Historical fiction imagines how the past might have unfolded under slightly different circumstances. Within such what‑if scenarios, catastrophe might have been averted; minor characters could have become heroes. For obvious reasons, the Second World War casts a long shadow over the genre. The Dunkirk evacuation, the Blitz, the D‑Day landings, and other phases of the conflict have generated countless novels, and there are few signs that the war, despite having ended eight decades ago, has yielded all its secrets, real or invented.
John Delacourt’s The Innocent Canadian enters the crowded field of war thrillers with a plot about support for fascism among the upper classes in England. In 1941, a well-connected aristocrat named Longwood exerts his influence to keep the Americans out of the war. He hobnobs with the Mitford sisters, Chips Channon, and other known Nazi sympathizers. Having a “dodgy past” and an insider’s knowledge of eastern Europe, Longwood wants...
Allan Hepburn is the James McGill Professor of Twentieth-Century Literature at McGill University.
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