A historical fiction caper starring British nonagenarians Josephine and Penny Williams, C.J. Wray’s The Excitements is a fix for those of us who are very sorry that we won’t see the next installment in Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series for a while. It’s witty, well-researched (World War II buffs will appreciate the level of detail), and engaging from start to finish, with Wray expertly marrying up past and present as our two heroines have one last hurrah.
The Excitements (i.e., “exciting incidents–” keep in mind that Wray is very, very British) opens with the sisters embarking to receive the Légion d’Honneur for their part in liberating France over half a century prior. Archie, their nephew, is charged with their transport, a task made difficult due to their general orneriness and Penny’s penchant for petty theft from department stores while citing dementia as the excuse if caught. Archie, who adores his aunts, is the straight man to their capers (despite his sexual orientation). He hopes the excursion will reunite him with his former flame, Stephane, and we want that to happen. Archie is such a dear.
And that phrasing leads me to my next point. As mentioned, Wray is very British, and this is one of the most charming elements of the book. Never had I known that “spend a penny” means that one needs to use the bathroom. By the end of The Excitements, I was half walking around with a British accent, which happens when reading a book is an immersive experience.
Penny, it turns out, is an accomplished thief, with her backstory involving decades of a Robin Hood-like existence where she would steal jewels from posh shopkeepers to help those in need. As a continuation of this identity, Penny is planning one final heist at an auction she’ll attend with her sister and the unsuspecting Archie in tow.
As events unspool in present time, Wray tells the story of the sisters’ past, with the focus on Penny. In the tragedy and upheaval caused by the war, they received an opportunity to both be their best selves via heroics while also suffering heartbreak, loss, and regret. Penny was a spy and specialist at hand-to-combat, risking her teenage life in France while ultimately spending decades loving a man she couldn’t have. She’s the definition of scrappy. While a minor character to Penny’s starring role, Josephine is sympathetic–her true love was a Jewish boy who died years before she was even informed of the sad fact. And it is Josephine who stars in the big twist of this storied and engaging book.
I don’t read historical fiction. Period. The Excitements, however, isn’t simply historical fiction. It’s a mystery, and a thriller, and a comedy. And more. As I was reading it, I called out to my husband, “Hey, this book’s literary!” and he called back, “Oh, yeah? You read literary?” (We have two little monsters. I read a lot of camp, and books purely for fun).
Turns out, I do. Because literary books–quality, like The Excitements–can be pure fun, too.
Sarah Reida is the author of NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH, a dark comedy thriller about a killer targeting the morally bankrupt residents of an upscale neighborhood, which will be out in April. Click here to learn more about Sarah, or follow her on Instagram.
