In the early years of the 20th century, Laura is taken to Paris to visit her maternal grandparents; her grandmother is ill and her grandfather preoccupied by his exile from Russia, his unwavering loyalty to the Tsar, and need to find a way to clear his name. On a train journey she and her grandfather are taking to visit other relatives and allow her mother to look after her grandfather in peace, a man enters their compartment and proceeds to start a long conversation in the course of which the identity of a double agent in the revolutionary circles and the lawful establishment becomes clear, and it hits a bit closer to home than anyone in the compartment might have guessed. Laura's grandfather is very shaken, and she herself becomes very conscious of the position she finds herself as one who knows of the betrayal, wanting to protect the man who revealed it and frightened of the very real possibility that the double agent will seek to eliminate her too now that she knows. ( )

Set in Europe during the early 1900s, Rebecca West’s story of Russian exiles and terrorist revolutionaries is told from the viewpoint of an eighteen-year old woman, who while strong and astute, suffers from the naiveté of having lived a protected and privileged life. Her father is an English Member of Parliament and an aloof, distant parent and her mother the indulged daughter of exiled Russian nobility. While visiting in Paris, she makes a trip with her grandfather, an imposing and deeply religious Russian Orthodox who remains fiercely loyal to his homeland and to the Tsar who has exiled him. They are approached on the train by a member of a Russian revolutionary terrorist group, from whom they learn the identity of an “agent provocateur” who plans terrorist attacks, then informs on his comrades to the Tsar’s secret police. Knowing this individual to be a close associate of her grandparents and fearing for her life, the young woman is drawn into acting as an accomplice to an assassination plan.

The Birds Fall Down, was Rebecca West’s last work of fiction published during her lifetime. In the book’s foreword, West describes the story as being based on an actual historical incident and most of her characters as actual involved persons. While West does not reveal their identities or her sources, it is widely assumed that the novel was inspired by the activities of Yevno Azef, a Russian double agent who worked both for the Socialist Revolutionary Party and the Tsar’s Imperial Secret Police.

West’s characters are splendidly developed and her writing richly detailed and atmospheric, capturing the tradition-steeped lifestyle of Orthodox Russian exiles of privilege. While incorporating elements of psychological thriller, historical fiction, mystery and spy novel, this book in the end defies simple classification. West skillfully builds suspense throughout the story, but the ending lacks the unexpected and the reader is left with only the slightest of unresolved questions. The novel’s effectiveness as historical fiction is also limited, as only vague hints are provided of the significance of its events, explained in the foreword as paving the way for Lenin’s rise to power by undermining the terrorist wing of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. In my opinion, this novel succeeds best as a psychological thriller and portrait of an ideology and way of life lost to time, revolution and war. It was a pleasure to read, its details to be savored, and has left me interested in seeking other works by this author. ( )