The White Rose by Robert Webber is anovel about the War between the Soviet Union and Finland ,often called The Winter War, in the years 1939- 1940. It is a story of espionage and features Alex Carlton, a British Naval Lieutenant seconded, as the Brits term it, to the SIS. Carlton's family history is crucial to the story. His family was Russian, his father Alexander Karpov, was a general of the Tsar's army and a body guard to the Tsar's family. After the Russian Revolution, and the assassination of the Ramanovs, Carlton's father and family fled to Finland, then part of Sweden, and on to England , where the family named was changed to Carlton.
Alex Carlton, now with the Swedish sounding cover name Alex Carlsson , acts as a correspondent for a Swedish newspaper, with orders from his spymaster superiors in Britain to learn all he can about the situation in Finland . The overarching purpose for Carlton/ Carlson is to assess Soviet strength and intentions.
Much of the first chapters of the novel deal with Alex setting up his persona as a correspondent, making contacts with the local press and looking like a working -and drinking- correspondent and tourist. Indeed, the author takes his readers on a lengthy descriptive tour of his travel from Sweden to Finland. This is good since I am sure most people know not a great deal about the food, drink or culture of either nation. I found this part of the book somewhat slow and meandering, a bit like looking at pictures of another family member's summer trip. , However, it demonstrates that the author knows his way around the countryside and the languages, both Swedish and Finn. Conversations with locals in the book are thankfully translated , so the reader is kept in the flow.
When hostilities begin the book comes alive, with descriptions of Soviet bombing raids and the Finn reaction to them, a reaction both stoic and scornful- " The Russkies haven't learned to shoot or bomb straight. That will change. Alex , actin as a correspondent, makes his way to the fighting front, witnessing the heroic efforts of the Finnish army's fight to stop the Russian invasion. He finds himself under fire and nearly captured, but uses his recently learned SIS spy skills to shoot his way out. While the Finns are rejoicing that first attacks by the Soviets are stopped, all sense that the war is simply paused , not over.
"The White Rose reaches is at its best as its hero becomes more involved with the fighting. The descriptions of how the outnumbered Finns fight back desperately defending their homeland are quite compelling. Alex sometimes forgets that he is a non combatant, helping the soldiers, assisting refugees, infiltrating behind Russian lines and providing intelligence to the Finns. Like Zelig ( of the Woody Allen film) Alex finds himself meeting some notables while being present at historical events. These scenes have credibility, thanks to the author's matter of fact delivery. Best of all are the moments where Alex Carlsson endangers himself and his mission to help some Finns caught in war's wake. We also learn how promised British aid to the Finns never materializes and the geopolitical reasons why the Finns were left alone by her Scandinavian neighbors. All this, skillfully written, give the reader a very good picture of a remote war that presages the bigger one to come.
"The White Rose is subtitled " The Carlton Chronicles, part 1 so readers know that there is more to come. But this book is complete in this volume, without cliffhangers. Even the White Rose of the tile becomes known.
Summary: A spy story and historical drama that whose drama builds as the story unfolds, so be a little patient with the travelogue beginning because the novel,is good , exciting and satisfying. Amusing are Alex efforts at resisting the temptations of beautiful Swedish and Finnish women who are attracted to the handsome " war correspondent: Alex is a married man with a pregnant wife back in Britain, after all. No James Bond, he. Rating just about a full four stars, so four it is.
Cautions: wartime combat violence, although not extreme. A rape with Russian soldiers vs.Finnish woman. Lots of drinking and smoking- it is the 1940's, after all.
