“Broadcasting House was in fact dedicated to the strangest project of the war, or of any war, that is, telling the truth. Without prompting, the BBC had decided that truth was more important than consolation, and, in the long run, would be more effective.”
The bulk of the narrative of this novel takes place within the enclosed world of the BBC headquarters known as Broadcasting House during World War II. That is the war to which the quote alludes and, significantly, this war story is set within the world of broadcasting. If the American conflict in Vietnam was the first “televised war” then it can be accurately asserted that World War II was the first to bring the battles directly into the living rooms back on the homefront courtesy of radio broadcasting. Such is the context of the story, but the quote above reveals how this broader truth is narrowed down to a very specific focus of war journalism. The question of whether potentially pessimistic truth or falsely optimistic propaganda is better for morality is addressed both specifically regarding war coverage and more allegorically regarding everyday human interaction and relationships.
“She was in love, as she quite saw, with a middle-aged man who said the same thing to all the girls, who had been a prince for an evening which he'd most likely forgotten already, who had given her a ring with a red currant in it and who cared, to the exclusion of all else, for his work.”
The middle-aged man here is Seymour “Sam” Brooks who is employed as the BBC's Recorded Programme Director (RPD). The unlikely girl who has fallen for him is about half his age and is the newest addition to what has been a persistent gaggle of equally young women employed in his department as Recorded Programme Assistants (RPAs). The description of the status of their relationship as being perhaps surprisingly inverted and marking the distance between Sam’s obsession with his work and Annie’s rapid movement into an intense emotional attachment situates the context of the storyline. The anxiety and social circumstances of life during wartime naturally create unexpected alliances as well as psychological defense mechanisms engaged to stave off pain brought by the ever-present potential of instant loss. The romance between Sam and Annie is at the center of the narrative while at the same time oddly disconnected and this serves to reflect the state of mind produced by the imminent threat of instant extinction.
“DPP was homeless, in the sense of having several homes, none of which he cared about more than the others. There was a room he could use at the Langham, and then there were two or three women with whom his relationship was quite unsentimental, but who were not sorry to see him when he came. He never went to his house, because his third wife was still in it. In any case, he had a taxi waiting for him every night, just round the corner in Riding House Street. He hardly ever used it, but it was a testimony that if he wanted to, he could get away quickly.”
Jeff Haggard is the Director of Programme Planning (DPP) at the BBC. This quote detailing his idiosyncratic living arrangements is another commentary on how war impacts even the smallest minutiae of everyday living. The reference to the relatively emotionless condition of his sex life has conveyed an ambiguity that raises questions about whether this is an effect of wartime anxiety or merely insight into Haggard’s psyche. The most significant aspect of this description, however, is the purposely understated information about the waiting taxi. The novel is relatively short and relatively light on action and plot mechanics. As a result, much of the most significant writing is to be found in the subtleties of seemingly trivial information. This passage shows up near the end of the first chapter and the DPP’s acknowledgment of the reliability of the waiting taxi will prove to be a foreshadowing of a major event.
