crown is a 2008 alternate history novel by Welsh-Canadian writer Jo Walton, concluding her Small Change trilogy following 'Farthing' (2006) and 'Ha'penny' (2006). The series is set in a Britain that made peace with Nazi Germany in 1941 and gradually adopted fascist policies. In Half a Crown, set in 1960, Inspector Peter Carmichael of the British police uncovers a conspiracy while the country prepares for a major fascist rally. The novel explores themes of resistance, complicity, and moral compromise under an authoritarian regime, using the conventions of the classic British detective story to examine political evil.
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Is Half a Crown the final book in Jo Walton's Small Change trilogy?
Yes, Half a Crown, published in 2008, is the concluding volume of Jo Walton's Small Change trilogy. It follows Farthing (2006) and Ha'Penny (2006), completing the story of an alternate Britain that made peace with Nazi Germany.
What are the three books in Jo Walton's Small Change trilogy?
The trilogy consists of Farthing (2006), Ha'Penny (2006), and Half a Crown (2008). Each book is set in the same alternate-history collaborationist Britain and follows different characters whose stories interconnect across the three volumes.
What is the premise of Half a Crown by Jo Walton?
Half a Crown depicts a Britain that has embraced fascism after making peace with Nazi Germany, now facing its first serious internal challenge to the authoritarian state. The novel explores how ordinary people navigate resistance and complicity within a totalitarian society that maintains a veneer of British respectability.
What time period is Half a Crown set in?
The novel is set in an alternate version of the early 1960s, roughly two decades after the point of divergence where Britain capitulated to Nazi Germany. By this point in the timeline, the fascist state has become deeply entrenched in British institutions and daily life.
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