The Explosionist by Jenny Davidson
An Intriguing Mystery...
A series of mysteries.
An explosion of truths.
The Explosionist: Someone sets off a bomb outside fifteen-year-old
Sophies boarding school, but no one can figure out who.
The Medium: Soothsayers and séance leaders are regular guests at her
great-aunts house in Scotland, but only one delivers a terrifying prophecy,
directed at Sophie herself.
The Murder: When the medium is found dead, Sophie and her friend
Mikael know they must get to the bottom of these three mysteries in order
to save themselves—even as the fate of all Europe hangs in the balance.

Set in a time of subversive politics, homegrown terrorism, and rapidly
changing alliances, The Explosionist is an extraordinarily accomplished
debut novel for teens that delivers a glimpse of the world as it might have
been—had one moment in history been altered.
Personal Review: The Explosionist by Jenny Davidson
I only *review* books I love, and I loved The Explosionist by Jenny
Davidson. I'll describe it as "an alternate history supernatural mystery" set
in 1938 Scotland. With terrorists, dynamite, seances, and creepy
government secrets. Intrigued? You don't know the half of it yet.
You don't see that much alternate history. I loved Jo Walton's Farthing, an
English country-house murder mystery that just happened to take place in
a world in which the English had made a truce with the Nazis and changed
the course of history. In The Explosionist the turning point wasn't World
War II but the battle of Waterloo in 1815 -- in which, instead of losing,
Napoleon won, consolidated his power in Europe, and later conquered
England as well. Scotland is now allied with the "Hanseatic States" -- the
Scandinavian countries and Russia -- and maintains an uneasy autonomy
through manufacture of the weapons with which Europe fights its wars. So,
that's the backdrop, but the author never overwhelms with exposition; the
history comes in just how I like it, in small, fascinating doses where
relevant, and it never slows the story.
The fun of the alternate history is in the little references to how the world is
different. Small things, historical personages turned upside-down. We
learn in passing that Oscar Wilde is the famous Irish obstetrician who
invented the incubator; Freud is a crackpot radio-show host nicknamed
"Thanatos"! Alternative energy sources have been developed, because
Scotland didn't have access to oil reserves -- "You'll find a few fuel cell
enthusiasts in the Americas, of course, but most of their motorcars are
powered by a filthy and wasteful method called internal combustion. All
very well if you're American and sitting on top of huge petroleum reserves,
but that kind of reckless comsumption doesn't suggest a very sensible
attitude toward the future!" And how! There's also a chilling reference to
the unnamed European chancellor having a "toothbrush mustache." And
aside from the historical differences, there is one major way that the world
of the book differs from our own: spirits commune freely with the living in
all manner of ways, notably through radio waves and photography!
Spiritualism is a respected scientific field, and when 15-year-old Sophie is
warned in a seance that she is in danger, she has good reason to be
afraid.
But. . . what nature of danger? The city has been rocked by a series of
terrorist bombings, and she can't help but suspect the teacher she has a
crush on might be involved. The medium who delivered the warning turns
up murdered, spirits are sending Sophie messages, and as if that's not

enough, a new and sinister threat emerges from a source much closer to
home: her own aunt. To tell what that is would be to spoil a very creepy
revelation, but I'll say this: it raises the question of what sacrifices a country
can, in good conscience, demand of its citizens, and it takes the role of
woman-as-selfless-helpmeet-to-male-power to the most devastating
extreme.
Only as I try to convey in some simplicity what this book is "about" do I
really realize how complex the story is, and I mean that in a good way --
while reading, all the threads are woven so well that you don't feel like
you're in the midst of a labyrinth of plot. To be extremely simplistic, here's
what the book is about: it's the story of Sophie and her Danish friend
Mikael trying to unravel the mystery of who murdered the medium, and
while they're at it, who's behind the bombings in Edinburgh, and what are
the political stakes. With the help of dead people, and sort-of dead people.
While the country ramps up for war. Whew.
Okay. I can't do it justice. Just read it. It's a great book-group book. Much
to discuss about power and resistance, armed deterrance, government
abuse of power in the shadow of war, and more. I liked the way the author
showed Sophie's perspective on her own country slowly shifting as she
begins to see familiar things through the eyes of her foreign friend, and
questions them for the first time. Like here, in response to the "suicide
machines" in the public library:
"I don't see why you're getting so worked up about it," Sophie said,
uneasily conscious that it had taken Mikael's reaction to reveal what was
troubling about the familiar practice. She suddenly wondered whether she
might be blind to other things about Scotland as well.
I think about that a lot -- the way people are blinded by their indoctrination,
whatever it might be, religious, political, whatever; it is terribly difficult to
see beyond one's own indoctrination, particularly if one doesn't travel or
meet a wide variety of people. It is through connection with people of
different experience that we have a chance of broadening our own vision.
But first, you have to open yourself up to it, and not cling to the things
you've always blindly believed.
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