The Zeppelin's Passenger

About the book

After a Zeppelin passes over the English coast, anxiety about enemy activity becomes entangled with the private worries of Lady Cranston and Helen Fairclough. Philippa's brother, who is also Helen's fiancé, is a prisoner in Germany, and reliable news of him has become painfully scarce. A stranger calling himself Hamar Lessingham arrives with a connection to that captivity, creating a reason to listen even as his circumstances invite suspicion. Oppenheim makes drawing-room conversation and personal attraction part of a wartime contest in which appearances can mislead. Questions about courage, duty, and trust run through the household's responses to the visitor. The suspense grows from the pressure that concern for a loved person can place on patriotic certainty.

• Wartime loyalty
• Personal obligation
• Deceptive appearances

Why read it

Read it for a spy romance in which private concern makes the clear language of national allegiance difficult to apply.

English text