December 11, 2001

The earlier decades of the last century saw the growth of a number of political theories which found popular acceptance in cross-sections of European society. Those theories ranged from communism that believed in state control in every sector, to anarchism, which rejected the institution of the government itself. While the former led to a bloody revolution toppling a monarchy, the latter just faded away with the passage of time.

The conspiracies, acts of sabotage and revolutionary activities of the followers of these political dogmas have often provided valuable raw material for fiction writers. The book under review is the Urdu translation of one such novel, The man from St. Petersburg.

In 1914, just before the beginning of the first world war, the British seek the support of Czarist Russia and invite Prince Alex Andryovitch, a nephew of the Czar, for negotiations. Earl Waldon whose wife, Lydia, is the sister of the Prince’s mother, is selected to represent the British.

Felix is a Russian anarchist, running all over Europe to evade arrest. He knows that the Prince’s visit would result in Russia being dragged into the war. To prevent that, he decides to kill the Prince on British soil as that would make relations between the two countries too bitter to permit them to become allies. Felix goes to London with that intention.

Charlotte, the 18-year old daughter of Earl Waldon, is now awakening to the realities of life. She starts taking a natural interest in knowledge about sex and also in the movement for women’s rights. It is during a demonstration by women demanding the right to vote that she comes across Felix.

In a dramatic denouement, it is revealed that Charlotte is the daughter of Felix who had had an affair with Lydea before her marriage. To avoid embarrassment, Lydea’s aristocratic father had got Felix thrown into prison and had hurriedly found a husband for his daughter, the visiting young British Earl, with whom she was whisked away to London.

Finally, Felix is able to kill the Russian prince using the information supplied by Charlotte. But he too dies after being caught in the burning countryside house where the visitor was staying.

The novel has all the ingredients of a thriller: romance, murder and unexpected revelations. It also gives glimpses of the political and social conditions of the period and the location to which the story is related. The translation, too, is fluent. It would have been indeed useful if a brief note about the author was included in the book.

Raqs-i-ajel
By Ken Follett
Translated by Yaqoob Yawarkoti
Fiction House, 18, Mozang Road, Lahore.
336pp. Rs200

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