“If experience taught anything, it was not to think too much, but to sharpen up the responses.” (241)

OK, I’ve got to admit that I came to this book during the Christmas season with a 50/50 hope that the story would have something—anything!—to do with Christmas, what with “Good King Wenceslas” on the playlist and all. I was wrong, of course, as this book is basically a spy novel set in Cold War Prague.

I’ve read Lionel Davidson before in The Rose of Tibet (1962), an enjoyable novel of adventure and romance that re-instilled in me a confidence in “old” fiction. When comparing Wenceslas (his first publication) to The Rose (his second), I found Wenceslas to be slower-paced and more predictable that desired (basically, I found it to be in need of a healthy edit). Nevertheless, I enjoyed this yarn and am glad that I kept at it. Despite his affection for “Jesus Christ” as a curse word, Davidson is an entertaining author that I’ll probably seek out again.

The story follows a young chap in London who’s convinced by some businessmen to “spy” on a glass company in Prague, though as the story unfolds, he realizes that he’s expected to do for a lot more than he’s bargained for. While befriending (and bedding) a giantess behind the Iron Curtain, young Whistler faces many a moral dilemma on his trips there and back, making this a provocative book which challenges the mind and heart, and not merely some dime novel filled with trash and destined to be forgotten. For this Christian reader, I say that it’s at least a novel to consider as a world-wise thriller that touches on ethics, though I’m sure there are more Christian ways to wile away the hours.

The further I got into the book, the more I found myself comparing Lionel Davidson to Geoffrey Household, which is a good thing. I’m not yet aware of any other author who captures the anxiety of the “man on the run” as convincingly as Household, but Davidson makes an admirable attempt here. Honestly, having just completed Wenceslas makes me want to jump into another Household this very minute! Sadly, I’ve got too much on my plate at the moment.

For an interesting Cold-War-era novel that’s a tad more jovial than Le Carre and a tad less blasphemous than Ludlum, try out The Night of Wenceslas. I think you’ll enjoy it.

©2018 E.T.

Read More from Lionel Davidson:

• Adult Novels:
  The Night of Wenceslas (1960)
  The Rose of Tibet (1962)
  The Menorah Men (UK title: A Long Way to Shiloh, 1966)
  Making Good Again (1968)
  Smith’s Gazelle (1971)
  The Sun Chemist (1976)
  Murder Games (UK title: The Chelsea Murders, 1978)
  Kolymsky Heights (1994)
• Youth Books:
  Soldier and Me (UK title: Run for Your Life, 1965, as David Line)
  Mike and Me (1974, as David Line)
  Under Plum Lake (1980 )
  Screaming High (1985, as David Line)